Human rights experts call the matchup surreal and politically charged
Long before the World Cup draw last week determined which teams would play where and when, one game was designated as the Pride Match. The game in Seattle on June 26 will go all out with rainbow banners, flags, arts and stories to showcase the LGBTQ+ communities in Washington state.
"With hundreds of thousands of visitors and billions of viewers worldwide, this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment to showcase and celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities in Washington," SeattleFWC26, the organizing committee for the city's participation in the World Cup 2026 games, says on its website. Then came the luck of the draw: Iran and Egypt, two countries that criminalize homosexuality and impose severe punishments for it, will be playing the Pride Match. And they have both roundly rejected having any links between their game and the LGBTQ+ events. The football associations for Iran and Egypt said Tuesday that they had both written to FIFA, soccer's global governing body, objecting to the Pride association with their match, demanding that all such events and displays coinciding with the game be canceled and insisting that the match be designated strictly as a sports event. The Egyptian Football Association said in its letter to FIFA that the Pride Match events"directly conflict with the cultural, religious and social values in the region, particularly in Arab and Islamic societies," and would"provoke cultural and religious sensitivities" of Iranian and Egyptian fans. Mehdi Taj, the head of Iran's Football Association, said on state television Tuesday that Iran had also protested the Pride Match designation with FIFA. Iranian news media reported that the country's team players would not wear rainbow arm bands or display any support for Pride.He also expressed concerns that the United States may deny visas to players from Iran's national soccer team and said he had discussed it with FIFA. The Trump administration has said that World Cup 2026 players and support staff for teams from countries that fall under a new travel ban for 19 mostly African and Middle Eastern nations, including Iran, will be granted visas. But fans will not be able to travel to the United States for the games because of the visa restrictions, the administration said. Omid Memarian, an Iranian human rights expert and senior fellow at Dawn, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that is focused on U.S. foreign policy, said the idea of Iran's and Egypt's national teams playing a Pride Match was"almost surreal because it places some of the world's most repressive governments on a stage built around openness and equality." "The more officials involve themselves in this media frenzy, the more they will harm their own national team," Memarian added. Ex // Top Stories With new bill, Schiff seeks postwar-esque housing boom The senator stopped in SF to promote proposal to invest $15 billion in new housing Finding some peace and humor at Lost Marbles Despite what the name implies, the Richmond bar offers a comfortable oasis for anyone seeking comfort at the end of the year SF neighborhoods ‘come together’ for holiday block parties Cheerful, community-minded celebrations set throughout The City Hana Tadesse, the Seattle organizing committee's vice president for communications, said in a statement that various Pride Match events in the city would be held as planned, but she noted that they would take place outside the stadium where the Egyptian and Iranian teams will play. The committee has spent months planning activities tied to Pride Match, which Tadesse said would"elevate existing Pride celebrations across Washington." Last month, for example, the committee announced the names of artists whose designs had been selected to be showcased in connection with Pride Match.Pride Match coincides with the city's Pride Week and the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City, the demonstrations that started on June 28, 1969, after a police raid at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn turned into resistance. It is widely regarded as the spark for the gay rights movement in the United States. Seattle is one of 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico selected by FIFA to host the 2026 soccer games. Six matches are scheduled to take place in Seattle, drawing teams and fans from the United States, Australia, Belgium, Qatar, Iran, Egypt and the winner of the European playoffs in Group A, which is yet to be determined. FIFA did not immediately respond to requests for a comment, and it has not commented publicly on the Pride Match controversy. The soccer body's ethical codes, specifically Article 4, call for neutrality regarding political and social issues, and players who violate the code could face punishment that includes a ban on playing soccer for up to two years. During World Cup 2022, FIFA warned players against wearing LGBTQ+ OneLove rainbow armbands that were meant to bring attention to gay rights in Qatar, and it said they would be handed yellow warning cards on the pitch if they wore them. FIFA resident Gianni Infantino said then that the participating teams should"let football take center stage."
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