One Love armbands, the accessory synonymous with rebelling against Qatar’s World Cup anti-LGBTQIA+ community restrictions, can now be implemented into the video game FIFA 23.
The initiative, developed by non-profit organisation All Out and Brazilian agency AlmapBBDO, means that anyone with access to FIFA 23 can download a file that enables their virtual players to wear the banned armbands.
The news comes weeks after FIFA banned the use of the ‘One Love’ armband just before the tournament – plagued with homophobia and human rights abuses – commenced. Several national teams, who had adopted the support of the LGBTQIA+ community through the kit accessory, had to back down following threats of in-game penalties if players wore the armbands.
Outvertising co-director of advocacy and activism, Marty Davies, recently told Marketing Beat that they thought the ‘silence’ and lack of ‘allyship’ during the tournament was “deafening” and “hurtful”.
By publicising the mod that sees virtual players wear the One Love armbands, All Out hopes that its dribble past the Qatar authorities can be adopted by the 32 teams playing in this year’s World Cup virtually.
“Now, people can allow virtual players to do what they’ve been forbidden to do in the real world,” the NGO said.
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All Out campaign manager Justin Lessner added: “The armband thing is really striking, because the rainbow on it isn’t even the LGBT+ flag! Even so, team captains were forbidden from wearing it and threatened with punishment if they did. That goes to show how the repression of the mere mention of LGBT+ issues in Qatar is both severe and highly coordinated – so just imagine what LGBT+ people in Qatar go through! It’s incredibly dangerous.”
“The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet. And even so, it’s not for everyone. Whether on the pitch or off it, nobody should be punished for defending the right to be yourself and love who you love.”
As part of the campaign, streamers and pro players from Brazil and across the globe will also play matches live to highlight their players’ armbands.
AlmapBBDO executive creative directors, Rodrigo Almeida and Rafael Gil, concluded: “It’s not just about the players themselves taking a stand. This is where creativity comes into it. Diversity has to be there on the pitch, on the court, in the press, on social media, and across the world.”
