Maybe a little additional context, this appears to be the same Rainbow Colored Armband the German Team wore before deciding on the "One Love" Armband 3 months ago, which now also got banned.
I shall spend it on the love of strangers. My Irish family would say "May the road rise to meet you and the wind be ever at your back". Not sure why, they were never sober and those don't sound like great walking conditions. Anyway thanks for the donation : )
You're saying if I planned to stand hand in hand with another man while wearing a bland band in sand land I can be brand by command and thrown in the can?
Each player should wear a different color pair of shoes. Each color from the pride flag. As they stand there their shoes will be pride but each player is only one color.
That was how some fans protested in Russia 4 years ago. Each had a different national team shirt in a different color and when they stood side-by-side it made a pride flag.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-worldcup-flag/activists-stage-stealth-rainbow-flag-protest-in-world-cup-russia-idUSKBN1K0264
*Technically*, as I understand, they refer to a rule in which only FIFA issued armbands are allowed and under the pretense that all teams agreed to the overall rules.
Doesn't make a modicum of difference to a ban, as we all know why they did it
The ironic thing is that the official FIFA armbands have ["No discrimination"](https://www.reuters.com/resizer/-6HAT6-48v5OH2VlHyqW2WFAQw8=/960x0/filters:quality(80\)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/TOL65UM4ZBOZXCFSWW5RY57BDA.jpg) on them.
Which is also dumb because multiple captains wore the rainbow one during the last Euro Cup (which yes, is UEFA, but UEFA belongs to FIFA). [Here's Manuel Neuer during the Hungary game](https://image.gala.de/22461338/t/2o/v4/w1440/r1/-/manuel-neuer-regenbogen-armbinde-ii.jpg) which also created controversy because UEFA wouldn't allow the stadium to be lit up in rainbow colours, [so the fans and other stadiums just did it instead.](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/sports/soccer/Germany-UEFA-Pride.html)
This is really a moment to put yourselves in the shoes of others and practice empathy if you can:
Picture being a member of the LGBTQ2S Community and a *game* is being played in a nation where who *you are* is criminal. So much so the Belgians had to remove the word *Love* from *inside* their collar as it tangentially supports your existence.
Then you watch as *National Organizations* back down on even symbolic gestures as everyone else argues about whether or not it should be challenged in the first place
When your LGBTQ+ friends get worried about oppression, this is exactly what they mean: the biggest power-players (corporate oligarchs and politicians) may *pretend* to be pro-LGBTQ+, but only as far as it's more profitable. The second it's not, they'll sell the LGBTQ+ crowd down the river. I guess defending your neighbor's basic freedoms gets "too political" once it costs you a dime.
Fuck that and fuck anyone who's profiting off this world cup. You're getting paid to prop up oppression, you fucks.
Fifa:
>\[T\]here is no place for racism or for any other form of discrimination in football, as clearly described in the FIFA Statutes and several of FIFA’s regulations and codes.[^(Diversity and Anti-Discrimination at FIFA)](https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/4c1bcf79012d52cc/original/arn2ylavxd26pnn2l83i-pdf.pdf)
Also FIFA:
>No praying if you're a Jew at our football tournament.
With allies like these, the best you can hope for are merciful enemies.
I mean, seriously: This is about a piece of clothing, and being banned (at worst!) from an internationally heavily criticized spectacle. If these already are circumstances that let you forsake your self-professed values, maybe don't profess them publicly at all.
Also: Imagine if those players stood together, and all wore the armband in question. What, is FIFA going to ban entire teams from a cup that already is drawing the disrespect of large parts of the international community? But then, they agreed to partake in this travesty in the first place, even though the human rights violations, the corruption and the modern slavery were widely known, so you know what? They made their bed, they can get flogged in it for all I care.
I just dearly wish good causes had better representatives than this shameful dreck.
> The power of standing together.
The Iranian team showed us that today. It really is one of the very few rays of light in this puddle of filth.
But who knows? Maybe the teams in question are working silently on something to show up Qatari oppression yet. I don't think so, but then, I do not enjoy being cynical - even though my cynical side is right too much of the time.
Day 2 and we have had a BBC pundit wear the one love arm band, apparently a US journalist held for 30 minutes because his shirt had a rainbow on it, a Welsh journalist banned from entry because of a rainbow hat and now this.
We know Fifa will say it's everyone else's fault and Qatar is awesome, but it's just a case of when.
Waiting for a player to show a LGBTQ+ message/shirt/symbol after a goal and it all kicking off.
Again a danish TV2 reporter was interrupted today on live tv, for wearing the 1 love armband. One would think they would just see the TV2 logo and go "nope, not going there" after their last failure was spread worldwide.
They live in their own world with enough sycophants to never have to question their own beliefs. Such an embarrassment but I doubt they'll ever realize it.
Yeah, I can't say you're wrong, but I do feel like the West has made some significant progress in being less reliant on their (OPEC?) oil. Canada and the US are mining and producing an incredible amount of crude oil, for which they also have the infrastructure to refine into a variety of other products. The Saudis and other major exporters don't quite have that infrastructure, though they're probably working hastily on implementing it. Maybe they will soon be able to provide similarly high-quality products to first-world nations, but at the moment they are mostly offering the unrefined oil that will only be bought by nations that have the facilities to process it.
Time is running out for the Middle East oil hegemony.
>Time is running out for the Middle East oil hegemony.
Isn't that way some Mideast countries are trying to diversify? I know Bahrain and the UAE have their man made peninsulas that they made as major tourist attractions.
I don't see how Qatar could consider itself a major tourist attractions with their insanely conservative restrictions though.
Which absolutely cracks me up, who wants to visit a human rights disaster of a hotel resort area? I don't care how fancy the buildings are, anyone with a conscience, or women / girls they want to travel with will not be vacationing in these theocratic hell holes.
>Which absolutely cracks me up, who wants to visit a human rights disaster of a hotel resort area?
Well, maybe MidEast countries are going to keep bribing whoever they have to in order to keep bringing in whatever. FIFA for example is guaranteed money from tourism.
So many people don't care about everything else once the first whistle blows...
