UK’s Out Gay Sports Minister Wears OneLove Armband At Qatar World Cup

The United Kingdom’s first out gay sports minister Stuart Andrew wore a OneLove armband at the World Cup in Doha last week. 

Andrew was pictured wearing the OneLove armband while he stood alongside Welsh economy minister Vaughan Gething and Secretary David Davies. 

He explained his decision to wear the armband on social media, posting to Twitter, “Sport has the power to unite and inspire so it’s vital that all sporting events, such as the FIFA WorldCup, are open and inclusive.” 

Minister Andrew wore a rainbow tie and the OneLove armband while watching a game between England and Wales. He called it “really unfair” that football’s governing body had prevented captains of all competing nations from wearing OneLove armbands prior to the start of the tournament. 

OneLove Armband Stirs Controversy

🚨 Stuart Andrew MP, the UK Sports Minister, is wearing the OneLove armband in Qatar. #NoPrideWithoutAll

(📸 Getty) pic.twitter.com/eBTnRDpqlN

— Pride in Football 🏳️‍🌈⚽️ (@PrideinFootball) November 29, 2022

With Qatar’s laws against homosexuality, the wearing of the armband had stirred up controversy since the beginning of the World Cup. Qatar World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi had claimed the armbands were sending out a “divisive message”. 

The captains of nine European countries, including England and Wales, had planned to wear the ‘OneLove’ rainbow armband in Qatar in a bid to promote diversity and inclusion.

England captain Harry Kane was set to wear an armband for his team’s opening game against Iran, but the decision was reversed after governing body FIFA threatened to impose sporting sanctions and fines on teams for donning the rainbow armbands. 

In an interview with The Evening Standard,  Minister Andrew explained his reason for wearing the armband. “I’m not going to shy away from who I am. Our message very much is that no one should have to hide who they are,” he said.

“These games should be a celebration show for all football fans to enjoy. But sadly so many of them are feeling that these are not. This is not a tournament for them. I met with LGBT football supporters, and it was really distressing to see actually how emotional they got that they couldn’t be”, Minister Andrew said. 

FIFA’s Role Criticised

this man is a badass pic.twitter.com/4T45Fp0RqW

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) November 28, 2022

Andrew criticised Qatar’s anti-LGBTQI laws and FIFA’s role in censoring support for the LGBTQI community, stating that queer people “didn’t feel they could be part of this and that is not acceptable.”

Last week, a protester ran onto the football field carrying a rainbow flag during the World Cup match between Portugal and Uruguay. . The protester identified as Marco Ferri, wore a Superman T-shirt with the words ‘Save Ukraine’ on the front and ‘Respect For Iranian Women’ on the back.

Ferri’s Hayya card, which doubles as a permit for international fans to enter Qatar and allows them to attend games and travel for free on the metro, has been taken from him. A Supreme Committee representative told the Guardian that Ferri “has been banned from attending future matches at this tournament.”