Re- posting due to typo in one of the options in the orginal post.. I've never posted on the England forum before, but I've been moved to by the outrageous refusal of FIFA to let the English and Welsh national teams add remembrance poppies to their kits this coming remembrance weekend. Personally I think it's shameful that FIFA should be telling our national team, of our national sport, where the sport itself was fist established, that they cannot honour those that fought and died for this Country in the way that they want to. The FA have now asked FIFA twice for permission, and have flatly been rejected twice, with the threat that should the team include the poppies then they will instruct the referee to call off the match. My feeling is that the team should include the poppies regardless of what FIFA say. In my view to do otherwise would be both cowardly and disrespectful. If necessary they should have a non-FIFA affiliated referee team on stand-by. So I have decided to put it to the vote
I have to agree that this is a travesty! I would like to quote George Santayana who said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Why should the england team not be allowed to remember the brave men and women who have fought and made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and for our liberty. He is hiding behind the rules that ban POLITICAL symbols and ADVERTISING on shirts, of which this is neither!! The poppy is a symbol of remembrance and a symbol of thanks. It is not a symbol of hatred or of oppression and it does not offend anyone. It is a simple fact that in Flanders fields poppies do grow where the soldiers fell. Jack Whilshire said that his great grandfther fought in WWII and i am sure many players know someone who fought and maybe even died. Maybe they could wear a black armband with the words "Lest We Forget" or We Will Remember Them" on. Its not perfect, but FIFA cannot stop that!!
Fifa always put England down !!! (just because they better than France) and before anyone say anything im not English !! im African
Really stupid campaign by really stupid people looking for a cheap way to gain popularity against an organization that they know everyone has a low opinion of. Can you honestly not understand why poppies should not be on the England strip? Are FIFA expected to rule on what should and should not appear on every strip for every game around the world? Do you really want FIFA to be the arbiter what does and does not constitute an appropriate symbol? Poppies commemerate and show evidence of a donation to the fund supporting servicemen fighting in wars round the globe past and present. What if we were playing against Afghanistan? Why not allow a pink ribbon for AIDS? How about a yellow ribbon supporting the troops? Is that allowed? How about a swastika (it is lucky in many cultures you know, and has no political significance)? Are we also going to support an increase in fees to FIFA to set up a committee to rule on this for each of the 1,000,000 games played around the globe? Or only international matches? Or is it just that the English feel that they are special and rules shouldn't apply to them? No wonder every other country hates us!
The poppy has NEVER been shown the shirt of a team in FIFA before...why now? It's their organization....if you want to be part of it follow the rules Otherwise it opens the door for all sorts of "non political gestures"on strips
It is actually common sense what should and should not be shown on the kit. If it is a symbol that is quite blatantly offensive in any way then there is no place in football for it. You have mentioned the Swastika(卐 this is a symbol which is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles. There are many versions of it but each differs slightly. This is the Nazi version of it please log in to view this image As you can see it slightly differs from the Hindu version please log in to view this image We cannot say that any Swastika should be banned, but the Nazi one cannot be allowed for obvious reasons as it stands for oppression and hatred. Why should we ban a pink ribbon for Breast Cancer Care, or a yellow ribbon for AIDS? The are not political, nor are they commercial nor are they religious. They are charitable. This is not just an English thing, but a world wide symbol. The French lay a poppy wreath, the Americans, the Canadians and many more. Also why suddenly can we not wear them?? The last time they weren't worn was the 2009 game against Brazil, they have been worn at all other games.