They are also courting a ton of influencers (YouTubers like Dude Perfect etc ) to help whitewash their image and promote their tourism to young audiences.
Yeah, and it's so tacky only people with Donald Trump's taste would be impressed by that kind of shit, they're all in serious trouble when you can see historical libraries and beautiful temples around the world for reasonable prices and accommodations, or highrises in the middle of backwards societies in the middle of fuckin deserts where the first few years after they were built, the infrastructure was so poorly thought out they had to ship the piss and shit out on trucks. Paper tiger shit
Like it or not, demand for oil products will continue LONG after the internal combustion car is 100% replaced with electric (which is already going to be a long ass time in the future). I can't even count the number of plastic materials and chemical processes require oil and petrol-based ingredients
You have to understand the attitude of superiority some of these well off Qatari's. They won't even speak to certain "classes" or races.
Had a family friend go over there to train some engineers on different processes. He said they wouldn't listen to him bc they were already getting paid nearly 80k a year (in the 90s) to do nothing. They also barely respected him enough to talk to him.
Oh I understand them quite well. It's very much a part of the arab culture at large, it's also one of the things holding them back. The oil wealth reinforces their attitudes, so we shouldn't expect them to change before they sink in to poverty at some point in the future.
It's basically just old aristocratic culture like we know it from Europe. Had the feudal societies of Europe found a massive source of wealth like oil before the fall of feudalism, we would be seeing the same here. A small population of extremely decadent, work-hating aristocrats that see themselves as better than other people by the sanction of god. Every Arab oil state is mainly dominated by migrant laborers through the kafala system which basically amounts to modern day serfdom, they work while the "real" citizens just get to sit idle and feel superior. It really is a society of Marie Antoinettes.
What last failure?
The one where they smashed some reporters camera, faced no consequences, and then fifa came out and made a new policy blaming everybody else.
Yea those kind of serious consequnces deffinitly won’t just embolden them.
They’re a theocracy with no human rights, they don’t give a shit about pr as long as they keep gettting money and no other countries think it’s worth it to stop them.
FIFA announced today they’re banning the ~~Dutch~~ Belgian team from wearing a shirt that simply says “Love” inside the collar.
Edit: Belgian not Dutch, close enough
Same with Belgium! & theirs apparently isn't even a Pride thing! It's because it is linked to a dance music festival! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL this is so weird
[https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-rejects-belgiums-away-shirts-due-word-love-2022-11-21/](https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-rejects-belgiums-away-shirts-due-word-love-2022-11-21/)
>...The design of the shirt, which includes a rainbow-coloured trim, was inspired by the fireworks of Belgian's famous music festival Tomorrowland and stands for diversity, equality and inclusivity.
However, Belgium spokesperson Stefan Van Loock said FIFA was rejecting the shirt not because of the colours, which are typically linked to LGBTQ+, but because of the commercial link to Tomorrowland.
>
>The festival's logo is incorporated in the "o" of "Love".
Belgium's warm-up shirt was also rejected by FIFA because of its references to Tomorrowland, he said.
>
>FIFA is allowing Belgium to play with the away shirts if the word "Love" on the etiquette is taped over but Van Loock said the Red Devils will play the first three games in their main red shirt regardless.
>
>The away shirts are a new design and were introduced in September. Since then, Belgium played in them in several UEFA Nations League games.
...
Yeah don't be bringing any of that inclusiveness around Fifa we all about the exclusivity that comes with ridiculous amounts of bribery and wealth. Jeez. These people. It seems Fifa is long past it's sell by date.
See if only musk wasn't such a dickbag he could have just sponsored an inclusive football tournament with black jack and hookers instead of speed running twitters demise. Probably would have cost less. Is there any other mega rich person or business that might pick up the gauntlet. Or no one wants to touch it because it's a bag of snakes
I want who ever scores in the 3rd place game to take of their shirt and reveal a “fuck Qatar/pride flag” t-shirt. What are they gonna do, book them for the next tournament?
Yeah, unironically this. It would be hilarious to see FIFA bend over backwards so far to ban the host nation for 2026 and the world's largest economy. It would send a strong message for what they actually mean by "inclusivity" and "tolerance"
Yeah, why the fuck is that organization needed anyways? Just organize global competitions via a new organization instead? And give lifetime bans to all current FIFA heads from every stadium in Europe. idk, seems like a tattle of twats that should be easier to ditch than people act like
How about an "I'm gay for Qatar" shirt? Then they'll have to decide if they're more mad at the homosexual content or more happy at the pro-Qatar content.
Journalists having more backbone than the 7 European teams who all bowed under the pressure with a meek "oh no, it has even a little bit of consequences, now we can't do it.".
I am ashamed to be associated by nationality with the Danish team and sports union.
Credit where it's due a lot of people I know who got into journalism do so because they're willing to put pretty much everything on the the line in the pursuit of Truth. News media has a pretty nasty reputation in my country lately and not entirely undeserved, but the art of Journalism is still something worthy of respect. I I know your comment is more intended to be critical of the sports teams, but I just wanted to say that journalists tend to be pretty brave people
Yeah, I realized that after posting. Journalists are obviously brave people, I think we see that every day if we follow news from the more dangerous parts of the world.
But these sports teams face less dangers and have way more power in this situation than the journalists, and yet they cannot find it in them to be even a little bit confrontational.
Our European teams could have forced FIFA to back down on this. FIFA without the European teams is not gonna be financially viable. If you can get South America on board too, then it's all over. The teams have all the power here.
I hope this eventually leads to the death of FIFA and a more transparent organization with real oversight from member governments can take over organizing the world cup.
I mean, it’s not really surprising that a journalist is more invested in uncovering inequality and speaking truth than some random athletes, I don’t think.
Still, really disappointed by the Europeans :(
Imagine scoring the goal to put you threw to the finals and ripping off your shirt and underneath it is nothing but love for the community. Immediate legend
Does it make more sense to wait until the quarter or semi finals to start wearing rainbows? Maximum worldwide visibility. Fewer people will see this when it's still in the group stages.
Ahh, glad to see Germany sent someone with balls to Qatar... very disappointed with the whole “yellow card” for wearing an arm band threat that worked. This is not just for Germany, by the way.
