Denmark will wear shirts at the World Cup that criticise the human rights record of the host nation Qatar, with a black option unveiled to honour migrant workers who died during construction work for the finals tournament.
“The color of mourning,” kit manufacturer Hummel said in a post on Instagram releasing the black third-choice design.
“While we support the Danish national team all the way, this shouldn’t be confused with support for a tournament that has cost thousands of people their lives,” the company said.
Although Fifa’s rules prohibit political statements on team uniforms, the team’s all-red, all-white, and all-black appear to comply with the rules as there are no words or symbols that make an explicit statement. The national team badge, Hummel logo and decorative white chevrons – a famous feature of the Denmark shirt since the 1980s – are faded into the same single colour as the shirt, but remain visible.
Qatar has accepted its labour system is a work in progress, but has denied the contents of a 2021 Amnesty report that thousands of migrant workers were still being exploited. The country has been criticised in the past decade for its treatment of migrant workers, mostly from south Asia, who have built tens of billions of pounds’ worth of infrastructure for the World Cup.
Image Credit: Hummel
