FOOTBALL Focus host Alex Scott has broken her silence over her decision to wear the One Love armband at the World Cup in Qatar.
Alex, who dates both men and women, wore it to show support for the LGBT community in the country – where same sex relationships are illegal.
She wore the band as she covered England’s first game in Qatar, after the Three Lions were banned from doing so.
Former Arsenal Women’s player Alex, 38, said: “We all woke up to the news of the armband being banned.
“I remember being so sad.
“I was standing with the kit man, Andy, looking out, just full of emotion.
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“I said: ‘Andy, no one’s told me I can’t wear an armband’.
He said: ‘Alex, you f***ing genius.’
“No one knew anything.
“I remember saying to Kelly who was going to interview me: ‘Kelly don’t say a word. All I’m doing is going to put this armband on and it’s going to speak for itself.’
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“And that’s exactly what I did. This little thing and what it represents.”
Alex said her decision saw her being trolled and sent vile messages by strangers online.
Speaking at the 2023 Attitude 101 lunch at London’s Rosewood Hotel, Alex said: “After that I disappeared. I was in Qatar with all the abuse and I was like, I need to get away because I can’t believe something out of love could create so much hate and such a divide.
“It was Martin Luther King who said; Injustice anywhere is a threat to just everywhere. And by stopping wearing this arm band is exactly what was happening in Qatar.
“So I disappeared. I went to Barbados for a little while. And then I came back to the UK and to say I appreciate and love so much people coming up to me and saying what wearing this armband meant to everyone.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
