IN Toronto magazine

NEWS:

FIFA president’s anti-gay comments spark anger

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is not looking up for queers and beers.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter says hosting the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar will help develop soccer in the Middle East and unite differing religions and cultures through sport. He also noted that fans should refrain from having gay sex while in the Islamic country.

Speaking to press in Johannesburg at the launch of a post-2010 World Cup legacy project, Blatter laughed off concerns that Qatar is a homophobic country, adding that gay soccer fans attending the World Cup “should refrain from any sexual activities,” prompting a few chuckles in the press room. 

The FIFA president then went on to share his thoughts about soccer – which is also referred to as football – as an all-inclusive sport. “We open everything to everybody and I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings, being on this side or that side, left or right or whatever…. Football is a game that does not affect any discrimination,” said Blatter.

It was Blatter’s first public address since FIFA awarded the World Cup to Russia and Qatar. “If [gay people] want to watch a match somewhere in Qatar 2022, I’m sure they will be admitted to such matches,” said Blatter. Drinking alcohol is also subject to strict conditions in Qatar, but Blatter said he hopes that soccer’s wide appeal will help bridge cultural differences.

Gay activists around the world are blasting Blatter for making anti-gay remarks. British former NBA star John Amaechi, who is now an outspoken advocate for gay rights, recently condemned the FIFA president on his website.

“The statements and the position adopted by Sepp Blatter and FIFA regarding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) fans who would pay the enormous ticket and travel prices to attend the World Cup in 2022 should have been wholly unacceptable a decade ago,” wrote Amaechi.

“Instead, with little more than an afterthought, FIFA has endorsed the marginalization of LGBT people around the world.”

The Gay Football Supporters’ Network, a UK-based organization that supports the participation of gay men and lesbians in football, echoed a similar message, encouraging LGBT people to boycott World Cup 2022 altogether.

“We do not feel the World Cup should be held in any country that abuses and disregards the basic human rights of LGBT people,” reads a statement posted on the organization’s website.

Qatar is an Arab emirate country where gay sex is illegal and is punishable for up to five years in jail.