World Cup Arm Band Initiative: World Cup Captains Will Be Allowed to Wear Arm Bands Highlighting Social Causes

At this summer’s 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which starts on July 20, players will finally get to wear a social issue on their sleeves—well, their arms. FIFA has announced that team captains can choose from eight arm bands representing social causes. Here’s the lineup:

• Unite for Inclusion – in partnership with UN Human Rights
• Unite for Indigenous Peoples – in partnership with UN Human Rights
• Unite for Gender Equality – in partnership with UN Women
• Unite for Peace – in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
• Unite for Education for All – in partnership with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Unite for Zero Hunger – in partnership with the UN World Food Programme
• Unite for Ending Violence Against Women – in partnership with UN Women
• Football is Joy, Peace, Love, Hope & Passion – in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO)

Instagram content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Within this new official World Cup arm band initiative, team captains can opt to wear one arm band of their choosing throughout the entire tournament or coordinate with the theme of each match; games will feature all of the eight causes, with elements throughout the stadiums tying into the themes. The World Cup arm band options were selected following months of discussions with all the 32 participating countries/teams as well as with United Nations agencies, according to FIFA.

Of course, the concept of FIFA-approved arm bands actually arose from some controversial recent happenings in the soccer world. FIFA—which has historically taken a tough stance against players wearing political, religious, or personal messages and symbols during high-profile tournaments—has preemptively prohibited women’s team captains at the upcoming World Cup from wearing rainbow One Love arm bands supporting the LGBTQ+ community, as many had said they planned to do. Launched in the Netherlands in 2020 and then adopted by other European nations and beyond, the antidiscrimination One Love bands were sported by team captains during the 2022 women’s European championships but then banned right before the men’s World Cup last winter.