Players will wear armbands with poppies on, as football associations do not consider poppy to be a political symbol

The England and Scotland football teams will wear black armbands with poppies on when they meet on Armistice Day at Wembley, after their respective associations said they would defy any attempt by Fifa to ban them.



An increasingly febrile day of debate over the issue, including the prime minister, Theresa May, telling parliament that Fifa’s stance was “utterly outrageous” and football’s world governing body making it clear that it would not acquiesce, ended with both FAs making it clear that they planned to wear the symbol.

Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura told the BBC that the English and Scottish FAs should be ready to face sanctions if they broke rules on what it considers to be the display of a political symbol.

“Britain is not the only country that has been suffering from the result of war. Syria is an example,” said Samoura, the Senegalese former United Nations official who was appointed Fifa general secretary earlier this year.

“My own continent has been torn by war for years. And the only question is why are we doing exceptions for just one country and not the rest of the world?”

Common sense is the first casualty of this tedious poppy row Read more

Coincidentally, Samoura was in London along with the heads of all the home nation FAs for a series of meetings on the laws of the game, and was due to be hosted at Wembley on Thursday night by English FA chief executive Martin Glenn.

The FA had hoped to stage further talks over the matter, having originally written to Fifa several weeks ago to inform it that England players intended to wear the poppy on black armbands – as they had been allowed to do in 2011 for a friendly against Spain when the same issue arose.

But after Fifa indicated in a statement that it was not open to negotiation, the FA issued its own response in which it clarified its position.

“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,” it said.

“In keeping with the position agreed with Fifa back in 2011 and in what we believe is in accordance with Law 4, para 4, the FA intend to pay appropriate tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by having the England team wear black armbands bearing poppies in our fixture on Armistice Day.”

The Scottish FA released a similar statement. Both will argue that they do not believe they are breaking the laws of the game because they do not consider the poppy a political symbol, as well as pointing to the precedent set in 2011.

Earlier, May had told MPs that it was right that England and Scotland players, who will meet on the evening of Friday 11 November in a World Cup qualifier, should be allowed to wear poppies.

“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,” said May.

She said it was a matter for the English and Scottish football associations, but there was a “clear message” from the House of Commons that “we want our players to be able to wear those poppies”.

And in a direct message to world football’s governing body, which has been plagued by corruption allegations, she said: “Before they start telling us what to do, they jolly well ought to sort their own house out.”

Samoura, one of a new wave of appointees who claim they will reform Fifa and rescue its scandal-hit reputation, refrained from responding directly but said that May should beware of political interference – which also contravenes Fifa rules.