HOMOPHOBIC QATAR GETS 2022 WORLD CUP
Some have expressed surprise that a nation that bars homosexuality and discriminates against women has been given the right to host the World Cup in 2022 – especially in the midst of ongoing concern about homophobia in football.
Stuart James, writing for the Guardian, pointed out the fact that Qatar’s 1971 Penal Code punishes sodomy between consenting adults with up to five years imprisonment.
The law has been enforced against gay locals and foreigners in the past. In 1995 an American man was sentenced to six months in prison and 90 lashes for homosexual activity.
“It’s obviously very disappointing to see Fifa giving their backing to a country where homosexuality is illegal and where people can get imprisoned,” Ed Connell, a spokesman for the Gay Football Supporters Network in the UK told the Guardian.
“The governing body of football are trying to send out a message that homophobia is unacceptable but they are endorsing a country where it’s illegal. It just sends out a very bad message. You wonder how people are meant to interpret Fifa’s commitment to tackling homophobia when they endorse a country in this way.”
According to Amnesty International, women continue to be seen as second class citizens and often face discrimination and violence in Qatar. The oil-rich Islamic country is an absolute monarchy and is ruled by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (picture).
Rampant homophobia in football has been blamed for the fact that there is currently no openly-gay player in professional football.
and yet… … no mention of the russian racism on top of the russian homophobia…
Russian racism?. Please enlighten us….
Bandwagons. I don’t understand how human rights and awarding the next FIFA WC have anything to do with each other?
South Africa hardly has a clean bill on equal rights, etc. – and no one made a who-ha over that? Where were the protests about lesbian-rape? Or the denial of the right to marriage? Or any of the real issues on hand?
I think this is just prejudice to a deserving arab state when the UK wasn’t awarded the bid!
Sours grapes never tasted so great for the UK!
Ag commonm we are a far cry from being anti gay. We do have equal marriage rights and many other rights in this country. It may not all be rosy but at least I wont be lashed 90 times or more for being gay by my government!
Leave FIFA alone!. If every organization with a “cause” made a noise every time a country was chosen to host the WC, there would be no WC.
They chose our country despite it having one of the highest rates of murder and corruption in the world, despite our government’s lack of service delivery to its own citizens, despite the outbreak of “corrective rape” and the continuous postponement of court cases by our so-called justice system… The list could go on.
Furthermore, does this mean that because gays are discriminated against in the US Military that the USA will never host a World Cup?
My opinion is that Sport is Sport. It is a game that is meant to bring people together from all backgrounds. Keep the politics and bleeding heart human rights martyrs away from sport.
FIFA…….. FIFA is just as corrupt as another well known organisation in our country. The only thing that was the detemining factor here was money. This people can buy any thing, even Septic Bladder (Sepp Bladder) and his corrupt Officials votes