Organizers expect ‘a lot of rainbow flags’ at Pride Match featuring Iran and Egypt
Despite their objection, Iran and Egypt this Friday will play in the first-ever FIFA World Cup Pride Match, hosted by Seattle organizers.
Mark
Iran and Egypt will play one another in a huge Group G matchup on Friday that will pit the two “Group Hate” countries against one another in the first-ever FIFA World Cup “Pride Match.”
That Pride Match, designated so by the local Seattle World Cup host committee, was set for June 26 before the two participating countries scheduled for that match were drawn by random luck. When Iran and Egypt — two of the most anti-gay nations in the world — were selected for the match, mayhem ensued.
Yet despite months of complaints from Iran, Egypt and other anti-gay people and organizations, these two countries will play in the locally designated Pride Match at the World Cup in Seattle this Friday.
Seattle’s local organizing committee, which has the ability to create designations outside of the stadium for events like “Pride Match,” has been steadfast: No anti-gay country is going to stop them from celebration the LGBTQ community.
That celebration around the stadium and this match will absolutely be present in the game as well, seen by players and coaches from both squads. FIFA has said that Pride flags are allowed in stadiums for World Cup matches.
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“We anticipate a lot of rainbow flags in the stadium and T-shirts with rainbow flags on them,” Hedda McLendon, Seattle FWC26’s Senior Vice President of Legacy, told Outsports.
“Let’s welcome people to Seattle. It’s the World Cup. And let’s show them how we Pride. It’s not a day, it’s not a weekend here. It’s a month.”
Respecting local Seattle culture that embraces LGBTQ fans
When local-society standards were applied in Qatar when that country — which also imprisons people for being gay — hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, LGBTQ visitors and others were told told they had to respect the local culture.
Now people are expected to respect the local Seattle culture, which warmly embraces and elevates the LGBTQ community.
It’s not lost on the local organizing committee the struggles people from many of the participating countries in this World Cup — including in Iran and Egypt — face for just being gay.
“What stands out over and over again is this responsibility to celebrate Pride for everyone,” said Jen Barnes, CEO and Founder of Rough & Tumble, a pub in Seattle centered on women’s sports. “It’s an opportunity to bring Pride to people who can’t live being out. We want to bring visibility for them.
“For those fans, for those athletes, all over the world, they’re going to be celebrating with us. When you have billions of people watching that same moment together, and knowing as we sit in the stands together what we’ve done, it is so beautiful to uplift the community for the entire World Cup.”
According to Equaldex, Egypt and Iran are two of the most awful countries for LGBTQ people to live, both ranking in the bottom 25 of all the 200 or so nations in the world. Iran includes a possible sentence of execution for being gay.
The Pride Match initiative from the Seattle World Cup organizing committee features local artists, businesses and other members of the community. Organizers have reached out to neighborhoods across the city, aiming to provide connections and visibility in Seattle no matter where people call hom.
“We are the only city that’s celebrating a Pride Match as part of this World Cup,” Barnes said. “I feel the joy of celebrating the LGBTQ community around the world is on our shoulders.”
Iran and Egypt World Cup match could be a good one
The match itself, from a strictly soccer perspective, is intriguing. Entering the World Cup, Belgium — ranked in the top 10 worldwide — was favored to win Group G. Yet both Iran and Egypt tied Belgium.
At the same time Iran and Egypt play one another, Belgium plays New Zealand. If Belgium wins that match, the kiwis are eliminated and both Iran and Egypt join Belgium in the knockout stage.
As they won’t know the result of that match while they’re playing, both Iran and Egypt want a win the Pride Match as it guarantees the winner a spot in the knockout round, no matter what happens in the other match.
Get your abacuses working overtime!
Either way, the LGBTQ community will be celebrated as these two countries aim to advance. Whether they like it or not, their hopes rest on a Pride Match.
On Stubhub, tickets to the Pride Match are running about $800 and over.
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