Ugly Truths of the Beautiful Game
The cynical politics inside the World Cup.
Normally, my favorite part of the summer every four years is the FIFA World Cup. The tournament has routinely delivered iconic moments throughout my youth - Zidane’s headbutt of 2006, South Africa’s vuvuzelas and Landon Donovan’s stoppage-time winner against Algeria in 2010 (USA! USA!), and most recently, Paul Pogba’s left-footed strike that propelled France to glory. International football has long been a form of geopolitical education for me. Thanks to Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka, I’ve learned more than I ever would have about Albania - Kosovo relations. I also learned that what we call “the wave”, the rest of the world calls the “Mexican wave”. Admittedly, that one is less relevant in global politics, but still, who knew?
This year’s iteration of the games is caveated by its host country. Many are just now learning of the small peninsula Qatar. I only learned of the country’s existence when I was still in high school, they had submitted their bid to host this year’s tournament. FIFA bent over backward in order for the middle eastern nation to host, halting the schedules of every major domestic league so that the competition could be played in November - if it were played in the summer, as it always has been, the temperatures would be dangerously high. While my enthusiasm for the event has been tempered, I still hope that the World Cup can serve as a tool for education and camaraderie. And that we can emerge from it a more informed, thoughtful, and principled people.
Cheers ~ FDA
Photo by Artin Bakhan on Unsplash
The 2022 World Cup is in full swing, and while many have been critical of its host nation, only one of the criticisms has managed to enter public discourse in the West writ large.
If you’ve watched any of the coverage surrounding the tournament, especially in America, then you’ve noticed a few toothless critiques of Qatar’s policies. Of the myriad abuses that Qatar should be held accountable for, LGBTQ rights have proven to be the most palatable for all those involved as they have set themselves apart from the fray.
Qatar’s national laws are a mixture of sharia and common law. Their policies are quite restrictive by the West’s standards, and their policy towards non-traditional sexual relations has become heavily scrutinized ahead of the tournament. Homosexual acts between men are precluded and are punishable by law. Current statutes suggest that the act can result in capital punishment but no instance of that has been recorded. Same-sex marriages are not recognized or authorized by the state but in fairness to Qatar, the de facto leader of the Democratic party, Barack Obama, didn’t support the institution until sometime around 2010.
LGBTQ rights have become the 'Breast Cancer Awareness' of human rights campaigns as it routinely takes center stage pushing its competitors into the background. Several of the participating nations have demonstrated minor protests against the host nation's policies toward homosexuality. Among these countries is the United States, which has displayed the rainbow flag on its training facility at the tournament. While these protests may be valid, America - and its peers - have chosen to ignore the reported forced labor practices exercised by the Qatari government and the thousands of deaths of migrant workers leading up to the 2022 World Cup, and the historic, systemic oppression of women in the middle eastern nation.
The reason why these grievances have been eschewed in favor of America's pet protestation is that if they called attention to Qatar's failures they would have to contend with their own. The LGBTQ 'rights' movement stateside is eliminating the role of women, and have castigated sexual preference. America's policy of open immigration continually exploits the migrant worker while our economic policies have made a practice of exporting slave labor to China.
Lingering for a little while on the political representation of women since the Qatari government disputes the claims of its labor practices; women, or as the nomenclature would now suggest - birthing people, are increasingly taking a back seat in American life. As biological men are routinely inducted into the pantheon of femininity - Lea Thomas, Dylan Mulvaney, Rachel Levine, who was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year - women who oppose the ideology are disparaged as TERFs or bigots. Bizarrely, U.S. Women’s star Megan Rapinoe, who is an incredible player, supports the idea of allowing biological men to compete against women despite the women’s national team losing a scrimmage to FC Dallas’s U15 boys’ team. Luckily, there are some women, like skateboarder Taylor Silverman, who are pushing back in defense of women’s sports.
Women’s liberties just don’t move the needle like they used to. China, whose one-child policy disproportionately affected women, and Qatar, where women require a male guardian’s consent before doing almost anything consequential, both sit on the United Nations Human Rights Council. America and its Western counterparts are still ostensibly hopeful of a new Iranian nuclear deal despite the regime’s domestic policies - not to mention its state sponsorship of terrorism. The United States unceremoniously withdrew its armed forces from Afghanistan in 2021, leaving millions of women to the predation of the 8th-century Taliban. The plight of these women has seemed to all but vanish into the annals of our collective memory. We have new priorities, now.
Acknowledging Qatar's crimes in full would surely mandate a withdrawal from the tournament. LGBTQ members and activists should be incensed that while the United States recognizes the host nation's oppression of their group, they are still willing to compete while only offering the most tepid of condemnations.
But that’s not to say that there can’t be some good derived from this year’s festival of football. While politics certainly don’t need to be injected into everything, it becomes almost obligatory when 32 nations from around the globe participate in a massive televised cultural exchange.
