LGBTQIA+ rights neglected at the hands of FIFA for the 2022 World Cup
By Mia Jin Haagensli, MSc Politics of the Middle East
FIFA strikes yet again. This time, the notorious football governing body is famously hosting its 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a country much known for its neglect of LGBTQIA+ rights. When Qatar, a country with a known history of human rights violations, won the World Cup bid for 2022, criticism erupted. Amongst the sea of claims and concerns of corruption, the cup being used as a cover for sportswashing, and the grave mistreatment of the country’s many migrant workers, is the claim of the World Cup abandoning its many LGBTQIA+ supporters. With the month-long cup now in full bloom after having been kicked off late November, it seems way overdue to address the controversial affair affecting not only the many LGBTQIA+ football fans around the world, but the sport in general.
It is not without reason that the Human Rights Watch researcher Rasha Younes labels the 2022 World Cup, a world cup of shame. After having been the subject of much controversy in the past, after Argentina hosted the cup in 1978 and Russia in 2018 to mention some, one might have thought that FIFA has learned its lesson. It did not, however, take FIFA long to prove to the world that they had not. Six short years after Qatar implemented laws making homosexuality illegal, it was made official that the country won the World Cup bid, beating both the United States and Australia to the punch. Now, the country where LGBTQIA+ people can face up to seven years in prison is hosting the biggest, most sought after event in the history of football, some would even say, in the history of sports.
To be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, football governing body in the world, comes with an important responsibility, one FIFA has yet to honor. One can argue that when the main, most turned to, organ with regards to football neglects LGBTQIA+ rights, it can all develop into a dangerous trend. According to numbers presented by NBC Sports, this year’s World Cup is the most streamed on record, making it, in the words of journalist Felix Richter, ´the biggest stage of all´ – thus, it is all the more important to promote inclusivity and respect. This does not, however, seem to be the route FIFA is taking. After Khalid Salman, one of FIFA´s 2022 World Cup Ambassadors, famously stated that homosexuality is ´a damage in the mind´ and referred to it as ´haram´ and after FIFA threatened with sporting sanctions if any teams were to wear the rainbow themed ´One Love´ armbands, it is no wonder LGBTQIA+ fans have referred to the tournament as one that ´has been taken from them´.
By FIFA letting the Gulf state host the infamous World Cup, a certain tone is set. If not an encouragement, it is at least a way of normalizing human rights falling in the shadow of a sports tournament. This can, and will, have serious consequences expected to last long after the cup is over. One consequence very evident now is how the World Cup directly affects LGBTQIA+ peoples´ joy of the sport. In the wake of the massive controversy surrounding the cup, countless football fans from around the world have expressed their unwillingness and even fear of engaging with the tournament. While many boycott the sport event as they resist, and strongly disagree with, FIFA´s choices and its lack of inclusivity, the fear of being met with hostility and violence has also led to many boycotting the 2022 World Cup. Many LGBTQIA+ football fans have also expressed that they feel neglected and abandoned by a sport they have loved for years. Arthur Webber, a trans journalist and football fan from a young age, explains how FIFA´s choice of host country ´felt like a slap in the face´. A consequence expected to come after the World Cup is over in December, is the imprisonment of Qatari LGBTQIA+ people and other Qatari residents. After the cup has reached its end, residents of Qatar can, according to Human Rights Watch, risk persecution for even the smallest act in support of gay rights during the cup. Qatari LGBTQIA+ people are also, as is their everyday reality in the country, constantly risking persecution. According to the Guardian, while football fans visiting the country will not be persecuted while at the cup, ´local LGBTQ+ supporters face a very different reality´. Not even with the eyes of the world at Qatar, are the local LGBTQIA+ people of the country safe.
FIFA has done it again. Human rights have, again, fallen in the dark shadow of football. When will FIFA have learned its lesson? When will the dignity and protection of people be top priority? If not even the top priority, the second or even third? When will it ever be enough? If not even when the many LGBTQIA+ football fans of the world are too scared to engage with the cup in fear of violence and persecution, when? If not when the sport of football is questioned and accused of neglecting real humans for the sake of a tournament, when?
