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		</div><p>English Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn has warned FIFA he will fight any attempt to fine England for wearing poppies in Friday&#8217;s World Cup qualifier against Scotland, describing the FA&#8217;s case as <i>&#8220;rock solid&#8221;.</i></p>
<p>But the Football Association of Wales has conceded defeat in its bid to wear a poppy against Serbia, saying players will don black armbands instead as the organisation cannot <i>&#8220;take the risk&#8221;</i> of a FIFA fine or point deduction.</p>
<p>Northern Ireland&#8217;s players will do the same in their clash with Azerbaijan, but there will still be a minute&#8217;s silence at Windsor Park on Friday night, while a card motif featuring a poppy will also be displayed in the West Stand along with other Armistice Day tributes.</p>
<p>England and Scotland are set to defy FIFA&#8217;s ban on messages that it considers to be commercial, personal, political or religious by wearing black armbands with embroidered poppies to mark Armistice Day.</p>
<p>The FA and Scottish FA had hoped to do this without punishment &#8211; as they and the FAW had done in three November friendlies in 2011 &#8211; but the new regime at world football&#8217;s governing body has refused to sanction this exception to the game&#8217;s laws.</p>
<p>This was confirmed by FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura during a visit to London last week, when she reiterated law four, paragraph four, that states players&#8217; equipment must be free from messages that could cause offense.</p>
<p>Samoura pointed out this law was brought in by the International Football Association Board, which is comprised of the four British home nations and FIFA, and said it must be <i>&#8220;applied uniformly&#8221;</i> for it to have authority.</p>
<p>The former United Nations diplomat did not say the English and Scottish would definitely be punished for flouting this law but recent decisions by FIFA&#8217;s disciplinary committee suggest a fine is likely.</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/poppyBadge1_large.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/poppyBadge1_large.jpg" alt="poppybadge1_large" width="600" height="325" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-99454" /></a></p>
<p>But speaking to journalists at a Sport Industry Breakfast Club event in London, Glenn said: <i>&#8220;If (FIFA) fine us, we&#8217;ll contest. They have much bigger problems they should be concentrating on.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m confident our legal position is right and our moral position is right. Our case is absolutely rock solid.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>Glenn, FA chairman Greg Clarke and their counterparts at the SFA have previously said they do not think wearing a poppy to commemorate those who have died in armed conflicts is a political message, and have said the 2011 compromise agreed with the previous leadership at FIFA should apply.</p>
<p>Press Association Sport, however, understands that new FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Samoura believe that decision was a mistake and find it hard to understand why the home nations cannot see that this might create a precedent for other nations to break the rules as they see fit.</p>
<p>The first stage in any disciplinary process that might follow Friday&#8217;s game would be for FIFA&#8217;s match commissioner at Wembley to include the armbands in their report &#8211; given the enormous publicity this saga has attracted, including an intervention from Prime Minister Theresa May, it is very hard to see how this will not happen.</p>
<p>The case would then go to FIFA&#8217;s disciplinary committee, which would announce its decision a few weeks later. A points deduction is the most serious sanction available but a fine is considered to be more likely.</p>
<p>The British FAs would then have an opportunity to challenge that fine via FIFA&#8217;s appeals process and a further chance to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a course of action that would probably cost more than the fine.</p>
<p>Glenn also revealed that the FA&#8217;s financial strength &#8211; its revenues are forecast to grow by 35 per cent to £420million in 2018 &#8211; means it does not depend on FIFA to the same extent as most other member associations.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;We don&#8217;t need FIFA&#8217;s money,&#8221;</i> he said. <i>&#8220;That probably allows us to be a bit more principled &#8211; they might see it as aloof.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>That is not the position for the FAW.</p>
<p>Chief executive Jonathan Ford said: <i>&#8220;The FAW naturally wishes to respect and honour those who fought and lost their lives fighting for their country.</p>
<p>&#8220;As an Association we have to respect the rules of FIFA and following long discussions with members of the FAW Council, staff, management and players, a decision has been made not wear the poppy against Serbia.</p>
<p>&#8220;We felt unable to take the risk of a financial penalty or point deduction, however as we always have done at this time of year, we will be paying our respects in other ways.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>As well as the wearing of black armbands, fans at Cardiff City Stadium will form a poppy mosaic before kick-off and members of the Flanders Welsh War Memorial at Langemark will be attendance at the match.</p>
<p>Asked about the IFA&#8217;s decision not to follow the FA and SFA&#8217;s lead on poppies, Northern Ireland manager Michael O&#8217;Neill said: <i>&#8220;I have a lot of influence, none of it exists at FIFA.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a decision that is made by FIFA, I think the association have done everything in their power to mark the occasion with the utmost respect, we will do that as a group as well.</p>
<p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t feel it was the right thing as an association to violate the regulation. As a group of players and as a management team we&#8217;re happy that the decision&#8217;s been made and we can focus on the football now.&#8221;</i></p>
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