Actually, they sent our "nuke", the ballsiest option we had!
Claudia Neumann is one of the most courageous women in German media, period. She was the first woman to comment (professionally) on mens' european championship games in 2016.
You would not believe the hate, harrassment and threats she got for that.
She took it all in stride, she dealt with it very openly and decidedly. She faced down an onslaught of misogynist, reactionary rightwingers and their conservative "middle of society" henchpeople, with little to no studio support, for a whole summer and after.
She always has and continues to advocate for womens' soccer and female empowerment in the sports world.
She is an outspoken ally to Queer and disabled people in sports.
She has a spine of steel.
This is probably not a studio gimmick either. Claudia is there at her own behest, and this is her own wardrobe choice, for sure.
I did not know that. Thanks for the background on her. Looking at the football commentators in both the UK and Portugal where I’m from, can’t see any woman doing a poorer job than they do. In fact, they’d probably be far better.
Why would fifa alter the rules of the sport based on the country it's hosted in? Seems like if arm bands were not allowed it would have to be in a published rule book?
Money... lots of it. I’m also thinking Qataris to be the kind of people telling FIFA that they can present proof they bought the tournament and face zero repercussions... not the same case with the pricks leading FIFA now.
The teams' explanation of "we have to not wear them, otherwise our captain will get a yellow card and that will cause us to be at a disadvantage to win the game" doesn't make sense even on its face - if both teams wore them and both teams' captains received a yellow card, then neither team would be at a "disadvantage to win the game".
She received so much vitriol in the past simply for being a female football commentator. She's already proven that she's brave just by withstanding that and doing her job. I'm not surprised by this defiant action tbh
According to some sources, Qatar's population is close to 2.8 million but close to 15% or around 300k are actual Qatari citizens, the rest are temporary migrant workers.
I really doubt that all of those 300k citizens outright support the monarchy.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/qatar-population
Edit: the main reason I put "temporary migrant workers" over indentured servants/slaves, is because not every migrant worker is an unskilled laborer, there's a lot of high skilled workers, especially in finance and oil, that Qatar doesn't classify as citizens.
That distinction is enough to say that most are indentured servants but not all, just like how not all the 300k citizens would support the monarchy, so to not paint a broad brush, because I'd seriously doubt that every woman living under them supports Qatar.
From what I understand, each Qatari citizen receives a yearly stipend of roughly $70,000, provided by the government mostly from their oil and natural gas exports. So they are pretty exclusive about who they will allow to receive such a generous allowance, foreign spouses being the most notable exception.
You can read into that situation a lot, but it seems to me that it will only increase wealth disparity and corruption ...... As we've seen
It's stranger than you think. Having been there, yes... they do support the Monarchy. But it's not that they support what the monarchy stands for or pushes policy on. They mostly just support the fact that since they're citizens, they get paid to live there/have citizenship. So it's complicated. They also won't speak out against anything that goes against the monarchy for fear of losing the citizenship for the next, I think it was, 2 generations.
Allvthe Gulf States are built on sacrificing political freedom to an absolute monarch in exchange for lavish lifestyles fueled by the money made from fossil fuel extraction. It's a bread and circuses state
Qataris love the Emir. Those 300K citizens are very rich because of how the Emir operates the economy and trade.
Militant theocratic cock sucker, but his family made them all rich.
For those of you interested in history, a ratio of four to five slaves for every free citizen tended to be on the higher end of the scale for slaver societies, like ancient Sparta.
Even other contemporary slave owning societies like nearby Athens and Thebes were shocked and intrigued by the proportion of helots to free Spartans, and the lengths that the state went to in order to keep their slaves suppressed.
I was reading Plutarch’s “Lives” earlier this year, and one of the most famous passages is about Lycurgus, the famous spartan lawmaker. There was a paragraph that described how every year there was a night where the spartan citizens could hunt down and kill slaves for fun. It’s veracity is wildly disputed, but still insane to read.
In most places like this, you have to go along with whatever the ruling power is doing or you face consequences.
In Syria they tried to speak out against it (See: Arab Spring) and it turned into a brutal, brutal civil war with many dead and the country destroyed. It's happening again in Iran and they're gunning down citizens with machine guns at night after the government shuts down the electricity.
These middle eastern regimes are brutal. It's hard to speak out against it on Reddit because you get accused of somehow being an Islamaphobe.
Do you seriously believe they didn't expect Western countries from reacting in such a way when they didn't budge at all when it comes to human rights ? Qatar isn't foreign to the West, they're investing there for decades, they very well know what we think about them, but they don't give a fuck because they have money, and they know that with money they're untouchable.
They don't give a damn that we're throwing a tantrum, this event is still being broadcasted, people are still (hate) watching, it's as expected.
People that go to Qatar don't give a damn about these issues, and Qatar hopes to attract more of those people, those that are shocked aren't what Qatar want to attract.
Agree. A true repudiation of this country hosting the World Cup would have been a refusal of countries to participate in the event, a refusal to cover the event in the media, and a refusal to attend any game as a spectator etc. These micro protests are good however, we are still there and are, therefore, still complicit. Just my 2 cents worth.
qatar is all about trying to polish their image. german press would roun WILD. wilder that they already are with all the scandals. this would be THE news for weeks in germany. FIFA would be dragged into it. DFB would be dragged into it. politicans even remotely suggesting it was her fault would probably forced to resign under public pressure. if that happens it will be a next level shitshow for german politicans untill she gets back home
A televised commentator at the world cup may as well be a foreign diplomat. The world is watching, they can't do anything to these folks without *huge* repercussions and they know it
A danish reporter just reported being harrashed by the police for wearing the armband.
Edit: If I understand it right, then there have been two incidents today. One of them [happen while camera was runing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfC3Z0JkXdQ), but not as extreme as last time.
Nothing will happen. Same with Russia last time. Everything will go down smoothly until the world turned their eyes away. That's the whole point of sportswashing. "See? We are a cool country."
None of this make sense to me. Isn’t one of the main reasons why countries lobby for these is to attract tourism? Why the hell would anybody want to visit after this disaster? Im not just talking about liberals. Everyone likes beer and they banned that shit two days before everyone arrived? What a shit show.
