Alex Scott says ‘cost’ of wearing One Love armband at Qatar World Cup ‘still ongoing’
She made the powerful statement during the BBC’s coverage last year.
Former Lioness and England captain Alex Scott has opened up about the “ongoing” impact of deciding to show her support for the LGBTQ+ community with the One Love armband at the Qatar World Cup.
The One Love armbands were supposed “to promote inclusion and send a message against discrimination of any kind.” They would act as visual opposition to the fact homosexuality is illegal and punishable with prison sentences and death in Qatar.
Despite plans from the captains of nine European countries to commit to wearing the armband, all the nations later made a joint U-turn. This was after FIFA threatened to book players who stepped onto the pitch with the armband with a yellow card.
But Scott – who has not labelled her sexuality but shared she’s been in relationships with men and women – wore the armband in a pitch-side discussion with Kelly Somers ahead of England’s opening match against Iran. Many at the time commended her for this act of bravery.
“It doesn’t come without a cost” – Alex Scott
Now, appearing at the recent GQ Heroes event, Scott explained the “cost” of the gesture during their ‘The Fight For Football’s Soul’ segment.
Scott was in conversation with British author and musician Musa Okwonga, who reminded her of the “bold” nature of wearing the armband.
But she quickly noted: “It doesn’t come without a cost,” before Okwonga asked what the cost had been over the weeks to follow.
“I won’t say the next few months, I feel like it’s still ongoing,” Scott confirmed.
The TV pundit went on to explain that she had to “disappear” after her involvement in the Qatar World Cup.
“After Qatar, I had to disappear,” she shared. “I mean, I disappeared somewhere nice, I did go to Barbados.
“But I was like, I need to get away, I just need to be on an island and escape life.”
Scott was subject to horrendous online abuse, adding she wanted to get away from “everything that goes with that, the hate, the death threats.”
“Do you know what, it’s actually sad that I’m like, ‘It’s nothing new’,” she added of the abuse.
Following their decision to no longer wear the One Love armbands, England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland released a joint statement outlining that they could not put their players “in a position where they could face sporting sanctions”.
“We are very frustrated by the Fifa decision, which we believe is unprecedented,” their statement read at the time.