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You Can’t Write a Better Script than Egypt and Iran Getting the World Cup Pride Game in Seattle

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 10th, 2025 · 3:31 PM EST

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Jon Gambrell at The Associated Press:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Egypt and Iran, two Middle East nations that target gays and lesbians, have complained to FIFA over a World Cup soccer match in Seattle that is planned to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride.

Leaders in the nation’s soccer federations publicly rebuked the idea of playing the match June 26 at Seattle Stadium, which local organizers say will include a “once-in-a-lifetime moment to showcase and celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities in Washington.”

In Egypt, the soccer federation issued a statement late Tuesday saying it sent a letter to FIFA “categorically rejecting any activities related to supporting homosexuality during the match.”

It’s funny because the FIFA line goes something like “we must respect the culture of the host nation,” which, in 2022, meant that there was no booze inside Qatar’s stadiums, only in designated areas meant for visitors. No rainbow displays or anything like that, because Qatar is a conservative Islamic country and everybody had to play by their rules.

Now you send a couple of those countries over here, and they don’t want anything to do with pride, so do they get the same response from FIFA? Respect the culture of the host nation, or, in this case, host city? It’s not like they’re being made to wear rainbow warmups or anything like that. Pretty much everything is happening outside of the stadium anyway. This isn’t Ivan Provorov part 2, which ended with a golden retriever getting hate messages on Instagram.

It seems like there’s a pretty easy solution here by flipping the June 26th games. Belgium and New Zealand go to Seattle and the repressive Islamic countries play in Vancouver instead. Take that, Canucks!