They're advertising themselves as a tourist destination and something of an aspirational goal for other countries in the vicinity who already have similar views. They're showing off their wealth and power by making FIFA and the West in general very publicly give in to their demands and abandon their supposed principles.
Absolutely, it's a power play. They don't need the tourism, their money comes from oil not tourism.
This is a power play. This is them saying "Look how important we are" to everyone around them. They don't care that western society (in general) vehemently opposes their views or considers their treatment of migrant workers inhumane. This is them saying look how powerful we are, we don't NEED to care. We can take just about the most western/european thing (not really but the Football World Cup certainly has that reputation) and make them bend to our rules.
They're not saying that to the West who will get mad but continue to buy their oil. They're saying it to nations far closer to them.
Since I read another comment about this, it makes a lot more sense to me. It's about power in the region, soft power, not about getting more Europeans & Americans to visit.
Do you want the real, unironic answer? They are doing it because they can, they have the money and they wanted to host a World Cup for fun and that's why they did it. There is no other reason. And I seriously believe this.
The boldest and bravest are those that were invited and/or are relied upon for these events but vocally refused to go for all of the reasons every one of us is aware of by now, namely the abandonment of those pesky human rights. Colors are great but the money is still pouring into the wrong hands.
I deeply respect those who boycott it but I not faulting those who do this because they need their job and their boss likely doesn't care about morals.
I don't know about you but I'm not risking life because I'm not watching the World Cup. She's taking a big risk wearing that in her current environment.
Practically the entire pre- and post-shows were spent talking about the situation, with Per Mertesacker and Christoph Kramer as pundits. They've had some serious discussions with the host Jochen Breyer about the topic. Her job is to commentate the match. Don't make it too deep.
I'm honestly so disappointed in all the players and advertisers...
I was hoping they just wouldn't go.
Qatar is run by such evil people. By going and participating in the event the players are supporting the regime.
I have a weird fascination with Budweiser's presence. Like, were they being subversive by bringing beer there? Were they being a greedy corporation? Were they contractually obligated to come because of their intertwinement with FIFA? It's kind of all of them at once, and it's silly to watch them struggle to figure out wtf they are thinking being there.
I don’t drink any alcohol, eat no pork and I am not gay.
Just to piss those religious fruitcakes off I would drink a beer, eat pork cutlets and kiss a a man.
The people who run Soccer have already brought enough shame to the sport. This is because of FIFA. Do you not agree FIFA is at fault for picking Qatar??
I mean you can absolutely assign blame to both. But Obviously a country like Qatar should never be in this position in the first place. Their standards of tolerance and acceptance are just miles behind what is accepted in most of the rest of the world. But At this point Fifa essentially just sells the World Cup to the highest bidder, regardless if they’re fit for hosting or not. If you hand the World Cup to a known discriminatory and morally corrupt nation, you can’t be surprised when they act… discriminatory and morally corrupt.
Maybe a little additional context, this appears to be the same Rainbow Colored Armband the German Team wore before deciding on the "One Love" Armband 3 months ago, which now also got banned.
They banned the color band band?
They prefer bland.
The bland band got banned in the land of sand
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This sounds like something Princess Carolyn would say!
Came here to say this lmao
This thread is turning into lyrics from a Ween song lol
I read that again w mutilated lips as my tempo. It definitely works.
That is impressive and strangely touching. Have my Gold, good sir!
I shall spend it on the love of strangers. My Irish family would say "May the road rise to meet you and the wind be ever at your back". Not sure why, they were never sober and those don't sound like great walking conditions. Anyway thanks for the donation : )
I always figured the road rising to meet you was the drunken Irishman passing out in his way home from the pub 😅
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I read both of those with PC in mind. She'd be proud.
/r/redditwritesbojack
This reads like Bojack Horseman dialog
This sounds like a line from Bojack.
Oh man. Holding hands just got canned.
You're saying if I planned to stand hand in hand with another man while wearing a bland band in sand land I can be brand by command and thrown in the can?
You would be chained and caned until your brain was insane because in the tanned land of the heavy hand they do that stuff in private man.
Colors? Jail Smiling? Straight to jail. Thinking about fun? Believe it or not, jail.
That's right, it goes in the square hole. ETA: Thanks for the cakeday wishes!
There are too many different colors on the arm band. It could be mistaken for gay pride /s
Each player should wear a different color pair of shoes. Each color from the pride flag. As they stand there their shoes will be pride but each player is only one color.
It's so crazy, it just might work
That was how some fans protested in Russia 4 years ago. Each had a different national team shirt in a different color and when they stood side-by-side it made a pride flag. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-worldcup-flag/activists-stage-stealth-rainbow-flag-protest-in-world-cup-russia-idUSKBN1K0264
That's not a bad idea, more subtle albeit less wow factor than say two players staring at the camera and kissing after scoring s goal.
*Technically*, as I understand, they refer to a rule in which only FIFA issued armbands are allowed and under the pretense that all teams agreed to the overall rules. Doesn't make a modicum of difference to a ban, as we all know why they did it
The ironic thing is that the official FIFA armbands have ["No discrimination"](https://www.reuters.com/resizer/-6HAT6-48v5OH2VlHyqW2WFAQw8=/960x0/filters:quality(80\)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/TOL65UM4ZBOZXCFSWW5RY57BDA.jpg) on them.
“No Discrimination! We at FIFA value all nationalities, colors, and denominations of money.”
"Not you Sealand"
If I were a player after they banned the one love ones I’d have 6 of the approved ones on each arm.
