Denmark will wear team jerseys at the World Cup in protest of Qatar’s human rights record, with a black option released on Wednesday in memory of migrant workers who lost their lives while working on tournament-related construction.
Denmark will don World Cup apparel in opposition to host Qatar
The kit’s third-choice style, black, was announced by kit manufacturer Hummel in an Instagram post with the caption “The colour of grief.”
The corporation stated, “While we fully support the Danish national team, this should not be misconstrued as support for a competition that has claimed thousands of lives.”
The outfits appear to fulfil a pledge made by the Danish soccer federation in November to dress in apparel with “important messages” during the competition in Qatar.
Although the FIFA World Cup regulations forbid political comments on team uniforms, the three Denmark jersey designs—all-red, all-white, and all-black—appears to conform with the prohibition on such statements by containing neither words nor symbols. The national team insignia, the Hummel logo, and the decorative white chevrons—a trademark of the Denmark jersey since the 1980s—are all fading into the same hue as the shirt.
One of the 32 World Cup teams most likely to take a strong stand against Qatar has been Denmark, the No. 10 ranked team in the world that advanced to the semifinals of the European Championship last year.
The Danish federation also joined an initiative in Europe that was started last week to encourage captains to wear colourful, heart-shaped “One Love” armbands during World Cup matches.
The treatment of migrant workers, many of them were from south Asia, who were required to construct stadiums, metro lines, highways, and hotels costing tens of billions of dollars has drawn harsh criticism for the gas-rich emirate during the previous ten years.
A delegation of European soccer federations is currently in Qatar to track the implementation of labour law reforms that have been promised. Danish officials are leading the delegation.
Denmark has been placed in a World Cup group that includes the reigning champion France, who usually dons a dark blue shirt, Australia, who prefers to wear gold, and Tunisia, who dons white.
Denmark is listed as the host team with first preference of colour on the FIFA match schedule for the competition, but only for its opening match against Tunisia on November 22.
