Roy Keane criticizes Harry Kane, Gareth Bale for not wearing 'OneLove' armband at World Cup

Legendary footballer Roy Keane has criticized England captain Harry Kane and Wales captain Gareth Bale for not wearing "OneLove" anti-discrimination armbands at the World Cup in Qatar.

"I think the players could have done it for the first game," the current pundit said about wearing the armband, according to Ed McCambridge of FourFourTwo and also Sky Sports News. "They should have taken the punishment — whatever that might be. Kane might have been risking getting a yellow card if that was the punishment. But that would have been a great statement. Do it for the first game. If you get your yellow card, what a message that would have been from Kane or Bale. Take your medicine, and in the next game, you move on. You don't wear it [again] as you don't want to be getting suspended. 

"But I think [not wearing the armband] was a big mistake. I think both players, and we're talking about Wales and England here, should have stuck to their guns and done it — whatever pressure from outside or from your own associations. Have the belief, if that's what you believe, then go with it." 

It was reported earlier on Monday that FIFA threatened to issue yellow cards to any player who wore a "OneLove" armband during a World Cup match and later said that captains from seven countries subsequently abandoned plans to sport the armband meant to show support for the LGBTQ+ community. Sky Sports News' Rob Dorsett and Kaveh Solhekol later reported that players risked "the possibility they could face a one-game ban" if they wore the armband during the World Cup. 

England smashed Iran 6-2 on Monday, while Wales played to a 1-1 draw with the United States later in the day in World Cup openers for those nations. 

"We're disappointed," Kane said about FIFA's decision after England's victory. "We wanted to wear it, that decision was taken out of my hands. I turned up to the stadium with the armband that I wore and I was told I had to wear that. Look, it's out of our control as players. I'm sure the FA and FIFA will continue those discussions but most importantly today we focused on the game and got a great result.

"You've seen over the last five years we've made a stand as a squad and we'll continue to do that as much as we can. We took a knee today as well but sometimes these decisions aren't up to us and that's the bottom line."

England's Jack Grealish added he thinks "it is a bit stupid" that Kane and others couldn't wear the "OneLove" armband. Meanwhile, former England international Alex Scott rocked the armband reporting on the World Cup for the BBC on Monday. 

Also on Monday, American journalist Grant Wahl described how he was temporarily prevented from entering a World Cup stadium because he was wearing a pro-LGBTQ t-shirt as an apparent protest of Qatar's much-publicized human rights record.