UTRECHT, Netherlands, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Name it the legislation of unintended penalties. The “OneLove” armbands FIFA banned on the World Cup in Qatar are abruptly promoting like hotcakes.
The armbands, meant to ship a message of tolerance, connection and opposition to all types of discrimination, have been within the international highlight since FIFA threatened a number of European group captains with yellow playing cards in the event that they wore them to assist lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) folks in Qatar, the place homosexuality is illegitimate.
Now the corporate that makes the bands in Utrecht, the Netherlands, says it’s bought out after delivery 10,000, principally up to now two weeks.
“The large growth got here really with the World Cup developing and for certain the assertion of FIFA to not enable these captain bands on the sphere”, stated Badge Direct BV CEO Roland Heerkens in an interview.
Demand for the bands, which had been initially launched in 2020 as a part of an inclusiveness marketing campaign by the Royal Dutch Soccer Affiliation (KNVB), had been solely “so-so” till this summer season, Heerkens stated.
The design includes a rainbow flag within the form of a coronary heart with a #1 within the center, surrounded by the textual content “One Love” on both facet and the phrases that “soccer connects” in cursive beneath.
The KNVB marketing campaign opposes discrimination on the premise of race, pores and skin color, sexual orientation, tradition, religion, nationality, gender, age and “all different types of discrimination.”
An preliminary enhance got here when group leaders from Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Norway, Wales, Sweden and Switzerland determined to make use of them.
Now demand is coming from across the globe from customers who need “to have the band and make a press release, all the best way as much as the European Parliament, who simply ordered 500 items,” Heerkens stated.
The bands are priced at simply above manufacturing price, at 4.99 euros ($5.15). A brand new batch of 10,000 might be bought on the KNVB web shop and Voetbalshop.nl when it turns into obtainable.
($1 = 0.9694 euros)
Reporting by Toby Sterling; Enhancing by Josie Kao
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