Thursday, the Danish Football Association (DBU) announced that Fifa had denied Denmark’s request to train at the World Cup in shirts that read “human rights for all.”
In 2021, the DBU will replace its two training gear sponsors with statements critical of Qatar and reduce the number of travels to the nation to prevent commercial activities supporting the World Cup games.
As a result of Qatar’s handling of foreign workers and its restrictive social policies, many participating teams have expressed concern. The country has disputed allegations of worker exploitation.
The DBU’s chief executive, Jakob Jensen, told the Ritzau news agency that the DBU’s training jerseys with the slogan “human rights for all” on the stomach were rejected by Fifa for technical reasons. “This is disappointing,” Jensen said.
Fifa declined to comment. Its rules mandate that no political, religious, or personal slogans, sentiments, or images may appear on team equipment. “We believe that the message ‘human rights for all is universal, non-political, and something that everyone can accept,” Jensen explained. This month, Fifa wrote to World Cup teams encouraging them to focus on football in Qatar and not allow ideological or political matters to overshadow the sport.
As a protest against Qatar’s human rights record, the kit manufacturer Hummel stated in September that it had toned down the details on Denmark’s World Cup jerseys and released a black kit in advance of the tournament. Denmark’s first World Cup match will be against Tunisia in Group D on November 22.
