No matter where Egypt plays Iran in Group Gay, we will make it a World Cup Pride Match

Egypt and Iran are filing official complaints with FIFA now that they’ve gotten word that their Group G (now maybe we should just call it “Group Gay”) match next June has been designated the event’s first-ever LGBTQ World Cup Pride Match.

It’s a story broken by Jon Holmes on Outsports on Sunday, and which has caused an international debate.

The two countries that imprison or even execute people for being gay want the Pride Match designation removed. According to reports, they’re teaming up to petition FIFA to make a change.

Good luck.

There is so much lined up to stop any kind of change. And the bottom line is this: Whether Egypt and Iran like it or not, they will be playing in the first-ever World Cup Pride Match, if that’s in Seattle or anywhere else.

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FIFA could conceivably try to move Egypt vs Iran

There are a couple ways FIFA could attempt to accommodate the cruel, bigoted regimes of Egypt and Iran.

First, they could attempt to convince the local organizing committee in Seattle to cancel its Pride Match celebration for the Iran vs. Egypt match on June 26. As both FIFA and the Seattle group have made clear, FIFA has no say or control or involvement with the Pride Match. Plus, the local organizing committee has said, essentially, “No way.”

“We’re committed to ensuring all residents and visitors experience the warmth, respect, and dignity that define our region,” a spokesperson told The Athletic.

In addition, four years ago in the anti-gay and anti-woman nation of 2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar, we were told that all of the fans and all of the visiting nations had to “respect” the local culture.

FIFA making this move would be a complete rejection of the local Seattle culture that embraces the LGBTQ community, and it would open future hosts up to unrest and upheaval depending on who attends.

So for FIFA to now try to control the match designation would be a huge problem.

FIFA could try convincing Seattle to cancel Pride Match celebrations

FIFA could also try to have the committee move the Pride Match to another game. Yet the June 19 match in Seattle is already a recognition of Juneteenth. Its June 15 match also involves Egypt, playing against Belgium, which is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly nations in the world.

The other option would be June 24, which involves Qatar, another Middle East country that imprisons people for being gay.

Regardless of the lack of other options, if the organizing committee capitulated to Egypt, Iran and FIFA and moved the LGBTQ Pride Match, it would be a catastrophe for the local community there in Seattle. Local elected officials likely would not stand for it.

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Why Iran vs. Egypt is the best World Cup Pride Match possible
Iran will play Egypt in Seattle on June 26 for LGBTQ Pride at the World Cup. It’s an opportunity to showcase their horrific anti-gay policies.

The World Cup Pride Match will follow Iran and Egypt anywhere

The other option FIFA has would be to move the match between Egypt and Iran out of Seattle entirely. It’s the one thing that FIFA can do on its own.

It’s not going to work.

If FIFA chose to move the game out of Seattle and away from the designated June 26 Pride Match, the LGBTQ community would follow the match wherever it went.

There are 16 cities across Canada, Mexico and the United States hosting matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Already at least 11 of those cities have a Pride House designated for the event. Pride House is the LGBTQ hospitality house that is part of various major sporting events.

Seattle happens to be one of the five cities currently without a Pride House organizing committee listed by Pride House International The other four: Boston, Guadalajara, Kansas City and Toronto.

If you think for one second that an LGBTQ group won’t rise up in any of these cities to host a Pride Match for a relocated Group Gay Iran vs. Egypt World Cup match, I promise you — You are mistaken.

And if Iran and Egypt want to forfeit the match, great. The other two countries in Group Gay — Belgium and New Zealand — embrace the LGBTQ community. Let them advance.

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