FIFA: In the right.. for once.

Do you know what really grinds my gears? Words like conspiracy, disgrace and corruption being thrown about on social networking sites like there's actually a reason for it. Jingoism also annoys me to an unreal extent, as does ignorance; especially because I'm not one of those people who like to stand back and let certain people believe that what they're saying is unquestionably right. I like to debate.

These words and actions often conjoin in the midst of a debate on foreign policy in our country, but what does this have to do with football? Well, England host world champions Spain on Saturday and instead of the build-up that usually accompanies these matches featuring news outlets educating people perhaps not so familiar with some of the opposition's players, all we've heard about is how much of a corrupt, anti-British, nit-picking governing body FIFA is for not allowing our starting 11 to wear poppies. That's right, the best team in the world are coming to town for one night only and all we can talk about is poppies..

To set the scene, I'm 100% British. I was born in Merseyside, England, in 1990 and have lived in the country ever since. I have no immediate family members that carry a different nationality (my surname has Irish roots, but I only crack that one out on special occassions, usually during the rugby). Remembrance Sunday services were an annual fixture for me when I was growing up, not to mention I actually had a grandparent that fought as a pilot in the very war the debate surrounds - he won an OBE for his service. However, despite all of my connections to the poppy, I believe there's a time and a place for paying tribute to the fallen and football games are not one of them. Not that I believe it's particularly offensive to do so. More because, well, there are better, more honourable places to do it than what essentially is a meaningless friendly match.

Di Canio- Right, also?

The tradition of players wearing a poppy on their shirts being a long-standing annual event is a myth. In fact, the FA have only backed the Poppy Appeal since 2003 despite the charity's origin dating back to 1922, and last year was the first time every shirt in the Premier League sported one. Reason being that the Premier League is a cooperative; ran by the 20 owners of the clubs who probably understand what it means to wear the poppy. Fair enough, right? Well what's to stop certain Italian clubs with alleged links to fascism having similar symbols embroidered on their shirts to mark the deaths of those who fought for their beliefs? This is something that some Italian inhabitants - notably Paolo di Canio - still believe in. Di Canio was blasted for aiming a fascist salute on three occasions towards fans of his then club, SS Lazio, of Rome, during his side's 2005/06 Serie A campaign. Was he right for doing this? In my eyes, no, but it's up for question, and that's exactly what it shouldn't come to: symbolism and politics even arousing the smallest of debates in the football world. FIFA on the other hand have a more assured stance on the matter: the body have promised to keep politics and football separate ever since their formation in 1904. Of course, in relation to the England match on Saturday, this has all been made worse by our press and bumbling football association opening their mouths.

The FA has, almost predictably, made a real mess. Had they have felt strongly enough about what they were fighting for they would have done something courageous: the players could have been made wear poppies regardless. Had they have felt like being clever they would have been able to honour the cause in other ways, even finding a way to put positive spin on the story for themselves. Proposing that each player donates a week's wages to the Poppy Appeal is an idea. After all, whose going to object for the sake of their image being ripped apart in the Daily Mail? If this didn't work they could take it upon themselves to donate all proceeds made from the friendly to Help for Heroes or other worthy charities. Paying respect to the fallen can be done in many ways, but the main duty of the poppy is to raise awareness. Why not cut out the middle man and just help the charity? And if the accounts are looking so bad that they can't even do that, well, that's tough, because had they thought about the problem earlier they could have even staged an un-registered friendly where the players would even be allowed to run around dressed as giant poppies (Joe Hart as a sunflower for the sake of kit clashes). All of the following would have made around 100 times more impact than 11 red flowers on 11 white shirts, yet none of this has happened. Instead, a statement that absolutely honked of a compromise to the British public was turfed out this Wednesday morning.

Cameron- 'Ardent fan'

Amongst others, the match will feature England players wearing poppied-up 'anthem jackets' before the match and black armbands during, a poppy wreath on the pitch prior to kick-off and 500 tickets (probably about the amount that Budweiser representatives alone are allocated per-match) will be donated to members of the armed forces. Happy with that? Some evidently aren't. Who, you ask? Well, you just couldn't write it, could you. It should be seen as no shock that one of the main users of football as a tool for his own cause is all over this one. Enter, Sir David of Cameron.. The man of course who once claimed to be an 'ardent fan' of Aston Villa coincidently months before a general election. This time around Cameron has labelled the decision not to allow English players to wear the poppy as an 'appalling' one and has promised to write to FIFA pleading them to reconsider. Its clearly an attempt in vain given that FIFA aren't likely to see it until tomorrow and FA have made other plans. I can't blame Cameron too much for as he's clearly not educated in the history of football enough to see that mixing football with politics is wrong. But his naivety cannot and should not be used as an excuse for doing this whenever a story relating to football crops up. Using football to gain following: it's the oldest trick in the book. Don't buy it.

My theory is that FIFA didn't want to make a big deal out of the situation: it was a simple no from the off. Officials didn't want to give the poppies the go-ahead only to waste their time in the future devising new rules and researching which wars and beliefs deserve to be given coverage. Why? Mainly because this is football, and however noble the cause is thought to be, millions around the world will watch the game without giving two hoots about our past wars or honouring those who fought in them. It's not selfish, they're watching it solely for the football, so should you. So, if you're reading this and still cannot see where FIFA are coming from, my advice to would be to sit down on Saturday and watch the game rid of distractions, debate and conflict and in its purest form, then attend a remembrance service on the Sunday. You'll appreciate both much more when they're apart.