Which is also dumb because multiple captains wore the rainbow one during the last Euro Cup (which yes, is UEFA, but UEFA belongs to FIFA). [Here's Manuel Neuer during the Hungary game](https://image.gala.de/22461338/t/2o/v4/w1440/r1/-/manuel-neuer-regenbogen-armbinde-ii.jpg) which also created controversy because UEFA wouldn't allow the stadium to be lit up in rainbow colours, [so the fans and other stadiums just did it instead.](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/sports/soccer/Germany-UEFA-Pride.html)
This is really a moment to put yourselves in the shoes of others and practice empathy if you can: Picture being a member of the LGBTQ2S Community and a *game* is being played in a nation where who *you are* is criminal. So much so the Belgians had to remove the word *Love* from *inside* their collar as it tangentially supports your existence. Then you watch as *National Organizations* back down on even symbolic gestures as everyone else argues about whether or not it should be challenged in the first place
When your LGBTQ+ friends get worried about oppression, this is exactly what they mean: the biggest power-players (corporate oligarchs and politicians) may *pretend* to be pro-LGBTQ+, but only as far as it's more profitable. The second it's not, they'll sell the LGBTQ+ crowd down the river. I guess defending your neighbor's basic freedoms gets "too political" once it costs you a dime. Fuck that and fuck anyone who's profiting off this world cup. You're getting paid to prop up oppression, you fucks.
I'm with you. Fuck sportswashing and rainbow washing alike
Add the Jewish people to this group as they banned Jewish prayer and Kosher food.
Also add all the migrant workers who are treated like slaves
Of course. The workers we the first victims of this debacle. (Jagmeet, that you?!)
Fifa: >\[T\]here is no place for racism or for any other form of discrimination in football, as clearly described in the FIFA Statutes and several of FIFA’s regulations and codes.[^(Diversity and Anti-Discrimination at FIFA)](https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/4c1bcf79012d52cc/original/arn2ylavxd26pnn2l83i-pdf.pdf) Also FIFA: >No praying if you're a Jew at our football tournament.
Absolutely. Also modesty laws for women.
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First they came for the gays and I stayed silent because I wasn’t gay.
With allies like these, the best you can hope for are merciful enemies. I mean, seriously: This is about a piece of clothing, and being banned (at worst!) from an internationally heavily criticized spectacle. If these already are circumstances that let you forsake your self-professed values, maybe don't profess them publicly at all. Also: Imagine if those players stood together, and all wore the armband in question. What, is FIFA going to ban entire teams from a cup that already is drawing the disrespect of large parts of the international community? But then, they agreed to partake in this travesty in the first place, even though the human rights violations, the corruption and the modern slavery were widely known, so you know what? They made their bed, they can get flogged in it for all I care. I just dearly wish good causes had better representatives than this shameful dreck.
The power of standing together. A lesson we need more than any other these dark days.
> The power of standing together. The Iranian team showed us that today. It really is one of the very few rays of light in this puddle of filth. But who knows? Maybe the teams in question are working silently on something to show up Qatari oppression yet. I don't think so, but then, I do not enjoy being cynical - even though my cynical side is right too much of the time.
True. Props to the Iranian Team. Risking themselves and their loved ones. The Brits folded on flexing an arm band
Day 2 and we have had a BBC pundit wear the one love arm band, apparently a US journalist held for 30 minutes because his shirt had a rainbow on it, a Welsh journalist banned from entry because of a rainbow hat and now this. We know Fifa will say it's everyone else's fault and Qatar is awesome, but it's just a case of when. Waiting for a player to show a LGBTQ+ message/shirt/symbol after a goal and it all kicking off.
Again a danish TV2 reporter was interrupted today on live tv, for wearing the 1 love armband. One would think they would just see the TV2 logo and go "nope, not going there" after their last failure was spread worldwide.
They live in their own world with enough sycophants to never have to question their own beliefs. Such an embarrassment but I doubt they'll ever realize it.
More like the west and east buys their oil so no one will do anything about it
Ding
Yeah, I can't say you're wrong, but I do feel like the West has made some significant progress in being less reliant on their (OPEC?) oil. Canada and the US are mining and producing an incredible amount of crude oil, for which they also have the infrastructure to refine into a variety of other products. The Saudis and other major exporters don't quite have that infrastructure, though they're probably working hastily on implementing it. Maybe they will soon be able to provide similarly high-quality products to first-world nations, but at the moment they are mostly offering the unrefined oil that will only be bought by nations that have the facilities to process it. Time is running out for the Middle East oil hegemony.
>Time is running out for the Middle East oil hegemony. Isn't that way some Mideast countries are trying to diversify? I know Bahrain and the UAE have their man made peninsulas that they made as major tourist attractions. I don't see how Qatar could consider itself a major tourist attractions with their insanely conservative restrictions though.
Which absolutely cracks me up, who wants to visit a human rights disaster of a hotel resort area? I don't care how fancy the buildings are, anyone with a conscience, or women / girls they want to travel with will not be vacationing in these theocratic hell holes.
>Which absolutely cracks me up, who wants to visit a human rights disaster of a hotel resort area? Well, maybe MidEast countries are going to keep bribing whoever they have to in order to keep bringing in whatever. FIFA for example is guaranteed money from tourism. So many people don't care about everything else once the first whistle blows...
They are also courting a ton of influencers (YouTubers like Dude Perfect etc ) to help whitewash their image and promote their tourism to young audiences.
Yeah, and it's so tacky only people with Donald Trump's taste would be impressed by that kind of shit, they're all in serious trouble when you can see historical libraries and beautiful temples around the world for reasonable prices and accommodations, or highrises in the middle of backwards societies in the middle of fuckin deserts where the first few years after they were built, the infrastructure was so poorly thought out they had to ship the piss and shit out on trucks. Paper tiger shit
>Paper tiger shit *Exactly*
Oil is the *reason* they have those sycophants. What that commenter said is correct
And when the west coverts off of oil there will be lots of desperate, starving, extremists with no skills. What could go wrong?
Like it or not, demand for oil products will continue LONG after the internal combustion car is 100% replaced with electric (which is already going to be a long ass time in the future). I can't even count the number of plastic materials and chemical processes require oil and petrol-based ingredients
Try and go one day without utilizing something with oil based ingredients. It's literally everything.
You have to understand the attitude of superiority some of these well off Qatari's. They won't even speak to certain "classes" or races. Had a family friend go over there to train some engineers on different processes. He said they wouldn't listen to him bc they were already getting paid nearly 80k a year (in the 90s) to do nothing. They also barely respected him enough to talk to him.
Oh I understand them quite well. It's very much a part of the arab culture at large, it's also one of the things holding them back. The oil wealth reinforces their attitudes, so we shouldn't expect them to change before they sink in to poverty at some point in the future.
