Barred from matches over ‘gender-critical’ tweets, a Newcastle fan is gearing up for a legal showdown with the FA, claiming its rainbow armband campaign violates its own rules. The Mail has the story.
Linzi Smith, 34, alleged she is preparing to take legal action against the FA over their Rainbow Laces campaign, which shows support to the LGTBQ+ community.
The campaign, which sees players wear rainbow coloured armbands and laces, is entirely voluntary and is a matter of personal choice for teams and players.
Ms. Smith, who has been banned from matches and had her membership revoked by her club until 2026 for her “gender critical” views, has hit out at the sports association.
She claimed that wearing the rainbow accessories endorses the belief that a person can have a gender that differs to their biological sex.
In a letter issues by her lawyers, SinclairsLaw, and seen by the Telegraph, Ms. Smith alleged the FA had acted “unlawfully” by “encouraging, authorising or directing” Premier League players to wear the rainbow colours.
The statement continued to argue that accessories conveying a political message or image were “prohibited” under FA rules.
The Newcastle United fan has now created a fundraising page in a bid to help fund her legal case.
Despite the warning, on Tuesday the footballer penned another message which read “Jesus loves you” on his armband, with the Football Association stating he risked a ban.
Ms. Smith’s legal letter branded the FA’s stance in relation to Guehi and Morsy as “irrational”.
She argued that they “rightly” disapproved of the Crystal Palace captain conveying a religious message, but had “taken the exactly opposite approach” when it came to the allegedly “political” messaging behind the rainbow laces and armbands.
The FA Rainbow Laces campaign was first created in 2013 in collaboration with LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall and the Premier League.
An FA Spokesperson has said: “We believe that football should be for all, and we have supported the Rainbow Laces campaign for over ten years.
“Together with our partners and the leagues across English football, we have helped to promote this inclusive and voluntary campaign to provide allyship to the LGBTQ+ community across all levels of our game.
“We do not consider the campaign to breach any of our rules.”
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