I'm not watching the men's World Cup this time and I'm not sorry about it.

I usually try to watch every game but was annoyed about it being in Russia in 2018: it felt like money was more important to FIFA than LGBT+ people, Ukrainians and Georgians; like the drug scandals, poisonings, terrorism, human rights abuses, racism, homophobia, mystery murders just didn't matter. I did watch the England games. Then I thought, why is it given to countries like Russia?

You probably think I'm being selectively outraged. Yes, I probably am I agree that the only way to get counties to reform is to engage them. However, the only weapon I have in this game is my viewing. I didn't watch the Beijing winter Olympics this year either and normally the Paralympics is a highlight for me.

I am hearing a lot of "I'm watching because it's football, not politics". However it is political when players can't wear rainbow armbands, there are hardly any women in the stands, Jews feel unsafe and LGBT fans are told to be "respectful" (Cleverley presumably meant to pretend not to be gay in Qatar). Then there's Russia being excluded, but not Iran. I may have a separate Iran rant at a later date.

I feel very strongly that any country which is unsafe for certain groups: migrant workers, women, Black people, LGBTQ+, Muslims, Jews, etc. etc. should not be awarded big tournaments, no matter how rich they are. If they start invading places or committing genocide after they've been awarded the competition, the governing body should take it away. Cost should not be an issue.

If this means the UK also gets barred, fair enough and I suppose I can just watch the Canadian and Mexican games in 2026🫤

Oh and there's always the corruption to factor in. Of course! The peak capitalism of it all. 🙄
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