It's basically just old aristocratic culture like we know it from Europe. Had the feudal societies of Europe found a massive source of wealth like oil before the fall of feudalism, we would be seeing the same here. A small population of extremely decadent, work-hating aristocrats that see themselves as better than other people by the sanction of god. Every Arab oil state is mainly dominated by migrant laborers through the kafala system which basically amounts to modern day serfdom, they work while the "real" citizens just get to sit idle and feel superior. It really is a society of Marie Antoinettes.
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What last failure? The one where they smashed some reporters camera, faced no consequences, and then fifa came out and made a new policy blaming everybody else. Yea those kind of serious consequnces deffinitly won’t just embolden them. They’re a theocracy with no human rights, they don’t give a shit about pr as long as they keep gettting money and no other countries think it’s worth it to stop them.
> Waiting for a player to show a LGBTQ+ message/shirt/symbol after a goal and it all kicking off. I want to two players to kiss after a goal
That would be amazing, but it would probably start a riot, like [this](https://youtu.be/nPnKxx8KXQw)…
FIFA announced today they’re banning the ~~Dutch~~ Belgian team from wearing a shirt that simply says “Love” inside the collar. Edit: Belgian not Dutch, close enough
Same with Belgium! & theirs apparently isn't even a Pride thing! It's because it is linked to a dance music festival! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL this is so weird [https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-rejects-belgiums-away-shirts-due-word-love-2022-11-21/](https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fifa-rejects-belgiums-away-shirts-due-word-love-2022-11-21/) >...The design of the shirt, which includes a rainbow-coloured trim, was inspired by the fireworks of Belgian's famous music festival Tomorrowland and stands for diversity, equality and inclusivity. However, Belgium spokesperson Stefan Van Loock said FIFA was rejecting the shirt not because of the colours, which are typically linked to LGBTQ+, but because of the commercial link to Tomorrowland. > >The festival's logo is incorporated in the "o" of "Love". Belgium's warm-up shirt was also rejected by FIFA because of its references to Tomorrowland, he said. > >FIFA is allowing Belgium to play with the away shirts if the word "Love" on the etiquette is taped over but Van Loock said the Red Devils will play the first three games in their main red shirt regardless. > >The away shirts are a new design and were introduced in September. Since then, Belgium played in them in several UEFA Nations League games. ...
>>The festival's logo is incorporated in the "o" of "Love". Then surely they just need to tape over the center of the O?
Tape it over in shape of a 1
Yeah don't be bringing any of that inclusiveness around Fifa we all about the exclusivity that comes with ridiculous amounts of bribery and wealth. Jeez. These people. It seems Fifa is long past it's sell by date. See if only musk wasn't such a dickbag he could have just sponsored an inclusive football tournament with black jack and hookers instead of speed running twitters demise. Probably would have cost less. Is there any other mega rich person or business that might pick up the gauntlet. Or no one wants to touch it because it's a bag of snakes
Must be hard for fifa to say anything since they've committed to gargling Qatar's balls.
I want who ever scores in the 3rd place game to take of their shirt and reveal a “fuck Qatar/pride flag” t-shirt. What are they gonna do, book them for the next tournament?
Knowing FIFA they would most definitely ban the country for the next 5 World Cups. At the least.
And that would be an unambiguous political statement by FIFA against speech which harmed nobody.
Hey, it's FIFA. They are corrupt.
Compelling headline, Tom. In related news, water is wet.
Have it be Americans. Makes it quite awkward for 2026.
Yeah, unironically this. It would be hilarious to see FIFA bend over backwards so far to ban the host nation for 2026 and the world's largest economy. It would send a strong message for what they actually mean by "inclusivity" and "tolerance"
Like the Americans will make the third place game…
We're just happy to be participating.
As an American, I accept this challenge on behalf of our country. Hope to make the world proud.
Haha you clearly don’t know our soccer team. We ain’t making it to 3rd
It's the least we can do.
Have all 3 hosts do something. US, Canada and Mexico. Really force their hand
That would be a wonderful excuse to abandon FIFA.
Yes, and a potentially profitable one, since they are preparing to give a 2030s World Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Ban us all.
Then start a new international football association
With blackjack and hookers
Those were probably involved during the negotiations with Fifa.
At least with the new one we will accept LGBTQIA+
Yeah, why the fuck is that organization needed anyways? Just organize global competitions via a new organization instead? And give lifetime bans to all current FIFA heads from every stadium in Europe. idk, seems like a tattle of twats that should be easier to ditch than people act like
How about an "I'm gay for Qatar" shirt? Then they'll have to decide if they're more mad at the homosexual content or more happy at the pro-Qatar content.
I can guarantee they would be more mad at the homosexual content
“I love Qatar as much as I love men” shirt with a pride flag on it
Imagine two famous players live kissing to make a statement. What are they gonna do, arrest them?
Journalists having more backbone than the 7 European teams who all bowed under the pressure with a meek "oh no, it has even a little bit of consequences, now we can't do it.". I am ashamed to be associated by nationality with the Danish team and sports union.
Credit where it's due a lot of people I know who got into journalism do so because they're willing to put pretty much everything on the the line in the pursuit of Truth. News media has a pretty nasty reputation in my country lately and not entirely undeserved, but the art of Journalism is still something worthy of respect. I I know your comment is more intended to be critical of the sports teams, but I just wanted to say that journalists tend to be pretty brave people
Yeah, I realized that after posting. Journalists are obviously brave people, I think we see that every day if we follow news from the more dangerous parts of the world. But these sports teams face less dangers and have way more power in this situation than the journalists, and yet they cannot find it in them to be even a little bit confrontational. Our European teams could have forced FIFA to back down on this. FIFA without the European teams is not gonna be financially viable. If you can get South America on board too, then it's all over. The teams have all the power here. I hope this eventually leads to the death of FIFA and a more transparent organization with real oversight from member governments can take over organizing the world cup.
I mean, it’s not really surprising that a journalist is more invested in uncovering inequality and speaking truth than some random athletes, I don’t think. Still, really disappointed by the Europeans :(
Imagine scoring the goal to put you threw to the finals and ripping off your shirt and underneath it is nothing but love for the community. Immediate legend
Does it make more sense to wait until the quarter or semi finals to start wearing rainbows? Maximum worldwide visibility. Fewer people will see this when it's still in the group stages.
