FIFA Ban Poppy on England Shirt

[I am Rod Hull]

Though they died in wars that had political motivation, by that logic any islamic nation could place a symbol for their dead be it right or wrong on their shirts making it political. FIFA govern a SPORT they aren't around to interpret any possible perceived political attachments to anything adorning a shirt.

Thats how i see it....

The games at Wembley right ... I hope the crowd take a load of red paper and rip it up ticker tape style. That would look great....

[Webbo]

My personal view is that any and all support ex-servicemen and women and their dependants need should be wholly provided by the Government on behalf of the people after all it was the Government on behalf of the people that sent them to war even if many of those people didn't agree with it.

There should be no need for the British Legion to go cap in hand to the public, relying on charity to make up any short falls.

By all means let's remember these people especially those that were conscripted and had no choice in whether to fight or not and let the public feel free to wear a poppy or not without feeling ostracised which many anti-war people do.

I prefer the White 'No More War' Peace poppy a peace that many, especially those in the 2 World Wars thought they were fighting for.

Tbf the govt still provide the same benefits to ex servicemen as they do to everyone else, housing support, the NHS, dole money if necessary and a serviceman's pension as well. When this system was first set up just after the world wars half the population were ex forces it would have been impossible for the govt to provide everything necessary for everyone as well as rebuild the country.

If people want to show their appreciation/solidarity with the servicemn and bung a couple of quid their way at the same time what's the harm?

[AyewJoking]

Because .........

Each poppy represents the blood of Servicemen/women who have given their LIFE fighting to make this country what it is !!

Not just some charity begging for money !!!

[Guest MattP]

Decision overturned.

Correct decision, well done to David Cameron, Prince William etc for getting involved, common sense prevails.

FIFA clearly underestimated the strength of feeling over it.

[I am Rod Hull]

FIFA - England players will be allowed to wear poppies on arm bands....

[21st Century Fox]

In all seriousness if the FA want to make a statement don't take any sponsorship money for this match and use the advertising hoardings around the pitch to show their support and remembrance to fallen servicemen, that would speak far much more than an embroidered poppy.

[ScouseFox]

So you can wear whatever the fuck you want on an armband? Or is it just "an exception" because it's not actually very political?

[davieG]

Tbf the govt still provide the same benefits to ex servicemen as they do to everyone else, housing support, the NHS, dole money if necessary and a serviceman's pension as well. When this system was first set up just after the world wars half the population were ex forces it would have been impossible for the govt to provide everything necessary for everyone as well as rebuild the country.

If people want to show their appreciation/solidarity with the servicemn and bung a couple of quid their way at the same time what's the harm?

Tbf the govt still provide the same benefits to ex servicemen as they do to everyone else, housing support, the NHS, dole money if necessary and a serviceman's pension as well.

One could assume, rightly or wrongly that it's not sufficient if there is a need for this massive annual fund raising event

When this system was first set up just after the world wars half the population were ex forces it would have been impossible for the govt to provide everything necessary for everyone as well as rebuild the country.

That's obviously no longer the case and the further we get from the 2nd WW the fewer conscripted ex-soldiers there will be leaving just those that volunteered to join up knowing the risks involved. That doesn't mean I don't think they should be supported afterwards as I said I think it should be wholly down to the government to do this to and acceptable standard, something Widows don't believe to be the case.

If people want to show their appreciation/solidarity with the servicemn and bung a couple of quid their way at the same time what's the harm?

No harm at all provided one isn't 'forced' into giving or observing the silence which has gradually become more and more compulsory or at least hard to avoid without looking crass or uncaring.

I'm not one for these public shows and prefer to do my remembering and 'giving' in private and anonymously.

[Bert]

Fair compromise for me. We still get to play with a poppy displayed, not breaking any rules and FIFA have sanctioned if.

[Yojoe36]

Could of had The British Legion Poppy Appeal as a shirt sponsor

[Raj]

Fair compromise for me. We still get to play with a poppy displayed, not breaking any rules and FIFA have sanctioned if.

Surely that IS still breaking rules aint it?

whats the difference between having it on the shirts and the armband?

Its either on or not???

[Webbo]

No harm at all provided one isn't 'forced' into giving or observing the silence which has gradually become more and more compulsory or at least hard to avoid without looking crass or uncaring.

No one should be forced to wear a poppy or contribute if they don't want to, agreed. As for observing the silence, if everyone around you is observing it it would be poor manners not to.

[davieG]

No one should be forced to wear a poppy or contribute if they don't want to, agreed. As for observing the silence, if everyone around you is observing it it would be poor manners not to.

Which is as I said one is increasingly forced to observe whether one wants to or not, that is a recent change, certainly I only remember it occurring in Schools and Churches. now it seeming happens everywhere the choice no longer exists in reality.

[Jimothy]

Could of had The British Legion Poppy Appeal as a shirt sponsor

Not allowed sponsors on International shirts.

[purpleronnie]

Do you reckon the spanish fans will be quiet during the minutes silence?

[Trav Le Bleu]

What is the poppy a symbol of?

Following World War I the first flower to grow in the battlefields of Flanders were poppies, hence why they're used.

[Wherethefoxhat?]

Decision overturned.

Correct decision, well done to David Cameron, Prince William etc for getting involved, common sense prevails.

FIFA clearly underestimated the strength of feeling over it.

Absolutely the right decision Matt ........and yes .....full marks to David Cameron & Prince William !

Should'nt even have been an issue ....to wear a poppy in recognition of what those people sacrificed for ALL of us is the very least we can do !!!

[Wherethefoxhat?]

