On Tuesday 1 November Britain woke to the news that FIFA had ruled that three of the national football teams (England, Scotland and Wales), playing international matches in early November, would not be allowed to wear armbands with red poppies on. FIFA’s ruling, based on an interpretation of the poppy of remembrance as a political symbol, caused an uproar in the public sphere: newspapers, television and radio, social media and the Houses of Parliament all dedicating time and space to discussion, and usually condemnation, of FIFA’s decision.
