Elena Linari and the rainbow sash at the European Championships. Women's football is light years ahead on LGBTQIA+ issues.
Elena Linari wore the rainbow armband for LGBTQIA+ rights at the Women's European Championship, hosted by Switzerland until July 27. She is the third Italian captain to do so, following Sara Gama and Cristiana Girelli. The player wore it in the third match of the Women's European Championship in Switzerland, against Spain. "I think it's a sign of respect and openness for everything that may happen in the future," explained the Roma player , who led the national team to a historic semifinal appearance in the tournament.
Elena Linari also graduated in Sports Science from the San Raffaele University of Rome, two days before the quarterfinal match between Italy and Norway, defending her thesis, titled " Football, Cognitive Abilities, and the 1-on-1 Duel, " in her hotel room. Her thesis closely explored the issues, tensions, and psychophysical engagement required to "mark" an opponent. But that's another story...
The appearance of the rainbow armband in football tournaments has not been easy, nor painless . At the last World Cup, FIFA banned the use of rainbow armbands by team captains who wanted to protest homophobia in Qatar. In Switzerland, however, UEFA did not veto the players taking part in the Women's European Championship. Over 70 (out of a total of 368) openly LGBTQIA+ players have taken to the field in the last week, six of them Italian. Switzerland's Lia Walti and Norway's Ada Hegerberg chose to debut at the 2025 European Championship wearing the rainbow armband , as did Germany captain Giulia Gwinn against Poland and England captain Leah Williamson against France. At the previous 2022 Women's European Championship, many captains also wore the armband. England captain Leah Williamson , who went on to triumph in the final against Germany, wore it for the entire tournament, as did the captains of Northern Ireland and Sweden. The Netherlands, on the other hand, used the “OneLove” armband.
It was this last armband that sparked controversy at the end of 2022, when eight European national associations announced their intention to use it during the FIFA Men's World Cup to be held in Qatar, where homosexuality is considered illegal.
Those who prohibit itBut on the eve of the tournament, FIFA announced the ban, with threats of sanctions if they ignored the requirement. Even at last summer's European Men's Football Championship, no rainbow armbands were seen, while in recent months there have been individual protests by some players who refused to wear them, both in France and the United Kingdom, resulting in sanctions from clubs and federations. At the last Women's World Cup, however, the players circumvented the FIFA Pride ban by painting both their nails and hair rainbow-colored. Linari's commitment to human rights, and particularly LGBTQIA+ rights, is neither occasional nor impromptu. Last October, she was among the 130 signatories from 27 countries protesting the sponsorship agreement between FIFA and Aramco , the Saudi oil giant accused by the UN of human rights violations.
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