England captain Harry Kane was seen wearing a rainbow watch ahead of England’s first game of the World Cup 2022, against Iran. It was a $1 million ‘Rainbow Daytona’ from Rolex, and Kane wore it presumably to register his protest against the draconian anti-LGBTQ law in Qatar.

An Instagram account with close to a million followers on Instagram posted a picture of Kane wearing that watch. “This masterpiece is set with 36 baguette-cut rainbow sapphires on the bezel, 56 brilliant-cut diamonds on the case, and 11 baguette-cut rainbow colored sapphires as hour markers,” they wrote.

Kane was one of the seven captains who were supposed to wear the OneLove armband, as a mark of solidarity toward LGBTQ people. But all nations buckled down after FIFA decided to impose sporting sanctions on the players for showing any symbol of protest.

“As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games,” read the joint statement from FA and other football federation.

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the players prioritized themselves when they had a chance to stand for something bigger. Moreover, by falling in line with FIFA’s statement, they showed that donning an armband was nothing more than a vacuous gesture, because if it was something they truly believed in, a meek sanction of a yellow card wouldn’t have affected their stance.

England, meanwhile, will be playing the USA later tonight. They ran riots in the first game thrashing Iran by 6-2. The USA will be heading into the game off a 1-1 draw against Wales.

In the match against Japan, the German players protested against FIFA by covering their mouths with hands, symbolizing that by denying the right to protest, FIFA has taken away their voice. Nancy Faeser, the German politician who was watching the game alongside FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, was spotted wearing the armband. “It breaks the heart of every fan to see how FIFA is also putting the burden of this on to the shoulders of the players,” said Faeser.

Lead Image: England/Twitter