Poppies and the England Team
So, the England team have been banned from wearing poppies. That’s the way that the press are putting it, making it sound like England are being victimised. FIFA’s response is apparently that they oppose political messages on shirts. You will have your own opinion as to whether or not a poppy counts as such. But I think that this issue isn’t quite as black and white.
A good deal is made about wearing a poppy. Even the British Legion’s advertisements tell you to wear poppies. But isn’t it more the fact that you’ve paid for the poppy that counts? I could wear as many poppies my clothing will allow, but if I’ve paid for none, then I’ve hardly been much use. It could be argued that wearing one is good advertising, or raises awareness, and that will certainly be true to some extent – but it’s hardly a substitute for making a donation to the charity.
Despite this, last weekend in the Premier League, we saw all teams with poppies printed on their shirts. But were these paid for? I’d certainly hope that clubs, or the players, made a substantial donation for the right to do this, otherwise it feels a little lip-servicey, if not hypocritical. If you know one way or the other, please tell me.
So, back to England. If the poppy is not a political symbol (and I more or less sway to that opinion), then there’s probably no reason for FIFA to disallow it. However, I do think it should be up to individual players to choose if they want to wear it. There’s always a chance that for whatever reason, a player might not want to wear it, and they should not be forced to, either by the powers that be, or peer pressure. And if a player does wear it, a suitable donation to the charity should be made.
If there is a case to make for it being a political symbol (please let me know if you think it is), then I think my points in the previous paragraph are even more important – as it would almost be forcing a person to display a political symbol with which they don’t agree. And that is never right.
So I think there’s more to this argument that “we should” or “we shouldn’t”. Personal choice, rather than social pressure, has to play a part.
