Jan Vertonghen on OneLove armband ban: "I'm afraid to say anything"

The ‘OneLove’ campaign was started before Euro 2020 and was supported by the national teams of

, Denmark, Germany, England, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Wales, Sweden, and Switzerland. Same-sex relationships and the promotion of same-sex relationships are criminalized in Qatar.

FIFA announced a one-match ban for any captain who would wear the

OneLove armband

and hence eight European nations confirmed that their captains will not wear OneLove rainbow armbands at the 2022 World Cup.

Speaking ahead of

Belgium's

opener against Canada, Vertonghen said:

"It's a tough question. If it's too late [to make a statement against discrimination], I don't know. If you make a statement now by wearing it, that would mean punishing yourself.

"But now I'm afraid to say anything. I don't feel comfortable saying anything, and that's telling enough, that we are put under pressure.

"That's a regrettable situation that I've never experienced in football and I hope I won't experience again.

"We are being controlled and I don't really like making political statements anyway, but if you can't even wear a captain's armband with normal messages like 'no to racism', or 'no to discrimination', then hey, then what [can you say]?

"I shouldn't be saying anything about it because tomorrow I want to appear at the game. It's a pity that we have been put in this situation, and I want to leave it at that."

Belgium boss

Martinez

added:

"As a federation and group we've been proactive for last two years, it's not a case of arriving and then catching up on what's happening. We respected everyone's views, worked together with professionals who knew the situations.

"Yesterday there was a clear statement by the federations, and at this point we just want to talk about football, we're desperate to be on the pitch.

"We just want to create a wonderful story, story of a lifetime. That's the only thing we want to be focusing on now."

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