Denmark are ready to discuss a blanket withdrawal from FIFA alongside other UEFA nations over the OneLove armbands issue.
The captains of seven European nations were planning on wearing the anti-discrimination armbands to protest against Qatar’s human rights record, but all backed down after FIFA revealed on the eve of the tournament that they would be shown yellow cards for doing so.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Danish FA (DBU) CEO Jakob Jensen revealed that a yellow card was the “minimum” punishment that captain Simon Kjaer would have faced.
“On November 21, England asked for an emergency meeting with FIFA, who came to the English hotel,” Jensen revealed. “FIFA said it would at least give a yellow card.
“There has been discussion about whether there is a legal basis for giving a yellow card, but there is. The penalty could have been a yellow card, that the captain had not come on the pitch or that he was given a ban.”
The German football association is taking FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the ban and now the DBU delegation revealed the “anger” this has caused, and stated they would not formally support current president Gianni Infantino – who is standing unopposed – in his reelection bid.
“There are presidential elections in FIFA. There are 211 countries in FIFA and I understand that the current president has statements of support from 207 countries,” said DBU chairman Jesper Moller. “Denmark is not among those countries. And we’re not going to be either.”
Moller also revealed that Denmark were considering leaving FIFA, and were willing to discuss this with all 55 member states of the organisation.
“It is not a decision that has been made now. We have been clear about this for a long time. We have been discussing it in the Nordic region since August,” he said.
“I’ve thought it again. I imagine that there may be challenges if Denmark leaves on its own. But let us see if we cannot have a dialogue on things.
“I have to think about the question of how to restore confidence in FIFA. We must evaluate what has happened, and then we must create a strategy – also with our Nordic colleagues.
Source : Football 365