Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Alex Scott, England, Football World Cup
Jack Kenmare
Alex Scott wore the 'One Love' armband on the Khalifa International Stadium touchline after England’s decision to abandon the gesture over FIFA sanctions.
It was confirmed on Monday that England, Wales and other European nations will not wear the 'One Love' armband at the Qatar World Cup because of the threat of players being booked.
Harry Kane and Gareth Bale had planned to wear the armband to promote diversity and inclusion, but seven football associations said they could not put their players "in a position where they could face sporting sanctions".
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A statement read: "We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision, which we believe is unprecedented."
In the aftermath of the decision, BBC pundit and former England forward Alex Scott decided to wear the armband during Monday's pre-match coverage.
Her decision sparked plenty of positive reaction on social media.
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One fan said: "England may not be wearing the #OneLove armband, but @AlexScott is right now on BBC. This is more than just LGBTQ+ rights, this is Human Rights," while another wrote: "Excellent from Alex Scott."
A third commented: 'What a leader. Alex Scott is a real one. Legend."
England manager Gareth Southgate had the following to say on One Love. "A lot of discussions have gone on without me involved because I've been focussed on the game," he said ahead of kick-off.
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"We're wearing a FIFA armband that was decided by collective federations overnight, I believe. We're in the middle of that and trying to focus on the game."
Hosts Qatar have been criticised over their attitude towards women and people within the LGBTQ+ community in the build-up to this winter's tournament, while concerns continue to be raised over the country’s treatment of migrant workers.
Ahead of England's opener against Iran, Alex Scott said it would have been "the easy option" to boycott this winter's tournament.
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Scott said on BBC Sport: "I've had conversations about, 'I should be staying at home, I should be boycotting' and I thought long and hard about it. I think that for me personally would have been the easy option.
"I love my job and when I think about it sitting here and having the harder conversations and it's bigger isn't it? We're talking about migrant workers, we're talking about the LGBT+ community, we're talking about women's rights.
"You think about four years ago, I was thinking about it this morning, I was the first female pundit for the BBC at the World Cup. You think how far we've moved in the last four years.
"Let's hope in the next four years at the world cup we're never having to have those conversations again."