Arsenal’s Wubben-Moy won’t be watching Qatar’s World Cup By Michelle
Lotte Wubben-Moy’s Arsenal team-mate and fellow England star Beth Mead told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday that homosexuality being illegal in Qatar was the complete opposite to what I believe and respect and that she would not be backing or promoting the event. Beth continued Although I’m cheering for the boys who are going to play football there, from the minute it was announced I thought it wasn’t the best idea.
Now the Arsenal and England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy has responded to that and says she will be supporting the England squad during the Qatar World Cup, but that she has taken the decision not to watch any of the matches in the whole tournament, because of Qatar’s record on human rights, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights.
Lotte is a constant champion of equal rights in interviews. She is the player behind the idea for the Lionesses to send a letter to both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak in August calling for them to provide equal access to football to girls in schools, Wubben-Moy said, when asked how she felt about the men’s tournament being staged in Qatar: It’s tough. As an England team, we all have strong values, and a lot of those values aren’t reflected in the way that we see it, in Qatar.
I think it’s a tough conversation to have and there’s a lot of dialogue around it. I personally will be supporting the men’s team, but I won’t be watching.
Asked about the power of campaigns such as the Rainbow Laces, Wubben-Moy continued: Sport is a very strong vehicle for change. I’ve seen a lot of the players have strong viewpoints and I salute them and I wish them the best in looking to express that throughout this World Cup.
There is certainly a lot of negative media attention focussed on this issue though, of course, it will go ahead as planned, commencing on 20th November 2022.
Though, here at Just Arsenal HQ, we agree 100% the human rights, women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights issues that staging the World Cup in Qatar raises, we really couldn’t tune out completely! It is a World Cup after all…
How do you feel about supporting the World Cup in Qatar? Do any of you feel as strongly as Lotte, in that you won’t even tune in to watch it?
Michelle Maxwell
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