FIFA could face protests at Women’s World Cup – 04/19/2023 – Sports

Just four months after allowing a public row over rainbow armbands to overshadow the start of the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA faces similar questions. On the eve of the women’s World Cup, there is debate over whether athletes will be allowed to express support for gay rights.

It’s a clash that everyone involved agrees shouldn’t happen again.

Hit by a strong public and internal backlash in November, when football’s governing body blocked the use of the armband promoting a social justice campaign, threatening to suspend players who participated, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in March that lessons learned were learned from the events in Qatar.

Foreseeing a possible duel with some of the best players in the world –in the tournament in which they are the main protagonists–, Infantino promised that a solution would be in place before the opening of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, on July 20 .

However, even while offering these guarantees, FIFA had already found a new way to irritate athletes and partners alike.

Without consulting the Cup organizers, the organization came close to agreeing to a sponsorship deal that would make Saudi Arabia, through its Visit Saudi tourism brand, a key sponsor of the women’s tournament. The collaboration would have seen dozens of gay players take to the field for stadium matches announcing trips to a country that does not recognize same-sex relationships and where homosexuality remains a criminal offence.

It was only after weeks of silence, behind-the-scenes crisis talks and public rebukes from officials in both host nations that FIFA confirmed the deal was dead. Infantino branded the entire controversy over this as “a storm in a teacup”. For others, it was much more than that.

“As a leader, you need to take a stand on the issues you have a strong interest in,” said James Johnson, CEO of Football Australia, the country’s governing body for the sport.

“This is one that took us by surprise. This is what we talked about with our players, our governments, our partners. And we also got a good sense of the general feeling around the Australian community that this contract was not in line with form. as we see the tournament unfold. So we decided, along with New Zealand, that we would put our foot down on this case.”

The Australian players were particularly frustrated by the proposed Saudi sponsorship, Johnson said. So much so that the situation strengthened the team’s position that the tournament should be used as a platform to promote the values ​​they stand for. At least one Australian player said FIFA’s decision to bring the World Cup to Qatar and its willingness to bow to local attitudes was instructive.

“I think the last World Cup, the men’s World Cup, was a great example of what’s going on in the world and how much is still wrong,” said Emily Gielnik, a striker who was a member of Australia’s women’s team for over of a decade.

“And I think some teams were trying to represent that and obviously playing the World Cup in that country was very controversial, for a lot of reasons. And hopefully we can embody and emulate that and be proud of who we are as people.” .

Several federations that will field teams at the tournament, including England and the Netherlands – two of the countries that have fought the most with Fifa over the armbands in Qatar -, as well as prominent powers such as the United States and Germany, have a history of supporting their players. and the most important causes for them.

While no plans for similar protests have been released, female players may also be less likely than men to take a step back if FIFA tries to clamp down on their messaging, as it did in Qatar. The teams heading to Australia and New Zealand feature some of the world’s top female athletes, many of whom are comfortable speaking their minds about Saudi Arabia or anything else, and who have been encouraged by recent successes. in struggles as diverse as pay equity – and uniform design.

The women’s game, Gielnik said, is further ahead than the men’s when it comes to speaking freely about social issues, and she predicted that teams and players would not hesitate to take advantage of the platform offered by the World Cup.

“I think some things will be controversial,” said Gielnik, one of several gay players in the Australia squad. “It depends on the path we take and the path other countries follow.”

For FIFA, pulling out of the Visit Saudi deal was not easy. Saudi officials were frustrated by the loss of the deal, part of a suite of sponsorships Saudi Arabia had made with the federation to promote the kingdom. The visit to the country was quietly added to the list of sponsors at the World Cup in Qatar last year and then at the Club World Cup in January in Morocco.

Clearly frustrated at having to change plans and disappointing Saudi Arabia, which has proved to be a major supporter of its own interests, Infantino chided FIFA critics over pressure to scrap the Visit Saudi deal for the women’s championship. Australia, he pointed out, maintains ongoing economic ties with the kingdom.

“There’s a double standard that I don’t really understand,” Infantino said. “No problem. No contract. But of course we want to see how we can involve Saudi and Qatari sponsors in women’s football in general.”

Johnson, the Australian rules football executive, and others responded that attitudes in the Gulf towards homosexuality were only part of the problem. At a recent event organized by the Australian High Commission in London to mark the 100 days until the start of the World Cup, officials spoke about how the tournament would also act as a showcase to promote tourism to the two host countries, highlighting another reason why FIFA’s planned deal to highlight Saudi tourism has caused such anguish.

“It could have been Visit Finland and it still would have been a problem,” Johnson said.