Australia “would love to wear” the OneLove armband in support of LGBTQ+ rights at the Women’s World Cup, says captain Sam Kerr.
The armbands were banned at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year, with players said to be threatened with bookings by Fifa if they wore them.
“Like most of the teams in the whole world, everyone has voiced that they would love to wear it,” Kerr said.
Fifa has instead sanctioned eight armbands with various social messages.
Team captains from England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark had planned to wear the OneLove armbands at the men’s World Cup to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships.
In a joint statement, however, the federations from those countries said they would not wear the armband as Fifa had threatened to issue yellow cards to any player wearing it.
Chelsea forward Kerr said the threat of yellow cards would be enough to stop her wearing one as she did not want to risk Australia’s progression in the tournament they are co-hosting with New Zealand.
“You saw with the men’s World Cup, Harry Kane, for example, first game if he had have worn it, he would have received a yellow card; he got a yellow card in the game, so he would have been sent off,” she said.
“It’s not worth the risk; putting the team at risk, putting the tournament at risk, putting everything at risk.
“There will be multiple opportunities where we get to use our voice and there’ll be multiple opportunities where I get to use my voice for things.”
Fifa have instead announced their own selection of armbands for the tournament, which runs between 20 July and 20 August.
Teams will be allowed to choose from the eight sanctioned armbands, which bear messages ranging from promoting gender equality to tackling domestic violence.
Captains have three options in total, including wearing a “Football Unites the World” armband for the tournament.
They will also have the choice of wearing an armband corresponding to the theme of the specific matchday.
England midfielder Georgia Stanway previously said the players had manager Sarina Wiegman’s backing to wear the armbands at this summer’s tournament.
“I feel that we are at a place where everybody can have their individual opinion and we are able to fight for what we believe in,” she said.
“Sarina is with us 100%. Whatever we want to do, she backs us. We make the final decision and Sarina comes with us.”
