GENEVA –
Denmark will wear team shirts at the World Cup protesting host Qatar’s human rights record, with a black option unveiled on Wednesday to honor migrant workers who died during construction work for the tournament.
“The color of mourning,” kit maker Hummel said in a post on Instagram sharing the third-choice black design.
“While we fully support the Danish national team, this should not be confused with supporting a tournament that has claimed the lives of thousands of people,” the company said.
The designs appear to fulfill a promise made last November by the Danish Football Association to wear clothing with “critical messages” at the tournament in Qatar.
Although FIFA World Cup rules prohibit political statements on team uniforms, the three Danish kit designs in all-red, all-white and all-black do not appear to contain any words or symbols that make an explicit statement. The national team badge, the Hummel logo and decorative white chevrons – a famous feature of the Denmark kit since the 1980s – have faded into the same single color as the shirt.
“We don’t want to be visible during the tournament,” said Hummel. “We fully support the Danish national team, but that is not the same as supporting Qatar as the host country.”
World No. 10 Denmark, who reached last year’s European Championship semi-finals, were one of the 32 World Cup sides most likely to put up a strong stance against Qatar.
The Danish FA also joined a European campaign launched last week for captains to wear heart-shaped, multicolored “One Love” armbands at World Cup matches.
The gas-rich emirate has been heavily criticized over the past decade for treating migrant workers, mostly from South Asia, needed to build tens of billions of dollars worth of stadiums, subways, roads and hotels.
Danish officials have taken a leading role in a group of European football associations visiting Qatar to monitor progress on promised labor law reforms.
Denmark have been drawn into a World Cup group with defending champions France, who usually wear a dark blue kit, Australia, whose preferred color is gold, and Tunisia, who wear white.
The FIFA fixture list for the tournament lists Denmark as the home team with the first color choice only for the opening game on 22 November against Tunisia.