Gay Soccer Fans May Want to Think Twice Before Heading to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022

NFL fans should be glad that the issues they have with the league's front office and the rules it chooses to enforce are what they are. They aren't good of course and should not be blindly accepted by any means, but it could be worse.

The NFL could be run like soccer's governing body, FIFA.

via Twitter

The latest mess has to do with the folks that will be running the show in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. Some recent comments from the country's sports minister (why don't we have one of those in the U.S.?) have made it pretty clear that gay people are not going to be welcome.

When Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali was asked whether gay people would be welcome he replied with: "It's exactly like the alcohol question."
WTF, right?

In case you are not aware alcohol is strictly forbidden in Muslim culture and laws concerning alcohol are pretty tough.

He went on to say that they intend to do anything and everything they can to protect their culture, but will figure out how to adapt to the preferences of visitors without loosing the 'essence' of their culture.

What that means exactly is up in the air, but how it applies to the treatment of gay people is even more perplexing. Does it mean as long as we don't catch you engaging in any sexual activity there will be no problems? Are they going to actually pursue legal action against visitors that do?

It's unclear, but what makes it even more worrisome is how Sepp Blatter, the head of FIFA, said the issue should be handled--gay people should not have sex if they travel to Qatar.

For a global organization like FIFA it is important for major events like the World Cup to be held throughout the world. It only enhances the image of the sport being global and not specific to any one country. However, at the same time you would think FIFA would keep in mind whether all fans are going to be welcome and safe.

In this case and in 2018 (World Cup is in Russia) they clearly did not.

Respect the game. Respect the players, but most of all respect the fans.

[MSN]

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