Concerns have been raised that the game’s new host could lead to a repeat of the Qatar World Cup
BY SCARLETT COUGHLAN, IMAGE BY CANVA
With Saudi Arabia set to host the 2034 World Cup, LGBTQIA fans are wondering what football’s return to the Middle East means for them.
Saudi Arabia is one of 65 jurisdictions around the world to criminalise same-sex relationships. Punishments for the offence range from jail time to the death penalty.
Despite their strict laws against homosexuality, Saudi Arabia’s sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, told the BBC: “Everyone is welcome in the kingdom. Any country around the world has room for improvement. No one’s perfect and we acknowledge that. And we are reforming – these events help us reform.”
Though Saudi Arabia plans to welcome foreign LGBTQIA fans to the tournament, the treatment of their own queer community is raising concerns for human rights organisations.
Amnesty International told DIVA: “There is an obvious discrimination against the LGBTQIA community and that needs to be changed. They’re trying to mask the reality. It’s essentially sportswashing.”
“Sportwashing” is a term used to describe the use of sports to divert attention away from social problems – something which Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz recently said he “does not care about” since it is raising the kingdom’s GDP.
Before the 2034 World Cup, Amnesty hopes that Saudi Arabia will reform their legislation – not just give queer visitors a free pass.
“It would be brilliant to feel that any LGBTQIA supporter who goes to the World Cup feels safe,” the human rights charity said. “That it’s okay to walk down the street holding hands, go to a restaurant – that would be great to see institutionalised by 2034.”
One way of achieving this, Amnesty believes, would be for global football stars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson to get behind the initiative.
“Having those sorts of statements from the managers and players makes a huge difference – that’s what we’re hoping to see from all the nations,” they said.
These hopes, however, may be difficult to actualise. This September, Henderson was bought by Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq as part of a huge state investment in the sport. A vocal supporter of the LGBTQIA community, the former Liverpool midfielder has been criticised for the move.
Blackpool forward Jake Daniels, who came out last year – making him the UK’s only openly gay male pro footballer – expressed his disappointment in Henderson. “Seeing him move to Saudi, it kind of like, slaps me in the face really,” he told the BBC.
Before his transfer to Al-Ettifaq, Henderson frequently wore rainbow-coloured laces on the pitch in support of the LGBTQIA community. Though refusing to “rule that out”, he said: “What I wouldn’t do is disrespect the religion and culture in Saudi Arabia.”
To announce Hendersons’ move to the club, Al-Ettifaq posted a video on social media featuring images of the player. Some of them, which showed the midfielder wearing a rainbow-coloured armband, were turned black and white.
During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which – like Saudi Arabia – follows Sharia law, footballers were forbidden from wearing symbols in support of the LGBTQIA community.
Just hours before the games began, the captains of seven countries were told that they would receive a yellow card from FIFA if they wore rainbow-coloured armbands on the pitch.
It is also claimed that spectators had rainbow-coloured items confiscated by security guards during Qatar’s World Cup.
One incident saw a fan not only banned from the tournament but actually deported from the country after he ran onto the pitch waving a rainbow flag as Uruguay played Portugal.
With ten years to shape up their policies, Amnesty hopes that Saudi Arabia will not make the same mistakes as Qatar: “When we return to the Middle East in 2034 none of those mistakes, none of that prejudice should ever be repeated again.”
DIVA magazine will celebrate 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
