Fifa have declined to comment on the decision
The Football Association of Denmark (DBU) have said Fifa have rejected their request to wear training shirts carrying the message ‘human rights for all’ while in Qatar for the World Cup later this month.
Denmark, who have already unveiled three deliberately toned-down match shirts for the tournament, had announced intentions to wear the training shirts last year as part of a campaign to highlight the host nation’s treatment of its migrant workforce.
Though Qatar has continually denied the claims against them, human rights groups have continued to criticise the country – saying reforms brought in in recent years don’t go far enough.
“We have today got a message from Fifa that the training shirts our players were to train in, where it would say ‘human rights for all’ across the stomach, have been rejected due to technical reasons, which is regrettable,” DBU chief executive, Jakob Jensen, told Ritzau news agency.
"People need to know these issues, the real stories of the people who have gone there."
What it costs to build a World Cup. The toll taken on a migrant worker who spent four years in Qatar.
✍️ @SmnLlyd5https://t.co/oEloXzxRN8
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 21, 2021
Though there is no official comment from Fifa as to their reasons, many have pointed to its strict rules which forbid team equipment from carrying any political, religious or personal slogans, statements of images.
“We believe the message ‘human rights for all’ is universal and not a political call, but something everyone can support,” Jensen added.
As well as their kits, Denmark have also confirmed that family members of the players will not travel to Qatar as part of a protest against human rights.
“We don’t want to contribute to creating profit for Qatar,” Jokob Hoyer, the team’s communications manager, told newspaper Ekstra Bladet lastn month.
“Therefore, we have throttled down as much as possible on our travel activities.
“In previous finals, the players’ wives and girlfriends have travelled with the board, but as I said, we have cancelled those trips.”
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