Keeping Politics Out of Football is Far Harder Than FIFA Believe, This World Cup is living Proof
Sean McCoy
In one of the least surprising results of football history, the 2022 Qatar World Cup has been a cornucopia of difficult political questions.
The first disaster of the tournament (as there were plenty in the lead up to it which have been discussed in detail before) occurred on the eve of the tournament. England captain Harry Kane declared that he would wear a rainbow-coloured captain’s armband with the slogan “One Love”, which was his and his country’s way of highlighting and protesting against the lack of human rights for LGBTQ+ community members in Qatar. He and 10 other captains such as the Netherlands skipper Virgil Van Dijk and Wales’ Gareth Bale all agreed that they would wear such armbands, regardless of repercussions.
As the tournament drew closer, the use of the armbands being used was cast into serious doubt. This is due to the fact that before England played their opening game against Iran, they were informed that if the captain proceeded in wearing the badge, they would be given an instant yellow card. Virgil Van Dijk, the captain of the Netherlands, didn’t seem to help the situation, as when quizzed about his desire to wear the armband said, “I would have loved to have played with that band, but not at the expense of a yellow card”. He and the other captains and football associations were rightly criticised for giving up so easily when they had the chance to make a definitive statement.
There were some lacklustre attempts to make their U-turns seem less embarrassing by wearing armbands that stated, “No Discrimination”, however these seemed far too vague and failed to hit the decisive target of showing their discomfort for the blatant homophobia in the country.
There was only one team who were brave enough to show their disgust at the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in Qatar: Germany. Before their match against Japan, several players had rainbows stitched onto their boots and their training tops. When the match was about to begin, the entire German team covered their mouths for the squad photo to show that they were being silenced about their discomfort due to threats of receiving punishments from FIFA. German captain, Manuel Neuer, put the FIFA-prescribed armband under his shirt to show that he did not appreciate the trivialisation of taking action against the violations of human rights.
This year’s World Cup has been marred by the off-field issues which dominated the focus around the tournament in the build up.
While these players danced around their morals in fear of being given yellow cards, there was another severe issue which dominated the build-up to the World Cup off the field. It concerned Iran, with many of their fans coming to Qatar to protest about their country’s regime and the need for it to be overturned, marring their ability to enjoy the tournament, for a greater cause.
The protests in Iran were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. She was killed after being stopped for not wearing her Hijab correctly and wearing skinny jeans.
Just before Iran's opening World Cup game, the Iranian government arrested popular footballer Voria Ghafouri on the grounds that he was spreading false information and slandering his country. This put immense pressure on the Iranian national team, who were all fearing what would happen to them or their families if they spoke out against the government during the World Cup, where all eyes would be on them.
However, they were keen to take a stand and bravely refused to sing their national anthem in their match against England. Around the stadium there were also banners stating the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom”, which has become the biggest slogan for Iranian protesters. Many of these protestors were women, who have claimed to have been spied on by government officials whilst in the stadium, adding another layer to this deeply troubling issue.
Despite Iranian players not outright speaking out against the regime in Iran, they still did more to show their discomfort than six out of the seven countries which agreed to stand against the homophobic Qatar laws. Of course, circumstances are different and there is the argument that footballers are only there to do their jobs and are not politicians tasked with making social changes, especially as they fulfil a lifelong dream of representing their country on the grandest stage.
The majority of blame for the problems we have seen in Qatar ultimately always come back to FIFA, for hosting such a socially important event in such a controversial location, which is at odds with the idea that football is an inclusive sport which should benefit all people involved due to its differing culture.
We should put less pressure on footballers to protest and more on politicians and those at FIFA to make the changes we need. Yet, we must applaud those who were brave enough to highlight the issues at hand whilst in Qatar within such difficult constraints.
Sean McCoy is a History and Politics student and a Sport Reporter for The Scoop.