Is the poppy a political symbol?

[Jimbuna]

As far as I'm concerned this further demonstrates how detached FIFA are from reality.

Football's governing body, Fifa, has turned down a request from England and Scotland for players to wear armbands featuring poppies on Armistice Day, the Scottish Football Association says. Does the design really breach a ban on "political" symbols, asks Stephen Fottrell.
The poppy is worn every November to commemorate members of the armed forces who gave their lives in war, and British sports teams have traditionally joined in by adding a poppy to their kit.
The English and Scottish football associations had hoped to get permission for their players to wear poppies on their shirts during their World Cup qualifier on Armistice Day (11 November).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37834224

[Platapus]

I guess the poppy is a political symbol when enough people choose to make it a political symbol.

It is not like there is some international definition of what is and ain't a political symbol.

If FIFA rules prohibit political, religious, or commercial messages on shirts and they equally and fairly enforce these rules, then I don't see a problem.

It is my understanding that some feel that there is undue social pressure to wear the poppies, which kinda defeats and perverts the whole idea. That sort of pressure elevates the poppy wearing into being a political symbol.

In the US, it is similar to being pressured to wear an American Flag pin.

But that aside, if that is what FIFA rules state, then they need to follow them. I seriously doubt that any team will win or lose a match dependent on if they are wearing or not wearing a specific patch on their uniforms.

[mapuc]

The American Olympic team was allowed to carry the Flag from 9/11 into the stadium at the opening ceremony

So why shouldn't football team from England and Scotland not be allowed to carry these armbands

It's only for 90+ minutes and only for this day 11th November.

Markus

[Platapus]

Not to sound snarky but one was the Olympics and the other is FIFA.

Also one was a flag and the other is a patch worn on the uniform.

Different dudes different rules.

[em2nought]

Who wants to go reminding everyone that stupid actions in some little backwater can quickly spin out of control? What a dumb lesson to try and learn.

[Oberon]

There does seem to be a bit of a danger of the poppy becoming some sort of religious symbol, such is the reverence put towards it. In small doses that's good, it's good to remember the sacrifices made...but it does no good to start using that symbol to create division, to cast aspersion or to rank people based upon their adherence to the dress-code and behavior surrounding Remembrance day.
It's like how hostile some people can be to the White Poppy movement, whose desires and goals are not that dissimilar to those of the Red Poppies, but that touches on the whole concept of the 'Just war' which is...difficult...

[Buddahaid]

White poppies? Red poppies? I'm poppy illiterate it seems.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

White poppies? Red poppies? I'm poppy illiterate it seems.

You don't hear much of the white poppy movement any more, but they've been around for a long time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_poppy

[Buddahaid]

Oh good grief! I'm sorry I read that. What matters is that we DO remember, not in the details of how.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

Oh good grief! I'm sorry I read that. What matters is that we DO remember, not in the details of how.

True, but the question does always remain...do we sully their names if we do not seek to bring about peace and the end of warfare...or do we do it if we avoid fighting a just war? That question becomes especially complicated when you look at the origins of the poppy in the First World War which, unlike the second, was a war that happened because, as Blackadder put it, it was too much effort to not have a war. It's very hard to consider WWI as a 'just' war.

Either which way it probably does no good to overthink matters, but I do have my concerns about making the poppy some kind of hallowed symbol, and provoking outrage whenever it seems that the symbol has been slighted by someone. I think that undermines the point of it somewhat.

[Jimbuna]

FIFA have already set their own precedent.

In 2011 they threatened to ban them in an England game against Spain, before eventually backing down and allowing them to be displayed on a black armband.

[Jimbuna]

Apparently FIFA have agreed on the Poppy being worn..................once the brown envelope with the million pounds in used notes has been left under the park bench.

[Oberon]

If there's precedence for it then I see no problem.

Back to what I was talking about earlier, this twitter exchange serves as a good example of the concern I have.

[Skybird]

No fan of FIFA, I am with them on this. Statutes are statutes, and in this case they are known since long. I see no reason to allow national exceptions from the rules, no matter the sympathy. I also fear the precedence effect.

Its a football match. Leave it to that: SPORTS. Its not about politics. Not about religion. Not about confession. Not about historical remembrance. Its sports, and sports should not be turned into being something different than that, because it isn't.

Its sports. Leave it alone.

P.S. Ah precedences. See what I mean?

[Catfish]

Sport seems to be an Ersatz-war, for some