America’s insipid protests of the host nation omitted their treatment of women, who make up a quarter of the Qatari population. In fact, women were left out of the conversation until the United States faced the Islamic Republic of Iran in the final, decisive match of the group stage - a match that the American side won by the skin of their teeth. During the weekend prior to the match, the U.S. Men’s National Team’s Twitter account posted an image of the Group B standings. Notably, the crest on Iran’s flag was omitted. The move was intended to protest the Islamic Republic and display symbolic solidarity with the people of Iran who oppose their government.
The post was met with intense criticism from the Iranian regime who called for FIFA to kick the United States out of the tournament, and subsequently, U.S. captain Tyler Adams, 23, had to play the role of foreign dignitary in an outré press conference. Amid the controversy, the post was removed and any image of the flag since was depicted accurately. Disappointingly.
Ahead of the game, reports came out that the Iranian government had threatened their players’ families with imprisonment or torture if they didn’t “behave” during Tuesday’s match. Previously, the Iranian National Team’s players had been extraordinarily brave by acting out against their government. The Iranian striker Sardar Azmoun, who plays for the German club Bayer Leverkusen, has been outspoken on social media condemning the actions of his home country. The players have protested the regime by covering the badge on their shirts ahead of the World Cup. In the moments leading up to Iran’s clash against England the squad stood silently, arm in arm as the Iranian national anthem played. It was a striking display of condemnation and a rebuke of national pride for citizens of a nation that have reacted violently to the unrest. The captain of the squad, Ehsan Hajsafi, said that, “conditions in our country are not right, and our people are not happy,” and offered the team’s support to the protesters without reservation.
Demonstrations in Iran erupted after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was killed by the nation’s morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly. After two months of persistent resistance - what looks like could be the beginning of a revolution in the middle eastern country - and violent backlash from the regime, the Iranian government has announced they are abolishing the state’s “Guidance Patrol”. This news comes after, reportedly, more than 400 people have been killed by the state’s security forces during the political turmoil.
This isn’t good news, however. It’s just the latest propagandistic ploy the regime is taking to assuage international concerns over their human rights abuses. With Iran kicked out of the World Cup - as well as their geopolitical adversary, the United States, unfortunately - they are hoping that it will quell the unrest, and buy them time with the international community so that they’re not placed under close scrutiny. No material change is on the way.
So, where does this leave the rest of the World Cup? Likely, the knockout stage will proceed unabated, and Les Bleus will win the tournament for the second time running - you’re welcome to hold me accountable for my prediction. FIFA, international football’s governing body is a hopeless, corrupt organization, and vowed to issue a yellow card to the captain of any team the moment they set foot on the pitch wearing an armband that promoted any political stance. They’ve agreed to let the players wear an armband that reads “No Discrimination” - a phrase that was agreed upon with the host nation - but only once the quarter-finals commence. Given the footballing organization’s track record, any hope they will reverse course is misguided.
This is where I wax optimistic. Hopefully, as the nations exit the tournament, and players return to their parent clubs, the issues that their fellow footballers are beset with will remain on their minds. American players will be returning to domestic leagues in England, Germany, Spain, - to name a few - and the United States. Ideally, the interactions with Iranian players and their personal experiences in Qatar would have imparted to them the necessity of speaking out against the human rights abuses these countries are committing.
Footballers are no strangers to political action. One of the best Brazilians to ever grace the game, Sócrates, did more in his playing career to advance democratization in his home nation than most politicians. Sócrates actively spoke out against the military dictatorship that governed Brazil and co-founded the Corinthians Democracy movement. Marcus Rashford MBE almost single-handedly managed to convince British Parliament to continue their free meal program for underprivileged youth during the Covid-19 lockdowns and persuaded Parliament to extend the program into the summer months from now on.
Granted, these actions were directed at their own governments but that’s not to say athletes couldn’t also have an impact on foreign policy. Footballers and athletes in general have an inordinate amount of impact on social life and are able to influence public opinion more than most other institutions. Massive celebrity influence on the public isn’t something I typically advocate for, but here we are.
Without the vocal support and attention of an international community, the protests in Iran will likely fizzle out, and fade from the conversation. It’s not solely incumbent on professional footballers to affect lasting change but they can certainly play a pivotal role by speaking out for those whose voices have been drowned out.
In spite of the political circumstances surrounding this World Cup, the football has been stellar - regardless of what some American media outlets will tell you. Maybe, by their movement, grace, and courageousness - will we see a Bukayo Saka penalty? - they will demonstrate true freedom on the pitch.
Maybe their performances alone can lift their supporters and inspire them to new heights. I do believe in the transcendent power of sport, but as our brothers and sisters of the world are fighting for their lives, maybe pure spectacle isn’t enough. In times of crisis, footballers will have to be asked to do more outside of the 18-yard-box in order to keep the game beautiful.