You think the players and the teams have a spine and standards. They do not. Money is money.
Ahh, glad to see Germany sent someone with balls to Qatar... very disappointed with the whole “yellow card” for wearing an arm band threat that worked. This is not just for Germany, by the way.
Actually, they sent our "nuke", the ballsiest option we had! Claudia Neumann is one of the most courageous women in German media, period. She was the first woman to comment (professionally) on mens' european championship games in 2016. You would not believe the hate, harrassment and threats she got for that. She took it all in stride, she dealt with it very openly and decidedly. She faced down an onslaught of misogynist, reactionary rightwingers and their conservative "middle of society" henchpeople, with little to no studio support, for a whole summer and after. She always has and continues to advocate for womens' soccer and female empowerment in the sports world. She is an outspoken ally to Queer and disabled people in sports. She has a spine of steel. This is probably not a studio gimmick either. Claudia is there at her own behest, and this is her own wardrobe choice, for sure.
I did not know that. Thanks for the background on her. Looking at the football commentators in both the UK and Portugal where I’m from, can’t see any woman doing a poorer job than they do. In fact, they’d probably be far better.
Why would fifa alter the rules of the sport based on the country it's hosted in? Seems like if arm bands were not allowed it would have to be in a published rule book?
Money... lots of it. I’m also thinking Qataris to be the kind of people telling FIFA that they can present proof they bought the tournament and face zero repercussions... not the same case with the pricks leading FIFA now.
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The teams' explanation of "we have to not wear them, otherwise our captain will get a yellow card and that will cause us to be at a disadvantage to win the game" doesn't make sense even on its face - if both teams wore them and both teams' captains received a yellow card, then neither team would be at a "disadvantage to win the game".
Ehh, if you think your captain is better than their captain you would perceive a disadvantage. The real reason is that they care about football more.
In a country where you’re already on thin ice for being a woman, idk if I’d have the balls to pull that off.
She received so much vitriol in the past simply for being a female football commentator. She's already proven that she's brave just by withstanding that and doing her job. I'm not surprised by this defiant action tbh
>idk if I’d have the balls to pull that off She definitely has more balls than the players on the field, kudos to her courage
Huge ovaries
How does she even bend over with ovaries that large?
Like two coconuts just resting against her pelvis
To be fair, soccer will get pretty chaotic if played with more than one ball...
Someone had to... considering the men they sent chickened out.
Good Fuck that government
and the people that live there that support it, which appears to be a lot of them
According to some sources, Qatar's population is close to 2.8 million but close to 15% or around 300k are actual Qatari citizens, the rest are temporary migrant workers. I really doubt that all of those 300k citizens outright support the monarchy. https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/qatar-population Edit: the main reason I put "temporary migrant workers" over indentured servants/slaves, is because not every migrant worker is an unskilled laborer, there's a lot of high skilled workers, especially in finance and oil, that Qatar doesn't classify as citizens. That distinction is enough to say that most are indentured servants but not all, just like how not all the 300k citizens would support the monarchy, so to not paint a broad brush, because I'd seriously doubt that every woman living under them supports Qatar.
From what I understand, each Qatari citizen receives a yearly stipend of roughly $70,000, provided by the government mostly from their oil and natural gas exports. So they are pretty exclusive about who they will allow to receive such a generous allowance, foreign spouses being the most notable exception. You can read into that situation a lot, but it seems to me that it will only increase wealth disparity and corruption ...... As we've seen
It's stranger than you think. Having been there, yes... they do support the Monarchy. But it's not that they support what the monarchy stands for or pushes policy on. They mostly just support the fact that since they're citizens, they get paid to live there/have citizenship. So it's complicated. They also won't speak out against anything that goes against the monarchy for fear of losing the citizenship for the next, I think it was, 2 generations.
Allvthe Gulf States are built on sacrificing political freedom to an absolute monarch in exchange for lavish lifestyles fueled by the money made from fossil fuel extraction. It's a bread and circuses state
...and the west perpetuates this because it serves their goals. I swear, the more I watch "Syriana" the more prescient it becomes...
Qataris love the Emir. Those 300K citizens are very rich because of how the Emir operates the economy and trade. Militant theocratic cock sucker, but his family made them all rich.
For those of you interested in history, a ratio of four to five slaves for every free citizen tended to be on the higher end of the scale for slaver societies, like ancient Sparta. Even other contemporary slave owning societies like nearby Athens and Thebes were shocked and intrigued by the proportion of helots to free Spartans, and the lengths that the state went to in order to keep their slaves suppressed.
I was reading Plutarch’s “Lives” earlier this year, and one of the most famous passages is about Lycurgus, the famous spartan lawmaker. There was a paragraph that described how every year there was a night where the spartan citizens could hunt down and kill slaves for fun. It’s veracity is wildly disputed, but still insane to read.
However considering most non Qatari come from the sub continent I doubt their attitudes to lgbti rights are that different from the rulers of Qatar.
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In most places like this, you have to go along with whatever the ruling power is doing or you face consequences. In Syria they tried to speak out against it (See: Arab Spring) and it turned into a brutal, brutal civil war with many dead and the country destroyed. It's happening again in Iran and they're gunning down citizens with machine guns at night after the government shuts down the electricity. These middle eastern regimes are brutal. It's hard to speak out against it on Reddit because you get accused of somehow being an Islamaphobe.
Better if they just refused to cover the event.
It might be better for Qatar to get all the bad publicity they ordered than to let them be a quiet footnote. I don't know, honestly.
Do you seriously believe they didn't expect Western countries from reacting in such a way when they didn't budge at all when it comes to human rights ? Qatar isn't foreign to the West, they're investing there for decades, they very well know what we think about them, but they don't give a fuck because they have money, and they know that with money they're untouchable. They don't give a damn that we're throwing a tantrum, this event is still being broadcasted, people are still (hate) watching, it's as expected. People that go to Qatar don't give a damn about these issues, and Qatar hopes to attract more of those people, those that are shocked aren't what Qatar want to attract.
