England supporters may face the confiscation of their flags during the upcoming World Cup opener against Croatia at Dallas Stadium on Wednesday.
The England Supporters Club (ESC) has reportedly been informed by stadium authorities that fans will not be permitted to display flags over the LED advertising boards encircling the pitch. Only small flags will be allowed inside, which must be positioned on rails behind the goals.
While the ESC has made arrangements for several large banners and flags to be showcased behind the goals, individual fans attempting to bring in their own flags risk having them taken away.
According to FIFA sources, the prohibition on hanging flags over LED signage stems from “safety and security reasons”
During a recent match that ended in a 2-2 draw, some Dutch and Japanese fans had their flags confiscated at Dallas Stadium, although similar incidents have not occurred at other venues.
FIFA’s tournament guidelines for fans state.
“Small flags, banners and posters made of a fire-resistant material are allowed in the stadium. Larger flags, banners, posters or instruments must be approved in advance.”
FIFA also bans flags that are deemed “that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature” and recently secured a court ruling in Los Angeles to prevent Iranian supporters from carrying the pre-revolutionary flag into matches, citing it as a political symbol.
“At a lot of the stadiums it hasn’t been a problem, so it’s hard to understand what is the actual policy and what is improvisation by the staff locally with the rules that they now have. The broader problem – and I think it’s a demonstration of how much FIFA has little control over this tournament – is that there’s no consistent rule, and when you look at what FIFA has published, there’s a code of conduct that is very broad.
“But it never clarified a lot of things, like what sort of symbols are allowed and not allowed? Are you able to bring a flag of your region or city or club? A lot of this is still up in the air, and I think there’s a bit of learning by the venues, but also, again, inconsistency.”
