Wembley to stop lighting arch to mark terror attacks and social campaigns
The FA will end its policy of lighting up the Wembley Stadium arch to show support for social causes or solidarity with countries following terror attacks.
The arch has frequently been lit up for causes such as Rainbow Laces as well as in the colours of country's national flags, such as France in 2015. But a row erupted when the FA declined to light the arch up in the colours of Israel following the Hamas attacks.
That sparked anger and even resignations, including from the chair of the FA's Faith in Football network, Rabbi Alex Goldberg. The row now appears to have led to a major change of policy from Wembley's owners.
According to Sky News, the FA have decided the arch will no longer be lit to show solidarity with countries or for social causes. Instead, it will now only be lit in colours directly associated with the stadium's use as a sport and entertainment venue.
That means that the arch will not be lit in support of the Rainbow Laces campaign, which encourages equality for LGBT+ people in sport, despite it kicking off its Premier League activation on Monday.
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The FA believe the new policy will remove the expectation that the arch will be lit and the need for the governing body to assess complex geopolitical incidents. The FA's board have ratified the changes to the policy.
The Wembley arch will no longer be lit up in solidarity with other countries following terror attacks (Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)While the arch will no longer be lit up, there is an understanding that the governing body will continue to back social causes. The arch could still be used to mark the deaths of national figures such as a former England player or a monarch, though.
The FA had come under intense criticism for not lighting the arch in support of Israel following the Hamas attacks on October 7. Chief executive Mark Bullingham admitted he was aware the move had caused hurt, but defended the decision.
“I recognise that our decision caused hurt in the Jewish community who felt that we should have lit the arch and should have shown stronger support for them. This is one of the hardest decisions we have had to make," he said last month.
"The last thing we ever wanted to do in this situation was to add to the hurt. We aren’t asking for everyone to agree with our decision but to understand how we reached it. We all felt that football should stand for peace and humanity and that we should show compassion for all innocent victims of this terrible conflict.
“It would be easy for football to ask why we were the only sport being talked about in this way, particularly when rugby and cricket are both in their World Cups. But also it would be easy to ask why Wembley seemed to be the only building in the country being discussed when we have so many landmarks across our nations.
“However, we understand that the power of football means we will always be in the spotlight and that’s just something we have to accept. Finally this week has made us question whether we should light the arch and when and we will be reviewing that in the coming weeks.”
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