The FAs of England and Scotland "will defy a ban on players wearing poppies during their match at Wembley on Friday, Armistice Day," according to the BBC. FIFA prohibits "any political, religious or commercial messages on shirts." But both FAs "will let players wear black armbands with poppy emblems and are willing to accept any punishment." Interim England Manager Gareth Southgate said, "It's part of our identity as a nation." Scotland captain Darren Fletcher said, "First and foremost, I think everyone would love to wear the poppy and wants to wear the poppy to show our respect. FIFA have their rules and you understand why, but hopefully common sense prevails." Northern Ireland -- which hosts Azerbaijan in Belfast on Friday -- will wear plain black armbands, as will Wales when it plays Serbia on Saturday (BBC, 11/10). The BBC reported in a separate piece FIFA rejected a request from Wales to wear poppies on its shirts or on armbands in Saturday's World Cup qualifier. Wales will wear black armbands instead, "while fans at Cardiff City Stadium will form a poppy mosaic" before kickoff (BBC, 11/10).
FA VOWS TO FIGHT: In London, Ben Rumsby reported the FA has vowed to fight any FIFA attempt to "punish England for wearing armbands sporting poppies" in its World Cup qualifier against Scotland. FIFA has "warned England and Scotland they will be punished for breaching its rules." Any sanction for doing so Friday night is "likely to be limited to a fine" but FA CEO Martin Glenn said, "We’ll contest it strongly because we believe -- we’ve had QC opinion on this -- our case is absolutely rock solid. So, good luck." Glenn "pointed out no Premier League club had been punished for wearing shirts bearing poppies in recent years and blamed the current dispute on the recent change of leadership" at FIFA. He said, "Unfortunately, with new personalities coming in there, they felt they wanted to make a bit of a stand, which is very disappointing" (TELEGRAPH, 11/10).
