Iran is so afraid of USA gays, they’re threatening to stop World Cup ‘Pride Match’
Iran is so afraid of USA gays, they've threatened to stop World Cup matches if 'unofficial flags,' like Pride flags, are present in stands.
Mark
The scheduled FIFA World Cup “Pride Match” on June 26 in Seattle remains a key point of conversation.
As the tournament prepares to get underway, the clash of political and cultural ideology spawned by the random selection of the Pride Match participants — anti-gay countries Iran and Egypt, two nations that criminalize homosexuality — continues to percolate as the match draws near.
Despite the tournament beginning on Thursday and FIFA refusing requests from both nation’s sports federations to intervene in attempts to halter the Pride celebration surrounding the match, the Iranian government is now threatening to stop matches if what it deems “unofficial flags” or “slogans” are used by fans during its squad’s World Cup games.
“We have informed FIFA that if unofficial flags are brought or slogans against the national team are chanted in the stadiums where Iran plays in the World Cup, the team manager will definitely be responsible for stopping the match,” Iranian sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said, according to Reuters, on Tuesday.
“We have been assured that no disruptive incidents will occur in the stadium during the match against Egypt.”
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World Cup Pride Match in Seattle will feature… Egypt and Iran. Say what?
A World Cup match in Seattle has been named the Pride Match. That game now features Egypt and Iran, which imprison gay people.
Of course, if teams have to endure the anti-gay “puto” chant in Mexico, that’s on them.
Donyamali’s statement is the latest salvo in a contentious six months leading up to the World Cup that centered on Iran and Egypt’s random selection for the “Pride Match” in December.
Public response to that selection has ranged from thoughtful to light-hearted to critical, and officials from both nations’ governments lobbying FIFA to force a change.
Officials from both Iran and Egypt previously asked FIFA to halt the Pride-related activities associated with the match despite the “Pride Match” being organized by the local committee SeattleFWC26 rather than FIFA itself.
They also asked FIFA to effectively ban Pride flags from being displayed during the June 26 fixture.
While this latest threat from the Iranian government is widely seen as focusing on preventing fans from displaying the “Lion and Sun” flag that represented Iran prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979 that ushered in its current authoritarian regime, it would also affect the displaying of Pride flags during the match.
FIFA has not publicly commented on any of the requests to alter plans for the “Pride Match,” including Donyamali’s threat. FIFA president Gianni Infantino stuck to his message of “focus on the football” when discussing the Iranian national team’s participation in the World Cup at his pre-tournament presser on Wednesday.
“When Iran plays, the stadium will be full, and I hope there will be a positive atmosphere because this is football,” Infantino said while imploring the media members in attendance to “promote the unity of the World Cup.”
“This is about people forgetting for a moment their realities and being able to focus on a match and on a team,” he added.
Infantino’s comments speak to a grand goal that plenty can get behind on its surface, but the realities of many fans aren’t ones that can be fully put aside as easily as his slogan describes.
Queer fans having nations where living as themselves and loving who they love makes them criminals try to interfere in their celebration of self and connection to the sport of soccer generates obstacles.
Having a government threaten to stop matches if fans bring flags that speak to their own dissatisfaction with a discriminatory regime breaks Infantino’s desired immersion.
The complications presented in just having the Iranian squad participate amid an ongoing war between its nation and the United States, as well as USA allies, are enough to splinter focus alone.
And that is without getting into FIFA referees and journalists being barred from entry into the U.S., lagging ticket sales and international travel for the tournament and a large swathe of soccer fans being priced out of attending World Cup games due in part to FIFA itself.
It remains to be seen if any action will accompany this latest threat, but if it does happen, there will be no denying that the Iranian sports authority isn’t in line with the hollow slogan to which Infantino continues to default.
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