Germany agreed to "join England in wearing black armbands bearing poppies for their friendly on Friday," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. The FA confirmed its German counterpart, the DFB, "not only allowed it to commemorate Armistice Day during the match at Wembley, but will do so as well." The FA was "controversially fined" by FIFA last year for displaying the poppy during England's World Cup qualifier against Scotland, "despite having done so previously without sanction." That saw a "row break out which in September resulted in a climbdown" by the game's world governing body, which agreed to "relax rules banning political symbols during matches." The FA "still required the permission of England's opponents to display the poppy," which it managed to secure. Friday's commemorations will also see a replica of "The Truce" statue, which depicts the "historic World War I ceasefire where peace and games of football broke out" between English and German troops on Christmas Day in 1914, on temporary display beside the Bobby Moore statue at Wembley (TELEGRAPH, 11/8). The BBC reported Wales will also wear black armbands bearing poppies for Friday's friendly against France in Paris. DFB President Reinhard Grindel said that poppy armbands were not "political propaganda." He said, "They're about remembering the kind of values that were kicked to the ground in two World Wars but are cherished by football: respect, tolerance, and humanity." The FA and DFB also plan to commemorate Armistice Day on Saturday "in a number of other ways," including:
- RAF, Army and Navy representatives will lay wreaths before kickoff.
- A period of silence will be held before kickoff and after the national anthems.
- During the silence, the Wembley Stadium arch will be lit in red and "Football Remembers" will be displayed on the stadium screen (BBC, 11/8).
