World Cup: FIFA rejects Denmark’s protest move against Qatar

World football governing body, FIFA, has turned down Denmark’s request to train while wearing a pro-human rights shirt at the World Cup in Qatar.

This was disclosed by the Danish football federation (DBU) in a statement issued late Thursday.

World football’s governing body dismissed the Danish request to be allowed wear jerseys bearing the message “Human Rights for All”, a spokesman for the DBU told AFP.

FIFA’s decision will, however, be complied with by the Danish federation in order to avoid sanctions by the football governing body.

Why we want to wear the shirts – Danish Football Federation

Criticism had in recent times fallen on Qatar over the reported treatment of migrant workers and also the country’s stance on women and LGBT rights.

The Danish federation, which had been hostile to the World Cup holding in Qatar, had wanted to be at the forefront of the defense of human rights during the tournament which kicks off on November 20.

“We have sent a request to FIFA, but the response is negative. We regret that, but we have to take it into account,” DBU director Jakob Jensen told Danish agency Ritzau.

The federation had previously announced that training shirts would display “critical messages”, with two sponsors — national lottery Danske Spil and bank Arbejdernes Landsbank — agreeing to have their logos replaced.

“For me, this is a jersey with a very simple message about universal human rights,” Jensen added.

Focus on football, FIFA tells countries

FIFA, which prohibits all political messages, last week urged teams to “focus on football” and not to drag it “into every ideological or political battle”.

On the official jerseys of the Scandinavian country during the competition, its equipment supplier Hummel also dimmed its logos in a sign of “protest” against the Qatari authorities.

Meanwhile, Qatar is yet to react to the Danish decision to wear a human rights shirt in protest against its reported disregard for human rights.