Footballer spoken to by FA after ‘I love Jesus’ message on Pride armband

The captain of Crystal Palace, Marc Guehi, has been spoken to by the FA after writing the message ‘I love Jesus’ on the armband he wore last weekend in their game against Newcastle.

Unlike most weeks, when the captain’s armband is black, this week the armbands have been rainbow, as part of the Premier League's initiative for LGBT-inclusion, which is being conducted in partnership with Stonewall.

Guehi, who played for England in this year’s European Championships, is a Christian and the son of a pastor, and reportedly still sometimes plays the drums in his local church.

Although Premier League captains were not forced to wear the armband last weekend, all but one did. Guehi himself elected to wear it, but only after he had written his Christian message on top.

In response, the FA decided not to formally charge Guehi, but did contact him and Crystal Palace, reminding them of FA kit regulations which prohibit religious or political messaging of any kind.

Despite the warning, Guehi wrote the message ‘Jesus loves you’ on his rainbow armband for Crystal Palace’s midweek game against Ipswich.

When asked to explain his actions, Guehi said, “The message was just a message of truth and love and inclusivity to be honest…I believe 100% in the words that I wrote, even what I've just said now - it's a message of truth and love, and I hope people can understand that my faith is my faith, and I'll stand by it for the rest of my life”.

The Premier League’s LGBT-inclusion scheme has presented challenges for other footballers with religious beliefs. The other captain to have got into hot water this week was Sam Morsy, who is captain of Ipswich Town, and a Muslim, who refused to wear the armband at all.

Notably, the FA did not speak to Morsy or Ipswich. The Shadow Justice secretary Robert Jenrick commented, “This smacks of a two-tier response. Why is a Christian player being treated differently to a Muslim?”

Manchester United were reportedly going to wear pro-LGBT jackets before their game last Sunday, only to have to change their plans after a Muslim player, Noussair Mazraoui, refused to, prompting them to cancel the demonstration so as to not single out one individual player.