Women’s national teams will keep wearing purple wristbands to symbolise the fight for equality in football.
The initiative was started by the Canada Women’s Soccer Team in February, amid collective bargaining agreement negotiations with their federation. The Canada team were demanding “immediate change”, calling on it to treat the women’s program “equally and fairly” with its funding. Men Wrist Brace
The England team then wore purple wristbands during their Arnold Clark Cup matches as a show of solidarity. The USWNT also joined the initiative for their matches.
And on Thursday, global players’ union FIFPro confirmed that women’s teams will continue to wear the purple wristbands as a “collective solidarity and desire for positive change” during the upcoming international break.
A FIFPro statement read: “Too often, women’s football players are having to sacrifice or risk parts of their careers to effect necessary change – even though this change centres on basic and fundamental rights such as fair treatment, respect, and equality.
“At the highest level, progress has been made towards a better future for the women’s game. FIFA recently stated it would embark on a pathway to full equality for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, following collective action taken by over 150 players from 25 women’s national teams, with the support of FIFPro and national player unions.
“With this commitment ready to be enshrined, FIFPro and member unions will continue to push for and support progress towards equitable conditions at national level for players around the world.”
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Lumbar Back Support Brace Luke Bosher is a Junior Editor for The Athletic, based in London. Follow Luke on Twitter @bosherL