Twitter Is In Awe Of Alex Scott & Her Show Of Solidarity At The 2022 World Cup

On Nov. 20 FIFA announced that it would “impose sporting sanctions” on any captains that wore the OneLove armband during matches at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. England’s captain Harry Kane and Wales’ Gareth Bale were planning on showing their support to the LGBTQ+ community in a country where same-sex relationships are illegal, as were other European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. But that didn’t stop BBC commentator and former Lioness Alex Scott, who proudly wore hers while presenting coverage of England’s first match against Iran to support LGBTQ+ communities and discrimination.

Scott had been advised to “boycott” the event, which she said “would have been the easy option,” Scott stood up for her beliefs and used her platform to support the rights of LGBTQ+ fans, spectators, and players. Referencing FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino from his controversial speech, Scott explained the fear many LGBTQ+ people face travelling to Qatar to support their teams “just because of your preference of who you choose to love.”

In a joint statement issued by the teams who were planning on wearing the armband, they said they were “very frustrated by the FIFA decision,” calling it “unprecedented” and adding they were “prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations”, but they couldn’t put “players in the situation where they might be booked or even force to leave the field of play.”

FIFA did however allow captains to wear armbands representing its No Discrimination campaign, adding that the organisation “wants to put football to the benefit of society by supporting good and legitimate causes [which] has to be done within the framework of the competition regulations which are known to everyone.” This decision hasn’t sat well with spectators and fans on social media, with The Football Supporter’s Association saying in a statement that LGBTQ+ supporters feel “angry,” “betrayed,” and “feel contempt for an organisation that has shown its true values by giving the yellow card to players and the red card to tolerance.”

Still, it was Scott’s bravery which sparked floods of admiration on Twitter. Keep scrolling to see how Twitter is showing its support and admiration of the commentator’s actions.