In connection with the World Cup in Qatar, everyone is speculating whether the authorities will allow symbols of gay rights activism to be displayed at the various venues.
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which will be held between November 20 and December 18, will begin about three weeks However, it is not only the teams' expected chances that keep the public in a frenzy - for years, people have been speculating about the competition as to whether the identity politics infiltrating football fields will prevail in the Middle Eastern country, and if so, to what extent.
On the occasion of the 2021 (2020) European Football Championship, we saw that the culture war is indeed selective.
While in most European stadiums, UEFA sponsors, such as Volkswagen, displayed their logos in rainbow colors promoting the LGBTI lobby, in certain places, such as in Baku, Azerbaijan, or St. Petersburg, Russia, they appeared in their traditional colors.
Not at the request of the mentioned countries, but at the request of UEFA : the European Football Association asked the sponsors to refrain from rainbow-colored advertising at the mentioned venues. The request was formulated by UEFA with reference to local legislation.
"Due to UEFA's concerns regarding the legal framework in place at the venues in Russia and Azerbaijan, the organization has informed us that it is not possible to place rainbow advertisements in Baku and St. Petersburg."
Volkswagen said in its statement. The announcement provoked fierce protests from various gay rights advocacy organizations, among them
several called the European Football Association "cheeky"; in their opinion, UEFA has "made horses" of sexual minorities.
Currently, homosexuality and all related activities are illegal in Qatar. So much so that the public practice of homosexuality is punishable by up to 7 years in prison for non-Muslims. For Muslims, the prohibitions are even stricter - homosexuals can be stoned to death. According to the Equaldex register, only blood donation is permitted, and only because it does not require a special declaration (of course, if someone confesses their homosexuality before donating blood, they cannot even donate blood).
The chances of the LGBTI lobby in relation to the World Cup in Qatar must be judged in light of this. It is a new development that some of the organizers believe that they may eventually allow the flying of rainbow flags in Qatar, and they may also organize gay rights demonstrations during the Games.
News has come to light that the International Football Federation (FIFA) has developed a special procedure for the Qatari police. According to this, the police would intervene less if they are confronted with lobbying activities that are not aimed at "undermining physical or property integrity".
This permissive practice
the police are expected to continue until LGBTI protests become a "security issue"
Bloomberg writes .
Of course, it is not clear from the Qatari side whether it is inclined to implement FIFA's recommendations. The spokesperson of the organizing committee told the paper that the management is aware of the content of the presentation, but did not approve its contents. The Qatari government and FIFA did not comment on the developments.
We also hear about news contrary to Bloomberg's assumptions. According to the Daily Beast
Qatari authorities may confiscate LGBTI symbols.
Quoting Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, the head of the Qatari office responsible for international cooperation, the newspaper claims that the authorities would act in this way "specifically to protect gays".
"If [a fan] were to wave a rainbow flag and I took it away, it wouldn't be to offend that person, it would be to protect them"
Al Ansari explained, adding that it was not him, but maybe someone else who wanted to attack the fan.
"I can't take responsibility for everyone"
- stated Al Ansari, who believes that the essence of the World Cup is the game itself,
and no one should travel to Qatar just to harass an entire society.
There are, of course, gay rights lobby groups that want to boycott the Qatari web out of nowhere. On behalf of the Gaygoners organization, which represents the "homosexual wing" of Arsenal FC's fan base, Carl Fearn stated that since his organization and other fan organizations with a similar profile in Qatar would not be able to speak directly to sexual minorities, they would rather not travel at all. Instead, they will follow the World Cup in England or Wales.
Gary Lineker, top scorer of the 1986 World Cup and currently a TV commentator, indicated that
ready to "pick Qatar's brains" regarding gay rights issues.
The 61-year-old specialist predicted in a BBC interview that he is ready to keep the issue of gays on the agenda, even if it bothers Qatar.
"We have the opening game and I'm sure there will be issues of human rights, homophobia, stadium issues, workers' rights and human casualties."
Lineker stated.
Regarding the latter, Lineker thinks that seven of the stadiums of the eight event venues were built specifically for the World Cup, and one is currently being renovated. Since the population of the Gulf country does not even reach three million people, Qatar hired migrant workers to carry out the grandiose investments. The labor law regulations there are based on the so-called kafala system, part of which is that the employer takes the personal documents of the workforce and does not return them until the work has been completed. Many call the system a form of modern slavery for this very reason – according to some reports, thousands of people lost their lives during the 12-year construction.
Featured image: Alexander Hassentsein/Pool/AFP
