England captain Harry Kane on Monday found a unique way to make a bold statement in support of the LGBTQ+ community at Qatar's FIFA World Cup. Ahead of Egland's win over Iran, Mr Kane was pictured wearing a rainbow, diamond watch from Rolex worth almost $1 million as he arrived at the stadium in Doha.
Instagram account Insane Luxury Life shared a snap of Mr Kane in which he was seen wearing the timepiece. "The captain of England @harrykane wears a rare @rolex Daytona 'Rainbow' 116595RBOW in 18k rose gold, one of the most sought-after pieces on market," the caption of the post read.
Take a look below:
As per the Instagram post, the watch is set with 36 baguette-cut rainbow sapphires on the bezel, 56 brilliant-cut diamonds on the case and 11 baguette-cut rainbow-coloured sapphires as hour markers. The watch was first released in 2012 in 18-karat white gold and 18-karat yellow gold, but at the time it wasn't much appreciated by the market.
Mr Kane's eye-catching move came after he was forced to backflip on plans to wear a OneLove armband in England's opening game due to pressure from football's world governing body FIFA. According to Fox Sports, captains of seven European nations were threatened by FIFA with yellow cards if they carried through on pre-tournament plans to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community at the World Cup.
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In the end, Mr Kane and other European countries bowed to FIFA's demands and instead wore armbands with the words "No Discrimination" written on them. Mr Kane also made his own personal statement by wearing the rainbow, diamond watch at the Khalifa International Stadium before the 6-2 win over Iran.
Meanwhile, during the world cup matches in Qatar, fans have been banned from entering Doha stadiums while wearing rainbow colours signifying support for same-sex relations, which are illegal in the country. One American journalist also revealed that he was briefly detained before the USA's opening game for trying to enter a stadium wearing a rainbow t-shirt. Many Welsh football fans wearing rainbow bucket hats were also similarly stopped from entering the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Monday night.
