Merseyside football fans have expressed their fears for members of the LGBTQ+ community who plan on attending the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
Kops Out and Rainbow Toffees, Liverpool and Everton FC’s LGBTQ+ supporter groups respectively, have said they are worried because of the country's laws regarding homosexuality. The two groups share the same concerns as England Boss Gareth Southgate who previously expressed his sadness and anger at the situation LGBTQ+ football fans are facing.
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and punishable with a jail sentence of up to seven years. The country can punish Muslim men with the death penalty for engaging in same-sex activity, however there has been no record of this to date.
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Paul Amann, founder of Kops Out, visited Qatar with his husband in 2019 to experience first hand what it was like for the LGBTQ+ community in the country. Now, with the coveted football tournament taking place in seven months, he has decided to speak out.
He told the ECHO : “It’s probably too late to move (the tournament), but they should certainly have a human rights aspect to future awarding, they must press the Qataris to further improve worker's rights beyond just the World Cup sites, they must drop their homophobic laws, and they must improve freedom of expression.
“It leaves me gutted that the sport I love is in a place where they have the death penalty for LGBT+ people, even if never used yet, that the lives of migrant workers are seen as expendable, and that freedom of expression is suppressed. Fans, players, football bodies, media pundits and sponsors must all press the Qataris to change now.”
Gareth Southgate said it was “horrible” and “a great shame” that some sections of England’s fanbase won’t feel comfortable enough to travel to Qatar in November. The 51-year-old Three Lions manager urged organisers to prove to fans that everyone would be welcome in the country regardless of sexual orientation.
In Qatar, laws regarding transgender people are unclear and rarely addressed. However, Nassar al-Khater, the chief executive of the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, answered a press conference question about transgender fans who wished to visit the country during the tournament and assured all fans, of any gender, sexual orientation, religion, race would be "welcomed."
Despite that reassurance, Mike Homfrey, a liaison officer for Rainbow Toffees, still isn’t convinced. The 59-year-old told the ECHO : “It is certainly difficult to raise any enthusiasm for a World Cup held in such a repressive environment for LGBTQ+ supporters. Sexuality is something we are, not something we choose , unlike supporting a footballing event.
“While it is a World Cup and there is a case for having the event in different parts of the world, the human rights record of the country is clearly not an active consideration. Both China and Russia have been awarded prestigious high profile sporting events in recent years. Fifa need to consider their policy on whether a base level of standards should be expected before allowing a bid. Given the widespread existence of legal prohibition and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people this would rule out many countries.”
Mike warned fans who are considering attending to remember that “while the authorities might be turning a temporary blind eye while the World Cup is taking place, they have not changed, and so attending might appear to be offering passive support for Qatar's position.”
