The moment has come and gone again. The captains of England and Wales did not wear their One Love armband during their nation’s respective opening game victory and draw yesterday, a small but significant gesture in the face of being compelled to play a football tournament in a country where, among so many other outrages, homosexuality is illegal.
And not just England and Wales either. Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands also abandoned their plans, having been told, with hours to spare, that wearing the armband would result in an instant yellow card. A fine they were content to receive, but an actual sporting sanction that would carry big implications on the pitch for the rest of the tournament is too heavy a sacrifice to make. A player who receives two yellow cards in any of the first frve matches is automatically suspended.)
Fifa has already played its sponsors. Budweiser has given Fifa around a billion dollars in the last 25 years. They were given two days’ notice that they couldn’t sell beer inside the World Cup stadiums. Germany has won the World Cup four times, England once. The Netherlands have played in three finals. All must yield to their blazerati’s demands.
They get away with it because no one can possibly walk away. One can scarcely imagine the reaction if a dressing room of leading international footballers were told they were quitting the World Cup. One can scarcely imagine the public reaction too.
But again, if not now, when? This is a tournament like no other. There is close to zero excitement. There are no flags on cars, no overblown TV ads. Precious few fans have travelled to the tournament in comparison with others. The opening game was an embarrassment. The stadium half empty with half an hour to go, the host nation having all but packed up and gone home itself.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 22, 2022-Ausgabe von The Independent.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 22, 2022-Ausgabe von The Independent.
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