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Posted on 12/11/2025 4:04:20 PM PST by SeekAndFind
FIFA looks set to face its first major scandal of the 2026 World Cup – if you don’t count the exorbitant cost of the tickets, that is. The Egyptian FA has made a formal request for the cancellation of an LGBTQ+ celebration planned to take place at their Group G game against Iran on June 26 in Seattle. The game roughly coincides with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The Seattle Pride match committee are planning to combine celebrations of the anniversary with the game.
A Pride match or Pride night is a tradition in American sports going back to around the year 2000 and is now embraced by most professional leagues. These events usually involve a particular game being dedicated to certain communities. The baseball league, for example, has hosted several events over the years and once enlisted the help of gay rights activist Billy Bean (of Moneyball fame) to advise teams on LGBTQ issues. The NBA and National Hockey League have followed suit. The game between Iran and Egypt will be the first Pride match in World Cup history.
But with homosexuality outlawed in Iran, and effectively banned in Egypt, the sensitivities could not be higher. Egypt has outlined its “absolute rejection” of any activities linked to gay rights inside the stadium on match day, saying it is “culturally incompatible.” The Egyptian FA has cited the governing body’s “established principle of respecting competing nation’s beliefs and identities.” Iranian media has backed up Egypt’s demands. Oddly, neither country had any objection to the Village People’s performance at the draw itself.
FIFA will surely be kicking themselves. Despite some rather farcical and amateurish elements on the night, the World Cup draw was one of the most tightly controlled in the tournament’s history. The strongest teams were kept apart until the late stages, teams from the same confederation were separated as much as possible and top billing, plum slots and premium ticket prices given to the three hosts. They even bent the rules to allow Cristiano Ronaldo to compete – despite him earning a three-match ban in Portugal’s penultimate competitive fixture before the tournament. All was set for a revenue-maximizing extravaganza.
But you can’t think of everything, and FIFA overlooked the possibility of two Islamic countries playing in one of America’s wokest cities on a date of great significance to the gay community. They have now been placed in an impossible position. They can either reject the Egyptian demand and be accused of not respecting the “beliefs and identities” of all competing nations or cancel the Pride match and risk enraging the progressive elements of Seattle and beyond.
The potential for this to escalate is clear. Stamp down hard on the Pride match and you can imagine the easily offended perceiving it as a discriminatory, even homophobic, action. On the other hand, the tone of Egypt’s demand suggests any refusal to comply will not be the end of the matter. And along with Iran, the World Cup also features Qatar, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and most significantly of all, Saudi Arabia, who will host the tournament in 2034.
There isn’t much sign of a climbdown. Indeed, it seems that some involved in the Pride match are positively relishing the prospect of a celebration focused on the Iran-Egypt game. Seattle’s Pride match advisory committee has issued a statement to Outsports website (an LGBTQ sports site) indicating that they want to go ahead with the match. Eric Wahl, a member of the committee, said the fact the match would feature two nations where homosexuality is not tolerated was “a good thing.”
Cyd Zeigler a journalist for Outsports has called Iran vs Egypt the “best Pride match possible.” He cited the “horrific anti-gay” policies of the two countries and argued that if the match had featured other countries it would have “come and gone without a trace.” Zeigler also makes the fair point that when the World Cup was held in Qatar we heard endlessly about the need to respect the local culture of the Qataris; now “turnabout is fair play.”
There will be great pressure on the players to pick a side, too. This will be especially awkward for a certain Mo Salah, still technically a Liverpool player, a club that has done much to burnish its progressive credentials in recent years. He may now be hoping his prospective move to Saudi Arabia happens as soon as possible.
Even if a compromise can be reached and the Pride match organizers persuaded to keep their celebrations discreet and away from the stadium, there is no guarantee that individuals won’t show spontaneous displays of support inside the ground which will be beamed around the world. The whole thing could end up being a massive embarrassment for the two teams and FIFA.
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The LGBT seek to force acceptance. There is no tolerance.
Guess we’re all going to find out who outranks who on the wokeism totem pole.
Maybe there can be a tall building near the stadium for the Egyptians and Iranians to throw all the LGBTQ’s off the roof, and the muslims will be happy.
2 Billion Muslims in the world and less than 1M people live in Seattle proper. Which would you be more comfy p*ssing off. Game should be pulled from Seattle.
Let them fight it out to the death. Both sides are disgusting.
The ritual toss of the homosexual from the rooftop ... Iran calls "heads" ...
I hope not!
Didn’t some of these 3rd world primates play soccer with human heads?
That would really be something to see, like The Man Who Would Be King.
The obvious though probably least likely thing to happen is switch the “Pride” game to another where the countries involved are more woke. Problem solved but instead it looks like both sides are digging in so to speak so popcorn time. It may be the highlight of the whole tournament if they riot against each other.
My stance is simple.
LGBT members are in an ABOMINABLE group.
Death to those, in an ABOMINATION state.
The Godless, practicing sin, should experience death!
Quoting Flounder: aim’t this great!
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