FIFA cancelling World Cup ‘Pride Match’ is inevitable after Egypt demand, unfortunate draw | OneFootball

The World Cup draw put FIFA, Egypt, Iran and Seattle in a really difficult position, with the tournament’s ‘Pride Match’ surely set for a change…

FIFA and those associated with the crooked organisation (I’m looking at you, Gianni Infantino and Rio Ferdinand) have had a lot of bad press in the days before and after the World Cup draw.

Most of this has been justified as FIFA laid out the red carpet for Donald Trump during the sickening and elongated process of massaging the United States president’s already oversaturated ego.

But, FIFA has made headlines for another reason in the last couple of days, with it revealed that the Pride Match at next summer’s World Cup would be the Group G tie between Egypt and Iran in Seattle on June 26.

This match has been pencilled in for the weekend of Seattle Pride, with the local organisers planning to have celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community around the June 26 fixture.

That is great, but these plans, which were in place before last week’s draw, have been thrown into doubt as Egypt and Iran have been revealed as the two teams to play in the Pride Match.

So, for once, FIFA are pretty innocent parties in this situation, with it bad luck all around that the sides drawn to play the Pride Match are Egypt and Iran, two nations renowned for having hostility towards homosexuality.

It is also worth noting that the scheduled celebrations are not affiliated with FIFA, though they have a decision to make regarding this match.

This is because it has emerged that the Egyptian Football Association have submitted a request for the LGBTQ+ celebration to be cancelled.

Their letter to FIFA said: “In order to maintain the spirit of unity and peace, it is necessary to avoid including activities that could provoke cultural and religious sensitivities between fans present from both countries, Egypt and Iran, especially since such activities are culturally and religiously incompatible with the two countries.

“The federation also relied on Fifa’s established principle of respecting cultures and encouraging all parties to organise events in a way that respects the beliefs and identities of the participating communities.

“Therefore, in order to ensure that the match is held in an atmosphere of respect and focus solely on the sporting aspect, the Egyptian Federation categorically rejects these calls and demands that Fifa not hold any events or performances related to supporting homosexuality inside the stadium on match-day.”

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Despite this, Eric Wahl, a member of the Seattle Pride Match Advisory Committee, is hopeful that the ‘Pride Match’ can still go ahead.

“The Egypt vs Iran match in Seattle in June just happens to be the Pride Match, and I think that is a good thing, actually,” Wahl said.

“There are LGBTQAI+ people everywhere. All are welcome to be themselves in Seattle.”

Now, the unfortunate draw to combine Egypt and Iran for this match places FIFA and everyone involved in a near-impossible situation, with the only outcome surely to switch the Pride Match.

It is simply not feasible to have Egypt and Iran involved, given their cultural background, but it sends out a terrible message if the Pride Match and planned celebrations are cancelled completely.

Instead, although not ideal, the most sensible move is to allocate the Pride Match and the planned celebrations to the Group D game between the USA and Australia on June 19, because Seattle’s other two remaining group matches during Pride month are Egypt vs Belgium and Qatar vs the winner of Wales’ play-0ff.