The approval authority for a piece of black gauze

89-year-old Ginette Deschamps passed away on Tuesday. Her son was leading a training camp at the World Cup in Boston in the morning, and by the afternoon, he was already on a flight to Paris. French Football Federation President Diallo approved the leave. After the funeral, Deschamps was back on the turf in Boston by Saturday. Five days, a transatlantic round trip. Enough time for him to go back and bury his mother, but not enough for his team to sew an extra inch of black cloth on their sleeves.

The French team submitted a request to wear black armbands. It was rejected. No reason given. The French Football Federation tipped off reporters before the match, saying there would be a minute of silence before the game against Norway to honor Deschamps' mother. That information was wrong. FIFA then stepped in to correct it: The minute of silence in Foxborough was a unified World Cup action to mourn the victims of the Venezuela earthquake. 1,430 lives lost, 3,238 injured, nearly seven million affected. When 70,000 people at Gillette Stadium bowed their heads, most had no idea who they were mourning.

Dembélé took out all his frustration on the goal. In the 7th, 20th, and 32nd minutes, he scored a hat trick in the first half within 25 minutes. The last time someone did that in a World Cup was Salenko in 1994. France crushed Norway 4-1. Assistant coach Stéphane revealed after the match: "The players are too close to Didier; they wanted to do something special." Norway's coach Solbakken gave Stéphane a bouquet of flowers before the game. A bouquet could enter the field, but a piece of black cloth could not.

FIFA's equipment regulations, Article 13.8.1, are strict: Captain's armbands must be provided by FIFA, and teams cannot change them on their own. The initial intent was to block political slogans and commercial sponsorships. Now it's being used to block a head coach who just lost his mother. Journalist James Palmer pressed on social media: "FIFA hasn't offered any comment on why France's request to wear black armbands was denied. Why not approve this?" No one answered. Not even a written explanation was given.

This isn't the first time. In 2022 in Qatar, Argentina's national television added a black ribbon to their broadcast to mourn the recently deceased founder of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo organization, Hebe de Bonafini. FIFA forced them to remove it under "broadcasting regulations." During the same tournament, seven European team captains planned to wear "OneLove" rainbow armbands, and FIFA directly threatened them with yellow cards. The German team covered their mouths in a pre-match team photo in protest, and the German Football Association appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The ribbon in the corner of the broadcast, the rainbow cloth on the captain's arm—all on the banned list. The World Cup is its private property; all tears on and off the field need to be pre-approved. Zurich isn't targeting Deschamps specifically. It just demands that all tears submit an application form in advance.

Deschamps returned to the team on Saturday. Five days, a transatlantic round trip, no statements, no social media posts. Stéphane let slip a line at the pre-match press conference: "I feel like I don't belong here." He stood on the sidelines because Deschamps wasn't there. A 4-1 win. A minute of silence was dedicated to the Venezuela earthquake. On the sleeves of the French team, there was only the standard-issue armband provided by FIFA.