World Cup Teams in Qatar Remove Pro-LGBTQ Armbands After FIFA’s Threat
The football governing body made it clear that their leaders may receive a booking or be asked to leave the field if they wore the armband, according to England, Wales, and five other European nations.
LGBTQ+ organisations criticised the decision, but there was disagreement over who was to blame.
The LGBTQ+ organisation Stonewall wrote on Twitter: “By threatening sporting punishment & preventing players from wearing #OneLove armbands, Fifa are sweeping criticism of human rights atrocities under the rug.
Just for being themselves, LGBTQ+ people in Qatar face criminal charges. The honour of hosting a major sporting event should never have been given to a nation that so flagrantly violates the human rights of its citizens.
We applaud all the players from @England and @Cymru for trying to bring attention to the horrifying human rights violations committed against LGBTQ+ people in Qatar, and we implore them to keep speaking out there as best and safely as they can.
A network of LGBTQ+ fan organisations in the UK called Pride in Football wrote on Twitter: “A symbolic gesture from the beginning that has turned into another disgrace from Fifa. Fifa has had until now to resolve this despite having since September to do so. Players’ fundamental and most basic human right to freedom of speech is being violated by Fifa.
“Countries, teams, and athletes are willing to stand out for LGBTQ+ individuals until they face danger themselves. LGBTQ+ Qataris are subject to harsher sanctions than a simple yellow card. At the mere thought of criticism, the gestures and activism quickly came to an end.
“This World Cup is not for everyone, it has never been for all, and it will not be for all until it stops,” it continued.
The group mentioned the weekend killings of five individuals at a homosexual club in Colorado Springs, saying that this was the ideal time for anyone with a significant platform—the World Cup—to show support for the neighbourhood. But it is no longer intact. Since deeds speak louder than words, these deeds indicate that the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in Qatar are not as significant as the possibility of receiving a yellow card.
The OneLove armband was the smallest of gestures, according to Peter Tatchell, the director of the human rights organisation Peter Tatchell Foundation. Not even the LGBTQ+ community was mentioned expressly. Even though it was a lacklustre campaign, Fifa found that to be too much and forced the England team to stop wearing it.
All of us at 3 Lions Pride and The Rainbow Wall stand together in condemning the acts of Fifa today, according to a joint statement from LGBTQ+ support organisations for their respective countries, England and Wales, 3 Lions Pride and The Rainbow Wall.
Fifa is guilty of violating the fundamental human rights to freedom of expression that each and every one of us should have without reservation by attempting to censor European FAs and players by ordering them to stop wearing the OneLove armband, which was created to combat all forms of discrimination.
“By doing this, Fifa are also guilty of putting an end to the game’s anti-discrimination efforts and of fostering hatred. This gross betrayal of trust by those who have chosen to remain silent for so long is a power abuse that cannot be tolerated. There is #NoPrideWithoutAll #WeBelong because we have no faith in Fifa or this World Cup.
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