Fact Check: Cristiano Ronaldo did not break ‘UEFA rule’ on OneLove bands during Euro 2020

Social media users are sharing the photo, alleging that UEFA had mandated all team captains to wear the ‘OneLove’ bands at Euro Cup 2020 and Ronaldo was the only captain who did not comply by wearing a normal one. The photo shows Ronaldo in his Portugal jersey and Neuer in his goalkeeper jersey on the ground.

A Threads user shared the photo with the caption, “At Euro 2020, UEFA ordered all team captains to wear OneLove armbands as a symbol of support for LGBTQ. However, Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was the only European captain who did not wear the band. Respect. (sic)” (Archive)

What is OneLove armband?

The OneLove campaign was initiated by the Dutch Football Association in 2020. Its primary goal was to promote unity and condemn all forms of discrimination in world football.

The campaign featured a rainbow-coloured armband with the words OneLove and a heart symbol containing the number one. While the campaign itself didn’t explicitly focus on LGBTQ causes, the rainbow flag on the armband is universally recognised as a symbol of LGBTQ rights.

Why was the OneLove armband banned during the Qatar World Cup 2022?

The OneLove Armband stirred debates during the Qatar World Cup 2022 when FIFA decided to ban the rainbow armband at the last minute.

Initially, the captains of several European national teams expressed their intention to wear the OneLove armband during the World Cup matches. These teams included Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Wales, and England.

Just before the World Cup, FIFA warned that wearing the OneLove armband could result in sporting sanctions, including yellow cards for players.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, “We have clear regulations on armbands. We have and engage in campaigns on different topics, campaigns which are universal. We need to find topics that everyone can adhere to. This is an important element for us.”

The threat of penalties led to a collective decision by the European teams to abandon their initial plan of wearing the armbands.

However, some players were willing to defy FIFA’s warnings. Manuel Neuer (Germany’s goalkeeper) stated that he would wear the armband regardless of potential fines.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false.

We conducted a reverse image search to confirm the origin of the photo. The search traced the image to the stock image website Alamy, published on June 19, 2021.

The caption read, “Munich, Germany. 19th June, 2021. Football: European Championship, Portugal - Germany, preliminary round, Group F, 2nd matchday in the EM Arena Munich. Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (r) embrace before the match. Credit: Christian Charisius/dpa/Alamy Live News.”

We found similar images of both players from other angles taken on the same day. Click here and here to view the images.

Upon further investigation, we found no rule that mandated wearing the OneLove bands. Instead, UEFA initially launched an investigation into Neuer’s armband to determine if it violated rules about making political statements, which was later halted.

We also found that except for three captains, no one else wore the OneLove band during Euro 2020.

During the investigation, images of other captains wearing regular armbands in Euro 2020 were also found. The players include Denmark captain Simon Kajer and Italy and Spain captains Giorgio Chiellini and Sergio Busquets.

Hence, it is evident not all players wore the OneLove band just like Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during Euro 2020.

Hence, the viral claim that UEFA ordered all team captains to wear OneLove bands at Euro 2020 and that Cristiano Ronaldo was the only captain who did not comply is false. No such mandate existed and multiple captains did not wear the band.