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People being outraged that teams were prevented from wearing the OneLove armbands (to show solidarity with LBGTQ rights amid the backdrop of Qatari views on homosexuality) are ignorant, arrogant, and dogmatic. This is part of what other regions of the world mean when they say the west forces our values onto other people. You don't get to go into another region of the world for a sport as global as soccer and then shit on them for not sharing the same views as you. Not everything needs to be about activism. I don't have the stats, but I have to imagine most people are not in favor of gay marriage in the middle east and, as much as i am in favor of gay marriage, you have to respect that. I mean it wasn't even codified legally in the US until fairly recently. If you want to interact with other countries, you have to accept that they see things differently than you and have different values. This strikes me as being a strong instance of 'i am so open minded that i am close minded'.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/european-teams-won-t-wear-pro-lgbt-armbands-at-world-cup?cmpid=BBD112122_MKT
What if they said no wearing any crosses or anything else indicating religious beliefs? What if they were in China, which I have no doubt would prohibit any pro-Uyghur or pro-Tibet sentiments? What if they were in Russia (assuming Russia ever gets to hold a world event again) which I am sure would prohibit Ukrainian flag armbands?
I agree that we cannot enforce our values on other countries, but fuck countries that host world events and then tell the people of the world what they're allowed to say while there.
Do you think Holocaust denial laws paused in Germany during the World Cup?
No, but I'd be very surprised to learn that athletes have been wearing Holocaust denial armbands elsewhere.
Presumably, this would be against the FIFA's own rules (just as I'm sure most professional sporting leagues would not allow an athlete to wear a swastika).
Well, now wearing a "love" armband is against FIFA's rules.
I'm sorry, this just seems like a side-step: if someone were to do it, Germany would enforce its norms regardless of cosmopolitanism and "welcoming the world". And, if necessary, they would prevail on FIFA or some other body to help.
Did FIFA actually make it against the rules everywhere, or only for the World Cup in Qatar?
Your gotcha is not clever because you're well aware of the material differences. No one is claiming universal free speech is an entitlement to everyone everywhere or that countries can't impose their own laws on visitors. For example, Qatar also has rules against immodest dress and behavior, and I don't think anyone has argued that World Cup athletes should be allowed to walk around in bikinis or engage in public make-out sessions.
The principle I am arguing is that censorious regimes who want to enforce censorship even to the extent of forbidding athletes to wear political expressions they don't like during world events they are hosting should receive pushback, and the point I am making is that people defending the precious sovereignty of Qatar would normally be in favor of this pushback if the censorship didn't happen to be directed, this time, at their enemies.
It actually is against the rules in general. No political or religious speech on the uniforms. The “expected” sanction is apparently a fine, which Wales at least claimed to accept...but they drew the line at yellow cards. Not clear on whether that’s happened before or if this was one of those gentlemen’s agreements where FIFA reserved the right.
I agree with you that FIFA shouldn’t have escalated, especially not on behalf of the host.
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