So just a week after the FA wrote to Marc Guehi to warn him about not to write religious messages over their rainbow armbands, they approved Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid. The saddest part is fans have long seen the irony, but the contradiction no longer shocks them.
English Football’s governing body have stressed that asking captains to wear rainbow armbands for a week was not to force LGBTQ+ views on anyone but to send the message that they believe the sport should be inclusive to anyone.
They either are saying that to tick their PR box, or their beliefs have a price. Because you can’t in one breath demand equality in the Premiership, yet then award the biggest event the game has being staged in a country with one of the worst Human Rights records. That includes same sex couples being illegal in that part of the world.
It’s why some players stopped taking the knee realizing the gesture meant nothing evidenced by the actions they were seeing.
We had the same debate regarding Qatar, and once nations didn’t make the stand that they should have (not wearing the one love bands out of fear of a yellow card) then the tournament was always destined to return to the Middle East.
Of course, the competition should be shared around the globe, yet anyone bidding to host FIFA’s biggest event needs to be able to meet FIFA’s rules. If you can’t meet their criteria then you shouldn’t be on the short list. No different to the cities that want to have the Olympics needs to meet the legislation the Committee sets.
Part of FIFA’s ethos is they don’t discriminate. If you can’t meet those requirements, you shouldn’t be considered.
So how sad is it that not just were most associations voting for Saudi Arabia’s campaign they were asked to make their vote by taking turns giving a round of applause.
What a sad reflection of society that here’s these powerful men and women aware that people will yet again die building stadiums , females will be restricted in what they can do and anyone not heterosexual will be risking their lives travelling , yet they put on a smile and nod their heads because it makes financial sense to do so .
Credit to Norway for being one of the few European nations to express their concerns.
FAs of England, Wales, and Scotland have all stressed that they have been given assurance that ‘all fans would be safe and welcome in Saudi Arabia in 2034 – including LGBTQ+ fans. They assured us that they are fully committed to providing a safe and welcome environment for all fans.”
You hear a lot of that in the next decade.
In reality though Britain want the 2031 Women’s World Cup so don’t want to cause a rift while politically Keir Starmer was visiting the Crown Prince this very week
It’s not just Football of course. WWE, F1, Tennis, Boxing, have all held events as part of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision Plan. The strategy being to pay the biggest forms of entertainment to fly over to distract observers from unethical practices and corruption scandals. For a month Prince Mohammed bin Salman will order they show tourists their biggest smile.
One day there will be someone big enough to make a stand. Those personalities come along once in a while. For now, though, it reflects where society is. I almost admire those involved no longer fighting their hypocrisy. They know there is zero point pretending their motivations are anything but money.
Yet maybe lose the rainbow shoelaces?
DAN
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Fifa is corrupt, no morals so nothing new.
Before we call others human rights abuse let’s remember:
1. Some western governments have been and are continuing to be active participants in genocides and atrocities around the world. If Saudi Arabia or Qatar should not host World Cup because they do not allow homosexuality why should USA, France, England and German allowed when they send weapon and participate in mass killing of women and children?
2. Homosexuality is still not accepted by the majority of Western population. Shouldn’t they then be allowed to host world cup because of that? Why are Premier League footballers still afraid to come out? Why are women footballers still facing online abuse if the westerners are so enlightened?
3. Do homosexuals have a mark on their forehead? How will their lives be at risk? Will Saudi police put cameras on their hotel rooms? Sexual public display is not allowed in all muslim countries regardless of sexual orientation, marital status, a citizen or a foreigner. And what concrete proof is there that homosexuals are killed in arab countries? Or is it another western propaganda like China bad, Russia bad, Africa poor and full of deseases and only USA and allies are saints.
4. If you are against Saudi government hosting the World Cup you should be the first on the line to be against USA hosting it because whatever bad Saudi government has it does not hold a candle to USA’s.
I will watch USA world cup like I did Qatar and I will Saudi Arabia and I will any other country because the people are not the government. The majority of citizens of any country are just good people worrying about their daily bread and looking to have a bit of fun. We can’t deny them a historical occasion and celebration because of few people who hold the power.
Spot on HH. Our hypocrisy has no bottom. We set moral values for others yet we don’t follow it ourself. We support and fund dictators if they benefit us and topple democratically elected govt if they are against us. We have no right to tell other countries what to do or how to behave because we have done a thousand times worse what other countries have done. Politics should be out of football, otherwise it will be slippery slop. If USA can host it, then Saudis can host it too. USA and western nation have maimed, killed and massacred more people than the rest of the world combined. We have no moral high grounds to call people out when our govt have done the worst.
Got to say, I HH, I agree. Qatar now is trying to open its doors to the world. So lets look on the positive side and hope, they change for the better. Or we could bury our heads in the sand. We are no better morally than many regimes or countries we denounce. But maybe we can ALL improve.
Wow, for only the second time on JA I actually agree with you HH 😲
@HH
Real Talk…👍🏾👏🏾
It’s easy to see the so-called shortcomings of others and not yours.
The very people of those nations you’re whining about will not tolerate any form of homosexuality. Not even for a second. It’s doesn’t even start with the government. Yet you’re here complaining as though they’re forcing you to come over.
Even some in our women team claimed they wouldn’t watch the Qatar World Cup yet they wear jerseys with the words “Emirates” written boldly on them. Is Emirates not an Arab company? What’s their name doing on our jersey then? Aren’t we spending their money buying players? Aren’t same monies being paid to same players complaining? Talk of big time hypocrisy.
Anyway, keep whining. I enjoy reading it cos it makes me laugh. It’s quite fun.