Sweden not to use rainbow-coloured shoelaces at World Cup

Stockholm (dpa) - Swedish football players at the World Cup in Russia will not be issued rainbow-coloured shoelaces launched to promote more tolerance for gays and other minorities in the host country, a news report said Thursday.
The multi-coloured shoelaces were distributed this week to European teams participating at the World Cup by the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBTI rights. The informal group of over 100 lawmakers works to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the European Union and beyond. Anna Hedh, a Swedish member of the group, said LBGT people in Russia are "discriminated and persecuted for loving the wrong person."
Hedh told the Stockholm daily Aftonbladet she hoped players would wear the shoelaces during training or off the pitch. Sweden would not use them, said Hakan Sjostrand, general secretary of the Swedish Football Association. "Symbolic actions are important and it is important for the Swedish Football Association to show what we stand for, but it is difficult for us to participate in all the different initiatives," he said.
"We are aware that LGBT groups are a particularly vulnerable group in Russian society, and that is completely unacceptable," he added. Sweden captain Andreas Granqvist has said he "wouldn't mind" using the shoelaces, but it was up to the association since it had contracts with kit providers. Midfielder Victor Claesson, who plays for Russian club Krasnodar, said he would not use them but underlined he was a supporter of human rights.