FA cannot champion gay rights one week and back a Saudi World Cup the next
by Oliver Brown, Telegraph:
Governing body adopted unyielding position on rainbow armbands yet seemingly has no problem acquiescing to state that outlaws homosexuality.
For a single illustration of Saudi Arabia’s stance on gay rights, you would struggle to surpass the moment when officials from the kingdom’s commerce ministry descended on Riyadh shops to seize rainbow-coloured toys and children’s clothing. The items, declared one orderly, were confiscated on the grounds that they “contradicted the Islamic faith and public morals, while promoting homosexual colours targeting the younger generation”.
While this might sound like a snapshot of a less-enlightened past, it happened in 2022. Now, two years on, the Football Association apparently has no qualms about seeing those responsible for such actions rewarded with the most glittering showpiece in sport. On the surface, this is a case of football mirroring politics. Why, given Sir Keir Starmer went cap in hand to crown prince Mohammed bin Salman last week to try to win the Saudis’ business, should we expect the FA to do anything other than clap like seals in gifting them the 2034 World Cup?
Well, here is why. A few days ago, the FA adopted such an unyielding position on rainbow armbands that it reminded Marc Guehi of his responsibilities after the Crystal Palace captain had dared to write “I love Jesus” on his. And yet today it perceives no problem in approving a World Cup in a land that criminalises homosexuality. This hopelessly confused policy is, to be frank, unworthy of a serious organisation. You cannot be absolutist about some Stonewall armbands one week and acquiesce to a regime that outlaws even rainbow pencil cases the next.
[…] The FA now confronts a glaring contradiction. On the one hand, its website links to Stonewall’s full range of rainbow laces. On the other, it has made its peace with a nation that bans the sale of so much as a rainbow hair clip. And therein lies the problem with all gesture politics: that its practitioners freely embrace the gestures that are easy, but run a mile from those that are hard.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
