England football captain Harry Kane to wear LGBT+ rainbow armband as Euro Hungary row rumbles on
Harry Kane’s will wear a rainbow armband at Tuesday’s game against Germany. (Getty/ Matt Dunham – Pool and Twitter/ England)
Harry Kane will sport a rainbow armband when England and Germany play their round of 16 Euro 2020 game on Tuesday (29 June), to “stand in allyship” with LGBT+ folk around the world.
Earlier in the Euro 2020 tournament, German captain Manuel Neuer was investigated by UEFA after he began wearing a rainbow armband to every game his team played.
UEFA was investigating whether Neuer’s armband should be considered “political”, but it eventually ruled that it “was promoting a good cause, ie diversity, [and] the team will not face disciplinary proceedings”.
On Monday (28 June), the official Twitter account of the England team announced: “Harry Kane will join Germany’s Manuel Neuer in wearing a rainbow captain’s armband for tomorrow’s game at Wembley Stadium to mark the end of Pride month, as the Three Lions stand in allyship with LGBT+ communities around the world.”
❤️?????@HKane will join @DFB_Team's Manuel Neuer in wearing a rainbow captain’s armband for tomorrow’s game at @wembleystadium to mark the end of Pride month, as the #ThreeLions stand in allyship with LGBTQ+ communities around the world. pic.twitter.com/ML8yEnz6Gn
— England (@England) June 28, 2021
Fans were delighted, with one responding: “Brilliant to see! Such a fantastic moment tomorrow evening to see our captain wearing the rainbow armband in support of the LGBT+ community.”
“It really shouldn’t be needed, but it sadly is,” wrote another.
“So thank you Harry for showing your solidarity.”
Until male gay male footballers are confident to come out and homophobic jeers stop this form of politics = people’s lives. Proud of the England squad giving hope to LGBTQ fans and to those who want a more inclusive England.— Deborah Shaw Devoratheexplorer (@devorahshawa) June 29, 2021
Others pointed out that the prevalence of homophobia in the world of football made the Pride symbol more important than ever.
“Until male gay male footballers are confident to come out and homophobic jeers stop, this form of politics = people’s lives,” one wrote.
“Proud of the England squad giving hope to LGBT+ fans and to those who want a more inclusive England.”
UEFA’s investigation into whether Neuer’s armband was “political” marked the start of a series of rainbow controversies for the football administrative body.
Last week, it blocked Munich’s Allianz Arena from lighting up in rainbow colours for the Germany v Hungary Euro 2020 game as a statement against a new anti-LGBT+ law in Hungary, claiming that rainbow was, in fact, too “political”.
However, it later approved pitch-side rainbow Pride advertising for all Euro 2020 round of 16 games, including in Hungary, insisting that the advertisers’ “decisions to transmit a message of tolerance and inclusion [are] fully supported by UEFA”.
