Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn has insisted that the case behind England wearing poppies on their armbands during Friday's World Cup qualifier against Scotland is "rock solid".
Both nations plan to defy FIFA's decision that wearing poppies would be in breach of its rule that forbids teams from displaying political symbols, risking a potential points deduction.
However, Glenn pointed to the fact that English clubs wearing poppies on their kits at the weekend was also technically a breach of FIFA's rules and vowed to fight any sanctions that football's governing body may impose.
"We think they're interpreting the rules wrongly. This is a law-of-the-game issue, not a FIFA competition issue. So, I'm very confident that our legal position is right, our moral position is certainly right, and – you know what – there are bigger things in the game for Fifa to worry about," Glenn is quoted as saying by The Guardian.
"We'll contest it strongly because we believe – we've had QC opinion on this – our case is absolutely rock solid. So, good luck. We had a row with them in 2011; we thought we'd got over it. Unfortunately, with new personalities coming in there, they felt they wanted to make a bit of a stand, which is very disappointing.
"In the event if there were something [a fine], I'm sure we could persuade them to divert the finances for the Royal British Legion. But I'm very confident it won't come to that."
England previously wore poppies with FIFA's go-ahead during a friendly with Spain in 2011.
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