Society's Child
Since it began, the tournament has been beset by controversy over teams attempting to express their support for the LGBT movement in a country that still imprisons homosexuals.
FIFA has banned players from wearing 'OneLove' armbands, something the German team protested this week by placing their hands over their mouths during a pre-game photo.
Supporters attending games have also been told they can't wear rainbow hats or carry LGBT flags into stadiums, although this policy has now been reversed.
Despite many teams jumping on the virtue signaling bandwagon (England have once again begun to 'take a knee'), Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka says he isn't interested.
"I don't think we need to do anything as the Swiss team," said Xhaka. "We need to respect the rules and concentrate on our football, that's all I intend to do. We're here to play football and not hand out lessons to anyone."
Meanwhile, Wales national coach Rob Page chided Germany, who lost 2-1 to Japan after their hands over mouths PR stunt, suggesting it made them lose focus on the match itself.
"I want my players to focus fully on playing games of football and winning games. I am sure Germany now, in hindsight, will probably have the same message," said Page.
As we discuss in the video below, while you can be arrested for promoting LGBT in Qatar, in the west, you can be arrested for disrespecting LGBT.
We're so much better!
Reader Comments
American Athletes are way overpaid already (don’t know about FIFA athletes pay) & when they cross any line & politicize any agenda they should be sanctioned/suspended. Anybody can politicize anything as it’s literally infinite. Corporations pay huge 💰to certain “popular” athletes and with that is a trap 🪤. Corporations & ZEWSmedia are fueling the gaslighting. Vote with your pocket book & not support the idiocracy.
VooDoo6 FIFA athletes (i.e. football players) are way, way overpaid. Even lower class ones are often rich people, at least if they find someone to manage their wealth well...Copy thanks & not surprised. I knew from my own personal experience that US were particularly way, way, way overpaid as are Shillebrities.
Iran's state-affiliated media has called for FIFA to kick USA OUT of the World Cup after they posted an altered image of the Iranian flag as a show of support for women's rights in Iran. The official Twitter account of the US national football team posted an image of the World Cup Group B standings but decided to remove the Islamic Republic's "Allah" emblem and the "takbirs" from Iran's three-coloured flag
But having played in my youth as well, I didn't fail to notice that German team sports - especially football (soccer) - went down in synchronicity with the Western economy. While the latter were outsourcing more and more jobs to Far Eastern sweatshops, sports became a financial business. And billions of $$$/€€€ were transacted forth and back in national football leagues, including the German one. Expensive foreign "mercenaries" from Europe or Africa were bought by the clubs.
The trouble is, these "mercenaries" can't play for Germany (or England, France, whatnot) in international events, but play for the opponent ...
That whole situation amounts to a very appropriate metaphor for the state of Western society.