FIFA Fails to Embrace Pride Night at Seattle World Cup Match

Fans unveil an equality tifo in celebration of LGBTQ+ pride at a Seattle Sounders game. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Photo by SounderBruce.

As the last Friday of Pride Month approaches, Seattle World Cup organizers have designated the day's Egypt vs. Iran match as a pride match in celebration of LGBTQ+ culture, contributions and equality. It's the first such designated match in the history of the tournament.

Friday's matchup pits two countries that refuse to embrace LGBTQ+ rights and individuals, including an Iranian nation that criminalizes homosexuality and even executes those who engage in homosexual activity.

While Egypt does not explicitly ban homosexual activity, the country regularly arrests members of the LGBTQ+ community and essentially observes a de facto ban on homosexuality.

Seattle's plan to celebrate pride on Friday night is an open and intentional rebuke of the Egyptian and Iranian regimes and any fans in attendance who may echo the country's homophobia. It's a beautiful statement by the city that is home to the largest share of same-sex households in the United States at 3.2%.

While it's hard to estimate just how many soccer fans around the world identify as LGBTQ+, it's almost certainly a figure in the millions.

Though an estimated 1 in every 10 women's soccer players openly identify as LGBTQ+, there are currently no men's players in the World Cup who have come out as queer.

Only five MLS players have come out as gay in the league's 30-year history. There are no openly gay players in the league at this time.

FIFA has already stated that rainbow flags will be allowed at Friday's match. However, the organization and its president, Gianni Infantino, have refused to embrace the pride night and have stated that the celebration was organized by "outside organizations" and stressed that there was no "FIFA World Cup Pride Match."

While unsurprising, it's a disappointing rejection by the game's governing body. While FIFA was likely acknowledging that Egypt and Iran's homophobic views are partially driven by religious beliefs, it is also a blatant refusal to embrace a portion of soccer's fanbase and was an opportunity to further embrace the sport's and world's diversity.

In the previous edition of the FIFA World Cup, hosted by the largely Islamic nation of Qatar in 2022, LGBTQ+ imagery was again at the forefront of debate. Qatar initially stated that they would allow rainbow flags in accordance with FIFA's acceptance policies, stadium guards confiscated and banned many items of LGBTQ+ imagery throughout the tournament.

Journalist and soccer analyst Grant Wahl was famously detained outside of a stadium in Qatar during the World Cup for wearing a rainbow flag shirt just weeks before his tragic passing while covering the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands.

Seattle's pride match is not without objections, and not just from Iran and Egypt. CitizenGo, a Spanish ultra-conservative advocacy group rooted in Christianity, has started a petition to remove LGBTQ+ celebrations from the World Cup. The petition has just over 125,000 signatures from around the world as of Thursday.

Regardless of whether or not FIFA endorses the event, Seattle is sure to show up and show out in celebration of pride. Just two days after Friday's match, the city is slated to continue the celebration with the Seattle Pride Parade and other events throughout the weekend.

Here's to hoping that Lumen Field is saturated with rainbow flags on Friday for the Seattle World Cup pride match.