UTRECHT, Netherlands, Nov 23 - Call it the law of unintended consequences. The "OneLove" armbands FIFA banned at the World Cup in Qatar are suddenly selling like hotcakes.
The armbands, intended to send a message of tolerance, connection and opposition to all forms of discrimination, have been in the global spotlight since FIFA threatened several European team captains with yellow cards if they wore them to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal.
Now the company that makes the bands in Utrecht, the Netherlands, says it is sold out after shipping 10,000, mostly in the past two weeks. "The big boom came actually with the World Cup coming up and for sure the statement of FIFA to not allow these captain bands on the field", said Badge Direct BV CEO Roland Heerkens in an interview.
Demand for the bands, which were originally launched in 2020 as part of an inclusiveness campaign by the Royal Dutch Football Association , had been only "so-so" until this summer, Heerkens said.A woman sews Velcro on to a One Love armband, which is banned by FIFA at the World Cup Qatar 2022, in Utrecht, Netherlands November 23, 2022. REUTERS/Staff
Why can’t people just respect other countries’ rules?
finding ways to protest? you participate, you support. it is that easy.
Good it’s a virtue signalling grift
Why not separate international sports competition from political assertions? Sports are our common love; but different political assertions are rooted in distinct values, which may never converge. Why can't we keep our precious few common pleasures from political contamination?
We shouldn’t need to wear any sign. We should just be one.
Never has been a good idea to try to silence people against their wishes. Almost always results in a train wreck for those trying to do the silencing.
This will never be a normal thing in the arab world, never dream of it. These are the things we follow, get used to it
You know where to put it 🍑, a racist society apart from human nature
I saw some fans wearing a ‘One Beer’ armband.
Converting a Contraversy into Cash?
Anti-hate 🤡 They save all that hate for the ones who don't want to play their little game, then it becomes crystal clear that their so called message is 100% fake and hypocritical.
One love means what again?
And that, boys and girls, is how capitalism works.
Why didn’t people just boycott the World Cup? No one cares about that in Qatar.
WC teams: Armband restrictions are evil. Child miners slaving to supply chemicals for EV’s are good ~