From Newsgroup: rec.aviation.military

Crazy!
Liberal Seattle loves it's "Pride".
Liberal Seattle loves it's soccer.
Liberal Seattle was just fine with the pro Hamas demonstrations.
And Liberal Seattle soooo wants to 'stick it' to Trump's talk to
move matches.
So, how could it go wrong?? It did!

from https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/nx-s1-5639958/egypt-iran-seattle-pride-match-fifa-world-cup

Egypt and Iran object to playing in a Seattle 'Pride' match in next
year's World Cup
December 10, 20252:01 PM ET
Headshot of Becky Sullivan

Iran is illuminated on the screen during the FIFA World Cup 2026
Official Draw on December 05, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Iran and Egypt
have objected to playing in their match in Seattle because it previously
had been scheduled to celebrate 'Pride'.
Iran is illuminated on the screen during the FIFA World Cup 2026
Official Draw on December 05, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Officials in Egypt and Iran are protesting the scheduling of a FIFA
World Cup match between the two teams next June in Seattle, where local organizers had planned Pride festivities around the match.

The World Cup Trophy is placed on a pedestal at the draw ceremony for
the the 2026 FIFA World Cup held in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
2026 World Cup: North America
From the U.S. fate to the group of death, here are 5 takeaways from the
World Cup draw
Both Middle Eastern countries are culturally conservative. In Iran,
same-sex sexual activity can be punishable by death, and other
expressions of gender and sexuality may be punished by imprisonment or flogging. In Egypt, morality laws allow for the de facto criminalization
of same-sex relationships, and human rights groups report arrests and
police harassment of suspected gay people.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Egyptian Football Association said
it "categorically rejects the holding of any activities related to
supporting homosexuality" during the June 26 match. The association has
sent a formal letter to FIFA asking them to take action to "avoid
including activities that could provoke cultural and religious
sensitivities" among fans at the Seattle game.

Officials in Iran also objected. "We protested, and so did Egypt. It is
an unreasonable and illogical thing [for a match between the two teams]
to support a specific group," said Mehdi Taj, president of the Iran
Football Federation, speaking on state TV earlier this week. On
Wednesday, Iranian sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said that Iran had
also complained directly to FIFA.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NPR.

In a statement, the local organizing group SeattleFWC26 said it would be "moving forward as planned with our community programming outside the
stadium during Pride weekend and throughout the tournament."

"The Pacific Northwest is home to one of the nation's largest
Iranian-American communities, a thriving Egyptian diaspora, and rich communities representing all nations we're hosting in Seattle,"
spokesperson Hana Tadesse told NPR. "We're committed to ensuring all
residents and visitors experience the warmth, respect, and dignity that defines our region."

German players pose with their hands covering their mouths as they line
up for the team photos prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 match
against Japan in Doha. The move was a rebuke against a clampdown on
plans to wear rainbow armbands to protest discrimination in the host
nation Qatar.
German players pose with their hands covering their mouths as they line
up for the team photos prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 match
against Japan in Doha. The move was a rebuke against a clampdown on
plans to wear rainbow armbands to protest discrimination in the host
nation Qatar.

Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
While FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, organizes the
World Cup games themselves, local groups in each host city are
responsible for organizing events outside of the games and serve as
liaisons with local officials and business owners. More than 750,000
visitors are expected for the World Cup in Seattle alone, organizers say.

In Seattle, organizers have made values like accessibility and inclusion pillars of the city's World Cup festivities. The June 26 match coincides
with the city's annual Pride festival, which is organized independently
of the World Cup. That weekend, a Pride parade will march from downtown
to the large public festival at the Seattle Center.

Hosting a match on Pride weekend, the SeattleFWC26 website says, is "a
rare opportunity to make a lasting impact." Another match on June 19
between the U.S. and Australia will include Juneteenth festivities.

"With matches on Juneteenth and pride, we get to show the world that in Seattle, everyone is welcome," mayor-elect Katie Wilson wrote on X after
the teams were selected.

Aerial view showing the BBVA Stadium in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state,
Mexico, on January 18, 2025, which will be one of the venues for the
2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Indicator from Planet Money
Who is the World Cup for anymore?
Plans for the 2026 World Cup have been in progress for years, and games,
like the June 26 match in Seattle, have long been on the schedule. But organizers did not know which teams would play in the game until this
past Saturday, after FIFA held a draw to determine which teams would
play in each group.

The June 26 match in Seattle was assigned to Iran and Egypt, while
groupmates New Zealand and Belgium were set to play on the same day in
nearby Vancouver.

Both Belgium and New Zealand are among the dozens of countries worldwide
in which same-sex marriage is legal. FIFA did not respond to an inquiry
about whether the two games could be switched.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, cultural clashes between the host country and visiting teams and fans were a
major story. At times, FIFA sided with Qatar: Seven European teams,
including Belgium, had planned for their captains to wear rainbow
armbands during the Cup but ultimately backtracked, saying FIFA had
threatened them with yellow cards. Some fans and a journalist rCo the late soccer writer Grant Wahl rCo reported that they were asked to remove
rainbow clothing before entering stadiums. FIFA was slow to respond.

FIFA
FIFA World Cup
LGBTQIA

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