Fifa completely wrong on poppies ban, insists David Mundell
Scottish Secretary David Mundell has condemned Fifa's "inexplicable" decision to ban international footballers from wearing poppies.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell has condemned Fifa's "inexplicable" decision to ban international footballers from wearing poppies.
Football's world governing body insists the laws of the game, which prohibit commercial, political or religious messages from players' kits, means poppies cannot be worn by Scotland and England players for their clash at Wembley on November 11.
The Scottish Football Association and its English counterpart issued near-identical statements on Wednesday insisting poppies do not represent such a message and that their players will wear poppies on black armbands during their Armistice Day World Cup qualifier, in defiance of the ban.
At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Theresa May criticised Fifa and described its stance as "utterly outrageous".
Speaking at the launch of Edinburgh Poppy Day in the city's St Andrews Square on Thursday, Mr Mundell agreed with the Prime Minister's sentiments.
He said: "This isn't a political gesture - it's a gesture about paying respect.
"I think Fifa have got this completely wrong and I absolutely agree with the Prime Minister that they should duck out of the issue. It's quite clear that the players are going to wear the commemorative armbands and it's quite right they do so."
Edinburgh Poppy Day has been running for the past four years and last year raised more than £10,000 for Poppyscotland, and Mr Mundell joined volunteers for a day of mass collections in the city.
He said: "I think people in Scotland over the years have been really generous to the Poppy Appeal because they understand the sacrifice that has been given - they want to commemorate and respect that, but they also want to support our existing British Armed Forces and indeed those ex-servicemen and women who need a little bit of extra help once they have left the Armed Forces.
"There are less people with a direct family connection to the Armed Forces than there were in the post-war era, so it's very important that the public as a whole get the opportunity to work with the Poppy Appeal to see how it can affect positively the lives of those people who have come out of the Armed Forces... and also just saying thank-you."
Edinburgh Poppy Day included live music from Amy Hawthorn. She has released a single called The Fight Inside and all proceeds from its sale will go to the Scottish Poppy Appeal.
Ms Hawthorn, from Livingston, said: "I wrote the song from a perspective of having someone loved away fighting at war and just staying strong for them inside and not giving up the fight for a better world.
"It's hard to write from that perspective because I don't have anyone in that position, but I was imagining what it would feel like.
"We're hoping to raise more awareness through the song and hopefully people buy it and support it for a good cause."