(Football news) FIFA have rejected Denmark’s request for its players to be permitted to wear pro human rights training shirts with the words "Human Rights for All". The football governing body expressly prohibits all political messages to be featured on jerseys and have asked teams to “focus on football” ahead of the World Cup in Qatar. The country has been criticised for it’s stance on same sex marriages, human rights record and the treatment of migrant workers who built the infrastructure of the tournament which will begin on November 20th. 

DBU director Jakob Jensen told Danish agency Ritzau “For me, this is a jersey with a very simple message about universal human rights. It is Fifa's right as organiser of this tournament to say that we can't do it. Fifa of course does this to prevent all sorts of weird stuff. We don't think it was that strange. We don't think there's any politics in it. We think that human rights are universal, and we stand by this view. Fifa had a different assessment and sadly we had to take that into consideration."

Denmark will wear toned down jerseys for the World Cup as a protest against hosts Qatar with kit manufacturer Hummel designing a third, all-black kit, to represent the "colour of mourning". According to FIFA regulations, any team equipment, including clothing, must not show any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images. FIFA had earlier written to the 32 teams featuring at the World Cup that football should not be "dragged" into ideological or political "battles". 

The letter has been criticised by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and LGBTQ+ campaigners in England and Wales while 10 teams including England and Wales said "human rights are universal and apply everywhere" in response. England manager Gareth Southgate said that it was “optimistic” for FIFA to expect nations to solely concentrate on football while ignoring the glaring issues about the Qatar World Cup. Harry Kane and nine other European teams will wear 'One Love' armbands as a message against discrimination while former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has claimed that it was a “mistake” to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar.

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