Though they died in wars that had political motivation, by that logic any islamic nation could place a symbol for their dead be it right or wrong on their shirts making it political. FIFA govern a SPORT they aren't around to interpret any possible perceived political attachments to anything adorning a shirt.

Hmmm.......seems even FIFA have seen sense !!

It's a POPPY for heavens sake !!!

[Koke]

I think Britain should just invade Switzerland and liberate football.

[I am Rod Hull]

I think Britain should just invade Switzerland and liberate football.

They`re next on the list after Syria....

[accessory]

A reasonable compromise. England players have worn armbands before (with FIFA approval) in remembrance of deceased players (including our own Keith Weller in 2004) so a precedent was already in place.

However the intervention of the FA president is a useful reminder that we need to get our own house in order before we try to reform FIFA. At least Blatter had to go through the rituals of an election to secure his position. I don't recall Prince William doing so in order to reach his.

[Guest Bilo]

A reasonable compromise. England players have worn armbands before (with FIFA approval) in remembrance of deceased players (including our own Keith Weller in 2004) so a precedent was already in place.

However the intervention of the FA president is a useful reminder that we need to get our own house in order before we try to reform FIFA. At least Blatter had to go through the rituals of an election to secure his position. I don't recall Prince William doing so in order to reach his.

Technically, so did Kim Jong Il.

[accessory]

A ridiculous analogy.

Although if Blatter really was another Kim Jong-il, the EDL goon squad who paid him a visit today may not have lived to tell the tale..

[Jimothy]

From today's Fiver in The Guardian

Made me laugh anyway.

LEST WE FORGET THOSE WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES SO THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS MIGHT SQUABBLE CHILDISHLY OVER HOW BEST TO REMEMBER THEM

The Fiver can think of no better way of remembering Great Britain's war dead than sending England's footballers out to play their Spanish counterparts at Wembley. If anything is likely to remind us of the fallen, it's the sight of wave after wave of young Englishmen being picked off by Johnny Foreigner, having launched one ill-advised over-the-top attack too many in a series of depressingly futile attempts to get behind enemy lines.

But for some, a commemorative re-enactment of various historical slaughters soundtracked by idiots singing about Twelve German bombers is not enough, so the FA, assorted fans and media outlets have decided to mark the sacrifice made by millions sent needlessly to their deaths over the past century by relentlessly squabbling over a football team's right to wear shirts decorated with commemorative poppies during a match against Spain. Not before or after a football match against Spain, but during it, when ... let's face it, England's players will have far more pressing concerns than the absence of an embroidered flower from their sweat-drenched kit.

Anyone lucky enough to have been tripping on acid for the past 48 hours may be unaware that the mother of all stinks has been kicked up over a Fifa rule that forbids England's players from wearing poppies on the grounds that it is a political symbol that could jeopardise "the neutrality of football". Despite having been in place for a long time, it is a rule that has singularly failed to perturb the FA in nine previous Novembers of yore; Novembers, coincidentally, when English football's governing body didn't feel the need to generate spurious controversies because of sour grapes over failed World Cup bids, or to deflect media attention away from a national team captain who'd become embroiled in an embarrassing race row.

In order to confirm that the wearing of poppies could never be construed as a political act, Great Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, who is a politician, got involved this morning, going so far as to condemn the ban as "outrageous", but not so far as to declare it a great excuse for him to avoid tricky questions about an embarrassing controversy involving his home secretary telling fibs about her role in a scandal undermining national security. Cameron then declared his intention to write an angry letter to Fifa, demanding that England's footballers be allowed to show their respect for all those who have lost their lives in conflict in places like Afghanistan by sporting a symbol of the Islamic republic's lucrative heroin export trade. Whether or not he did this before or after the carefully orchestrated photo op in which he was spotted having a poppy pinned to his lapel by some young people remains unclear.

Ironically enough, one of very few voices of reason to have been heard over the unseemly din of the increasingly bonkers poppy-cock of the past couple of days has been that of Chris Simpkins, director general of the Royal British Legion, the charity which benefits financially from funds raised by the sale of the lapel decorations. "The FA has helped us explore every alternative available and we are satisfied that England will enter the competition knowing they have shown proper respect for our armed forces," he said, apparently satisfied with the planned pre-match Fifa approved minute's silence, during which England's players will wear Fifa-approved training tops featuring poppies.

For hysterical Little Englanders who consider such perfectly adequate marks of respect tantamount to peeing on the Cenotaph, the FA has helpfully issuing a list of other ways Remembrance Day will be marked during England's friendly against Spain, including a commemorative poppy wreath being brought out on the pitch before kick-off, poppies being sold inside Wembley, a giant poppy-shaped blimp being flown in the air above the stadium and all supporters being obliged to change their name to 'Poppy' by deed poll in order to gain access to the ground.

At the time of writing, two bozos from the English Defence League, an organisation not renowned for it's tight grasp on the concept of irony, had muscled in on the farce by clambering up on the roof of Fifa HQ in Zurich to selflessly protest on behalf of those left with no voice as a result of being too dead from fighting against the kind of people who espouse similar views to supporters of the English Defence League. Remembrance of the war dead doesn't get more dignified - well done football, well done.

[The Doctor]

A ridiculous analogy.

Although if Blatter really was another Kim Jong-il, the EDL goon squad who paid him a visit today may not have lived to tell the tale..

I think you've missed the point of it, Blatter may have been through the rituals of an election to get the post, and several more to keep it, but ,like Kim Jong Il, you can be damn sure that the election was fixed - a dictatorship masquerading as a democracy if you will.