I see that bastion of ethics, Fifa, has managed yet again to cover itself in glory.
This time it finds itself hitting the headlines because it has decreed that the England football team must not have their shirts embroidered with a poppy emblem for this Saturday's friendly against Spain at Wembley.
This time it finds itself hitting the headlines because it has decreed that the England football team must not have their shirts embroidered with a poppy emblem for this Saturday's friendly against Spain at Wembley.
Fifa do not allow religious or political symbols on shirts (though marketing logos etc are more than welcome), and is of the view that the flood gates would open and the "neutrality of football" would be threatened ( LOL "neutrality"!!??) if it allowed the poppy to be embroidered on the shirts.
Visit The Orifice of Government Commerce and buy a collector's item.
Visit The Joy of Lard and indulge your lard fantasies.
Show your contempt for Nanny by buying a T shirt or thong from Nanny's Store.
www.nannyknowsbest.com is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Celebrate the joy of living with booze. Click and drink!
Visit Oh So Swedish Swedish arts and handicrafts
Why not really indulge yourself, by doing all the things that Nanny really hates? Click on the relevant link to indulge yourselves; Food, Bonking, Gifts and Flowers, Groceries
There was an article the other day in The Independent where Robert Fisk said he refuses to wear a poppy because it has just become a fashion statement.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with him - but of course a lot of people gave up their lives so that he could be free to say it.
Here is the post I put on the DM's website yesterday before FIFA reached the compromise with the FA:-
ReplyDelete"I would like to see poppies stitched into the England kit however, I can understand the concerns of FIFA; what would happen if a country decided to have a motif on their kit that we might find offensive? Say a swaztika for example. I support our forces, although not always their mission but, has the whole poppy thing got a tad out of hand? On the BBC everyone has worn a poppy for the last couple of weeks even, as featured on Countryfile, wardens on an isolated island that can only wash once a week and have limited provisions. Is this a BBC policy and making it compulsory, does that go against the whole ethos of rememberance?" end quote.
I do worry that we have politicised the whole qyestion of poopies and our armed forces. We see uniformed forces members at many political photo ops and at sporting events; we see many more parades. I worry that we are going along the lines of the old USSR and China etc where we are forced to almost worship the might of the state.
Again, just so there can be no misunderstanding; I support our troops, I seldom support their mission nor the government that sends them. I supported the Falklands mission; we were invaded but I have not supported our role as a junior world policeman alongside the US nor would I support, at this stage, an attack on Iran as much as I detest what that nation stands for.
You raise some excellent points, Tonk. However, if people wish to wear a poppy they should be at liberty to do so, without interference from either Nanny's jobsworths or the politically correct gestapo. I wonder whether FIFAs climb down has been as a result of the adverse publicity? Whatever the reason, not before time! (If anyone suspects that I don't have a very high opinion of FIFA's leaders, they are dead right!). Equally, if people choose not to wear a poppy, that should also be their choice, and their choice alone. Speaking personally, I have bought a poppy, as I wish to support the British Legion, but have not been wearing it, as the coat I am wearing does not have a button hole for this purpose (it zips up) and I don't wish to stick pins in the coat.
ReplyDeleteMy Lord;
ReplyDeleteI agree..... I too have purchased a poppy this year, just as I do every year. I agree each should be able to choose whether to wear a poppy or not; the latter, in the current climate, being just as important. A newspaper columnist refers to "Poppy Fascism" I believe he has a point.
I am concerned by the decision to ban the MAC organisations even though I hate what they stand for, my fear is that Ms May banning them, may well have played into their hands and may act to recruit more to their cause especially as they are likely to play the Muslim victim card.
It is such a shame that Britain no longer has the defiant attitude that once made it Great.
ReplyDeleteThe team should wear their shirts with the poppies on and see if FIFA has the determination to publicly criticize or fine them.
If FIFA does either they should be told in no uncertain terms to fuck right off.
@Anon //The team should wear their shirts with the poppies on//
ReplyDeleteBut FIFA declared that, if anyone DID so, the referee should send them off.
I don't think they worked through the implications of getting a 70,000 crowd - whether they agreed or not - wound up by the 'friendly match' having to be abandoned.
Mjolinir.
ReplyDeleteI might just be able to understand the reluctance of the team to defy FIFA’s ruling if the game were being played in Spain, or perhaps against some piss-pot team like the Faroe Islands where there wouldn’t be much of a crowd.
But they are playing Spain, the World and European champions, in front of a majority English crowd of perhaps the most ardent (and unrealistic) supporters in the World.
What better time is there to tell FIFA to go shit in its hat……and punch it.
I wear my poppy in my hair, tucked under my hairband. I don't like poking holes in my clothes and I like it better against my hair. Cue the BBC having a fit if I ever end up on television...XD
ReplyDeleteI have noticed over the last few days that there are "super poppies" about. I have seen a couple of people on the state broadcaster (Al-Jabeeba) wearing these huge poppies and I wondered; does wearing a large poppy increase or decrease the amount of respect you give to our fallen service personnel or does it just say something about the size of your own ego. It made me think of the guy in the office that has to have the biggest briefcase or the biggest desk etc.
ReplyDeleteQuite agree, Tonk!
ReplyDeleteMjolinir: Possibly the real reason for FIFAs climbdown: they feared a massive riot, the blame for which would be laid squarely at their door!