Values not politics.

I don’t know if Scotland have ever worn a poppy but I suspect the SFA have been landed in this issue against their will by association with the FA in England. Fifa have indicated it is a political symbol and prohibited its attachment to football shirts. The FA and SFA plan to disregard that ruling and wear the poppy anyway.

Deliberately defying the rules is laced with Moral Hazard for the SFA, which will not be lost on the decision makers at Hampden. For years to come this act will be cited as evidence of double standards. It provides evidence for those who object to its very recent inclusion in football ceremony on the basis that politics should have no place in football.

Of course, declining to follow the FA’s lead would be a political act in itself, but one which fell within the rules.

I’m firmly of the belief that politics (as opposed to values) should have no place in football. I know this is a utopian aspiration, as sport and politics are inextricably linked, but only because trumpets continually insist on making them so.