What was claimed
Harry Kane has confirmed that he will not wear the LGBT rainbow symbol in upcoming matches, saying football should not be about political or social movements.
Our verdict
False. There is no evidence that Harry Kane ever made these comments, and the English Football Association (FA) has confirmed that the quote is fake.
Posts falsely claiming England’s captain Harry Kane said he wouldn’t wear a rainbow LGBT pride symbol in upcoming matches have been going viral online.
The posts, which have been circulating widely on Facebook, all feature the same wording which includes an alleged quote from the striker, claiming he said: “Football should be about what happens on the pitch — competitive spirit, player performance, and match results — not political or social movements.”
They also say that he has "confirmed that he will not wear the LGBT rainbow symbol in upcoming matches”.
But these posts are false. We couldn't find any evidence that Kane had ever made these comments, with no matching statement published on his social media platforms, or reported by credible media outlets.
When we contacted the English Football Association (FA) about the claims, it confirmed that the quote attributed to Kane is fake.
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Kane has previously said he was “proud” to wear the rainbow-coloured LGBTQ+ captain’s armband during the Euros tournament in 2021.
It was also reported that he had wanted to wear the ‘OneLove’ rainbow armband at the previous World Cup in Qatar in 2022, and was “disappointed” when FIFA banned it.
We have previously fact checked false claims that Major League Soccer had banned Pride flags from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, and that the Premier League banned rainbow symbols ahead of last year’s season.
Before sharing content like this that you come across on social media, it’s important to consider whether it comes from trustworthy and verifiable sources. Our Full Fact misinformation toolkit can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because there’s no evidence Harry Kane made these comments, and the FA says the quote is fake.
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Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.