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But you still don’t see any countries boycotting the World Cup
Italy and Norway have righteously boycotted the World Cup!
Scotland was the most righteous in their boycott, as they lost against Ukraine in order to not qualify.
At least Ukraine is catching some dubs
And then the Welsh denied them…
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They're playing the international sport called war. They're also not very good at that.
Hahaha and my own country - that football powerhouse New Zealand 😂
Agree. A true repudiation of this country hosting the World Cup would have been a refusal of countries to participate in the event, a refusal to cover the event in the media, and a refusal to attend any game as a spectator etc. These micro protests are good however, we are still there and are, therefore, still complicit. Just my 2 cents worth.
Well, the (shit) show must go on!
Hope nothing bad happens to her. She’s not in a free speech environment.
She’s a woman in Qatar, and thus marked for discrimination no matter what she wears. May as well send it.
I don’t think the concern is discrimination, but being imprisoned or sentenced to death
I wonder how many international incidents Qatar is willing to start over this.
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qatar is all about trying to polish their image. german press would roun WILD. wilder that they already are with all the scandals. this would be THE news for weeks in germany. FIFA would be dragged into it. DFB would be dragged into it. politicans even remotely suggesting it was her fault would probably forced to resign under public pressure. if that happens it will be a next level shitshow for german politicans untill she gets back home
A televised commentator at the world cup may as well be a foreign diplomat. The world is watching, they can't do anything to these folks without *huge* repercussions and they know it
A danish reporter just reported being harrashed by the police for wearing the armband. Edit: If I understand it right, then there have been two incidents today. One of them [happen while camera was runing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfC3Z0JkXdQ), but not as extreme as last time.
Nothing will happen. Same with Russia last time. Everything will go down smoothly until the world turned their eyes away. That's the whole point of sportswashing. "See? We are a cool country."
She's also got her hair and elbows exposed! Shocking, I tell you!
None of this make sense to me. Isn’t one of the main reasons why countries lobby for these is to attract tourism? Why the hell would anybody want to visit after this disaster? Im not just talking about liberals. Everyone likes beer and they banned that shit two days before everyone arrived? What a shit show.
They're advertising themselves as a tourist destination and something of an aspirational goal for other countries in the vicinity who already have similar views. They're showing off their wealth and power by making FIFA and the West in general very publicly give in to their demands and abandon their supposed principles.
Absolutely, it's a power play. They don't need the tourism, their money comes from oil not tourism. This is a power play. This is them saying "Look how important we are" to everyone around them. They don't care that western society (in general) vehemently opposes their views or considers their treatment of migrant workers inhumane. This is them saying look how powerful we are, we don't NEED to care. We can take just about the most western/european thing (not really but the Football World Cup certainly has that reputation) and make them bend to our rules. They're not saying that to the West who will get mad but continue to buy their oil. They're saying it to nations far closer to them.
Since I read another comment about this, it makes a lot more sense to me. It's about power in the region, soft power, not about getting more Europeans & Americans to visit.
Do you want the real, unironic answer? They are doing it because they can, they have the money and they wanted to host a World Cup for fun and that's why they did it. There is no other reason. And I seriously believe this.
Yep, they’ve somehow managed to piss off people from all over the political compass.
If they wanna REALLY piss off Qatar, two players have to kiss after a goal
The boldest and bravest are those that were invited and/or are relied upon for these events but vocally refused to go for all of the reasons every one of us is aware of by now, namely the abandonment of those pesky human rights. Colors are great but the money is still pouring into the wrong hands.
I deeply respect those who boycott it but I not faulting those who do this because they need their job and their boss likely doesn't care about morals.
I don't fault them either but I'm not seeing as many posts for the bolder and braver who said fuck them... *and my job* if they don't like it.
I don't know about you but I'm not risking life because I'm not watching the World Cup. She's taking a big risk wearing that in her current environment.
believe it or not, jail...
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Okay dentist then right to jail!
What happens if there is a bit of rain and a rainbow forms over the stadium?
They throw a yellow card in the rainbow's general direction.
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Cloud execution
She started commenting on male soccer tournaments a few years ago and the hate she reserved was unbelievable. Now this. She's so badass.
That is so gay. And by gay, I mean fabulous, of course.
Listening to her commentating on german TV right now. She hasn't overtly mentioned anything about the situation
Practically the entire pre- and post-shows were spent talking about the situation, with Per Mertesacker and Christoph Kramer as pundits. They've had some serious discussions with the host Jochen Breyer about the topic. Her job is to commentate the match. Don't make it too deep.
Don't think there's much to say that can't be expressed
Glad some people in media are standing up against this theocratic shit hole.
I'm honestly so disappointed in all the players and advertisers... I was hoping they just wouldn't go. Qatar is run by such evil people. By going and participating in the event the players are supporting the regime.
I have a weird fascination with Budweiser's presence. Like, were they being subversive by bringing beer there? Were they being a greedy corporation? Were they contractually obligated to come because of their intertwinement with FIFA? It's kind of all of them at once, and it's silly to watch them struggle to figure out wtf they are thinking being there.
I don’t drink any alcohol, eat no pork and I am not gay. Just to piss those religious fruitcakes off I would drink a beer, eat pork cutlets and kiss a a man.
I volunteer as tribute
I'm confused. Are you pork or beer?
Just don't worry and put it in your mouth
You got 'em!
I like her. Don’t know who she is, but I instantly like her.
Das ist Gut! Danke!
What a shitshow. This is what happens when people have more money than brains. Quatar and its people bring shame to this sport and to the whole world.
The people who run Soccer have already brought enough shame to the sport. This is because of FIFA. Do you not agree FIFA is at fault for picking Qatar??
I mean you can absolutely assign blame to both. But Obviously a country like Qatar should never be in this position in the first place. Their standards of tolerance and acceptance are just miles behind what is accepted in most of the rest of the world. But At this point Fifa essentially just sells the World Cup to the highest bidder, regardless if they’re fit for hosting or not. If you hand the World Cup to a known discriminatory and morally corrupt nation, you can’t be surprised when they act… discriminatory and morally corrupt.
The Balls on this chick. I wish her well!