‘Exceptional woman’: Female star steals spotlight from England players

A plan by the England men’s team to protest at the World Cup fell flat, so a former female international took matters in her own hands.

Alex Scott wore a One Love armband ahead of England’s World Cup opener against Iran.

It comes after England and seven other countries decided they would not wear the armband for fear of FIFA sanctions.

England, Wales, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark planned to wear the armband in all their games in Qatar.

But under pressure from FIFA, who warned captains would receive a yellow card if they wore the One Love armband, the countries have U-turned.

But Scott — who has dated both men and women in the past — remained defiant and showed solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.

“I don’t think it’s fair on the players to do this on the morning of the game, they have done incredible work, they knew the rules, it could be one of the biggest games they play, all the players should be thinking about is how to win the game,” she said.

“It would have made a strong statement imagine if Harry came out wearing the armband.”

Scott has received praise for her stance with one fan saying: “You legend Alex Scott.”

Another added: “Top s***housery from Alex Scott.”

And a third said: “Leave it to a Lioness to take a stand. Respect to Alex Scott.”

Big up Alex Scott 🌈 what an exceptional woman 👑 pic.twitter.com/F34amzwH0M

— Skinnydip London (@SkinnydipLondon) November 21, 2022

A joint statement read: “FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play.

“As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games.

“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing the armband.

“However we cannot put our players in a position where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.

“We are very frustrated by the Fifa decision which we believe is unprecedented – we wrote to Fifa in September informing them of our wish to wear the One Love armband to actively support inclusion in football, and had no response.

“Our players and coaches are disappointed – they are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways.”

Harry Kane did not wear the arm band. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Manchester United legend Roy Keane said the England players should have stood their ground.

“The players could have done it for the first game - took the punishment, whatever that might be,” he told ITV. “If it’s Kane you’re risking getting a yellow card, but that would have been a great statement.

“Do it for the first game, get your yellow card and what a message that would have been. Take your medicine and in the next game you move on. You don’t wear it because you don’t want to get suspended but, I think it was a big mistake because both players - Wales and England - should have stuck to their guns and done it. ‘No matter the pressure from the outside and the associations, have the belief, if that’s what you believe, then go with it.”

This article was originally published by The Sun and reproduced with permission