FIFA have responded by saying there could be sanctions – a deduction in points could be one option – if both nations go through with the commemoration. FFA chief executive David Gallop on Monday played down any problems with the local initiative. "The A-League clubs joined together across the board in the wish to acknowledge Remembrance Day. It picks up a long tradition in Australian sport of recognising these important days on the calendar," he said. "While we are now aware of the issue in Great Britain, we considered it appropriate to show respect in a domestic club competition in Australia and New Zealand." Australia is not involved in an international match until the following week, when the Socceroos face Thailand in a World Cup qualifier in Bangkok on November 15. The FFA will use the round six A-League games to, "remember and acknowledge the noble sacrifices made by service men and women past and present during times of war in a joint initiative between Football Federation Australia and the Australian Defence Force (ADF)," it said on Monday.

"Remembrance round will be observed at all five fixtures as well as two W-League round two matches that are being played as double-headers in Canberra and Sydney," the organisation said. The five venues hosting matches (AAMI Park, GIO Stadium in Canberra, Coopers Stadium in Adelaide, Etihad Stadium in Melbourne and Allianz Stadium in Sydney) will hold a full ADF military order of service and have donation collection points for the poppy appeal. The appeal raises funds for current and former serving members of the Australian and Allied defence forces and their dependents. "The remembrance round initiative will aim to help promote the observance of Remembrance Day nationally, raise funds for the RSL and provide benefits to ADF personnel and utilise the A-League as a vehicle to effect meaningful social change by bringing a focus on to the significance of Remembrance Day," the FFA said. "The RSL encourages all Australians to purchase a poppy and 'remember in November', and all of the clubs will be doing the same across remembrance round," Gallop said.

"The freedom and lifestyle we all have and get to enjoy in Australia is owed a lot to the sacrifices people made and continue to make to serve and protect our country, and through having a remembrance round it brings this recognition and appreciation to the fore. We encourage everyone to take time to reflect and pay their respects when attending matches during remembrance round." In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May has denounced FIFA's edict – seen by many as hypocritical given the organisation's widely publicised ethical flaws – as "absolutely outrageous". The English Football Association will follow a compromise agreement reached in 2011 when England, Scotland and Wales wore armbands bearing poppies in friendly matches staged in the November international window. "We fully respect the laws of the game," the FA said this month. "The poppy is an important symbol of remembrance and we do not believe it represents a political, religious or commercial message, nor does it relate to any one historical event." The Scottish FA confirmed it "intends to pay appropriate tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by having the Scotland national team wear black armbands bearing poppies in our fixture against England on Armistice Day".

The issue was raised in the House of Commons during prime minister's questions. "I think the stance that has been taken by FIFA is utterly outrageous," May said. "Our football players want to recognise and respect those who have given their lives for our safety and security. I think it is absolutely right that they should be able to do so. "We want our players to be able to wear those poppies. Before [FIFA] start telling us what to do, they jolly well ought to sort their own house out." Martin Glenn, the FA's chief executive added: "We don't think we are breaking their law, we think they are misinterpreting it. I'm confident it won't come to anything draconian." FIFA argues that if it relents on poppies for the British other nations will want to use international fixtures to commemorate significant events in their history.