A member of the advisory committee for the controversial Pride match at the 2026 World Cup has said he hopes FIFA will “do the right thing” and allow planned celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community, recalling that four years ago in Qatar, the world football’s governing body called on fans and participants to “respect the culture of the country”.
Local organizers in Seattle have scheduled the World Cup game in between Egypt and Iranwhich will be played on June 26 at the Lumen Field stadium, as the central event of the celebration Pride events. The plans were made before the draw was held and the teams that would play in the match were determined, the BBC reports.
Egyptian Football Association he publicly called for the celebrations to be cancelled and asked FIFA, which is not officially involved in the organization of those events, to intervene.
However, Eric Wahla member of the Seattle Pride Match Advisory Board, said there has been no contact with FIFA so far and stressed that the planned celebrations are part of Seattle culture and should be respected by visiting teams.
I know that Egypt is making a request to FIFA, but that raises ethical questions. In Qatar we were told that we must respect the country’s cultureWahl said.
He recalled the rhetoric during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the country where they are same-sex relationships prohibited by lawwhen FIFA announced that players wearing the OneLove strip in support of LGBTQ+ people would be punished with yellow cards.
The game in Seattle will be played during the weekend of Pride events in that cityas well as two days before the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, which is considered the beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
In Iran it is for homosexual relations the death penalty is also prescribedwhile in Egypt “public morality” laws are often used to suppress the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ+ community.
I can’t know in advance what FIFA will do, but I hope they will make the right decision. We haven’t had contact with them and I’m a bit surprised, but in general FIFA takes a respectful approach through silence, which is good in this case. When it comes to human rights issues, they usually do not include, Wahl said.
BBC Sport has sought comment from FIFA, as well as the Egyptian and Iranian Football Associations.
(Fena | Photo: Freepik)
