Happiest, freest, most enjoyable thing in the world?
The Qatari soccer debacle
Op-ed: Choosing Qatar to host World Cup should not mean forcing its culture upon fans
Among all the words muttered by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who keeps on defending the decision to choose Qatar as the host of the 2022 Soccer World Cup (he apparently knows there’s much to defend,) one statement provoked outrage among normal people.
This week, in yet another glittery event Blatter excels at attending, he made it clear that World Cup spectators would have to respect the local culture, stressing that it would be advisable for homosexuals to avoid their sexual activity.
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Indeed, homosexual activity is forbidden by law in Qatar, as is the case with alcohol, so gays who wish to take part in this soccer celebration would have to be careful and avoid angering the local police.
Well, no. Soccer is the happiest, freest, most enjoyable thing in the world. The World Cub enables drunken, jubilant fans to gather at one place in order to worship their national teams. These fans can, and should be allowed to (it’s their right) do whatever they want.
It isn’t the guests who should respect their prudish host; rather, it is the host that should open itself up to the world rather than force its decayed cultured upon others. Qatar will not be telling anyone what to do, what to drink, or how to dress up for games (it would be a pity to see some of the female journalists I know being forced to dress modestly.)
A show of force
Blatter should not dare claim that he did not pick Qatar because of money. This is a state that lacks any soccer tradition; it will build lavish stadiums and host this giant tournament as a show of force. It already did the same with athlete Stephen Cherono, sorry, I meant Saif Saaeed Shaheen, who received a million dollars to decide that he is Qatari rather than Kenyan.
This isn’t a sports culture. A sports culture is something that needs to be created, rather than bought. If Blatter truly wanted to contribute to the development of soccer in new locales, as he claimed, he could have changed the rules of the world championship for soccer clubs, so that the champion of Papua New Guinea wouldn’t be disqualified after one match. However, Papua New Guinea has no oil wells that can buy power.
So we are heading to a dubious World Cup, which will end up making headlines and producing great pleasures as well. After all, because of a hotel room shortage, the host proposed to house tourists on ships. Just make sure not to have homosexual relations while onboard.
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