England poppy
England and Scotland players wore armbands featuring the poppy. Getty

Fifa has confirmed the opening of disciplinary proceedings against England and Scotland for their decision to wear poppies during the recent World Cup qualifier.

More from IBTimes UK

Regulations prohibit political or religious statements on shirts during matches, but both the English and Scottish football associations opted to defy those rules to mark Armistice Day during their meeting at Wembley on 11 November.

Both teams wore black armbands with emblems of the poppy during the match, which England won 3-0.

Fifa declined to speculate on the outcome of the proceedings or give an indication as to when a final verdict will be made.

"We can confirm disciplinary proceedings have been opened on this matter," a spokesperson for world football's governing body said on Thursday (17 November).

"Please understand we cannot comment further at this stage nor speculate on any outcome or provide an estimated timeline."

In 2011, the English FA reached a compromise with Fifa over the tribute after they refused to allow the England team to emblazon the image of a poppy on their shirts for a friendly match against Spain.

Following the governing body's U-turn, the FA insisted they would challenge any punishment handed down, with chief executive Martin Glenn wishing Fifa "good luck" in making any reprimand stick.

"We think they're interpreting the rules wrong," Glenn said. "This is a law of the game issue, not a Fifa competition issue. That clubs up and down the country and wearing poppies on their shirts is also a breach of Fifa regulation, but nothing has happened about that. I'm very confident our legal position is right, our moral position is certainly right and there are bigger things in the game for Fifa to worry about.

"We'll contest it [a punishment] strongly because we believe that our case is absolutely rock solid, so good luck. And in the event if there were something I am sure we can persuade them to donating the fine to the British legion. I'm very confident it won't come to that."

FIFA