Roy Keane: Kane and Bale should have taken stand

The pair would have risked sanction had they sported anti-discrimination armbands

Harry Kane had been due to wear the One Love armband against Iran but ultimately didn't do so. Picture: AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin

Roy Keane believes England captain Harry Kane and Wales skipper Gareth Bale should have “stuck to their guns” and worn anti-discrimination armbands in Monday’s World Cup games despite the threat of Fifa sanctions.

Kane had been due to wear the One Love armband against Iran on Monday afternoon, while Wales skipper Gareth Bale was due to wear it in the match against the United States later in the evening. A suspension is issued after two bookings in this tournament, meaning had either player been booked ahead of kick-off, they would already be walking a tightrope.

Keane, however, believes the pair should have taken a stand. 

“I think the players could have done it for the first game and took the punishment, whatever that might be,” he said on ITV. “That would have been a great statement. Do it for the first game. If you get your yellow card, what a message that would have been from Kane or Bale. 

"Take your medicine and then the next game, you move on, you don’t wear it because obviously you don’t want to be getting suspended. I think it was a big mistake, Wales and England should have stuck to their guns and done it, whatever pressure from outside and their own associations. Have the belief, that’s what you believe, then go with it.”