Another concern about 2022

Blatter wasn't joking when he said it. It was his serious answer to the question raised.

It was later termed a joke to save Blatter's face.

Because 'joke' was the interpretation of the newspaper reporter. 'Said' is neutral and allows the reader to decide.

But as I said in the OP, everyone should read the WHOLE article first.

Why change the word "JOKE" to "SAID"?

Come on Frenchie you know you would get this sort of response. OK maybe not to the degree you did (the comments that managed to stay on the thread are pretty vulgar) ;-)

I agree Britexpat, but it depends a little on the country. Big problems for an openly gay footballer in Britain, but a gay footballer in the US, where it is a very middleclass, white sport with teams like LA Galaxy, would be no big deal because it already has a good-sized gay following. In fact, it would probably be a boon to his career. Not sure about the rest of Europe . . .

Regardless I do think it would be a good thing for more athletes to come out of the closet.

And what surprised me was that you dragged yourself to their level :o)

Anyway, back to the topic..

I think footballers would have great problems coming out and being accepted by both the team mates and especially the fans. They would face issues in the changing room, where macho banter and antics are the order of the day. Perhaps their team mates would feel threatened.

More to the point, the fans - most of whom are from working class back grounds would make their life hell.

Britexpat--Come on. Get off your high horse ;-).

first thing I wrote in the OP was "Please read the WHOLE article before posting". Not my fault the first thing these morons read is gay and they start wetting themselves.

I highlighted the Qatar bit because I wanted to make it relevant to QL, because that was what I found interesting. Anyone who read the whole article such as Pilgram and Bachus have every right to take the thread in a direction they find interesting. I truly think this sort of thing has the possibility to be a real problem in 2022 when tens of thousands of hedonistic football fans pour into Qatar. And FIFA's trivializing it is worrying.

Joked to said was because the guy is known bigot and I didn't agree with the writer's interpretation that such comments in such a forum are a 'joke'. Changing it to said doesn't change the meaning, because he did 'say'.

My first post after the OP was

'Stop giggling a like a school girl and try reading the article and posting a meaningful comment for a change. This is a serious issue that has the potential to affect a number of supporters, particularly from the Euro zone, and run at odds with local traditions.'

I tried to have a serious conversation. But the thread was taken over by bigots--most of whose usernames and IDs have already been erased by the mods for abusive, vulgar comments. Sure I responded to the idiots. That's my prerogative once the thread turned sour.

More surprising is that of all the points you could raise about what was written here--the slurs, personal attacks, etc., you highlight what you did. How about the guy who wrote 'hahhaha.you are well knowledged in the dark arts of the faggotry huh.LOL.' Surely you don't see such comments as a legitimate contribution to the conversation.

Thanks Brit. I did try! Frankly I know a couple of gay men in sports and they've always said the reason they don't come out is partly fear of non acceptance from team members and fans, but also because they don't feel part of the larger gay community. In general they feel they have more in common with their straight team mates than other gays and they don't want to ruin that relationship.

Its slightly disingenious of you.. :o)

The article is about acceptance of homosexuality in sport.

There is one sentence "And FIFA president Sepp Blatter was caught out too when he joked that gay supporters should refrain from having sex at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Homosexuality is illegal in the emirate."

The word used was "joked" , yet you changed it to "said" to suit your purposes :o)

I am not surprised that people have started arguing without reading the article. Pilgram was perhaps the only one who tried and failed to argue the gist of the article...

Anyway... Onward .. :o)

But they've never hosted a major sporting event in which large numbers of fans from countries with legalized gay marriage (i.e. Europe) were invited.

Things like the Asian Games and Cup were largely for countries in which homosexuality was illegal, not that many people came from long distances to those events anyway.

For goodness sake..

Qatar has been all types of sports events for the past few years. There has been no issue with either participants or spectators regarding this issue.

Usually the host country issues a sort of packet about hotels, sites, weather, customs and laws--general tourist advice stuff. My HR gave me a ton of stuff produced by the Qatar government when I came over that is targeted at Westerners--lots of pictures of MacDonald's and shopping aisles filled with toilet paper.

I don't think Qatar will issue any kind of information to the spectators. I think this issue will be avoided completely.

Bachus--Yes that will be the bigger issue. Sir Elton probably was not traveling with the his husband at the time. And if he was, he is Sir Elton, not some poor spectator who managed to get tickets to a football game.

It will be interesting to see what sort of advice the committee issues to potential spectators in its information packet about Qatari culture and the do's and don'ts of visiting as fan.

But then 2022 is a long way away and a lot can change by then.

I think the problem will not so much be the athletes as it will be the supporters. No one is going to arrest a team member for being gay. But what about the fans who have a bit too much fun at a party or travel together as a couple? I think that is were things might get dodgy.

Besides being gay is not illegal in Qatar. It's carrying out homosexual acts.

I think they face more problems from within their own teams and organizations then from the public. Like it or not gay's are sterotyped as being effeminate and soft, which isn't something that goes along very well with team sports. I think there lack of desire to come out also stems from the fact that many probably don't see themselves as part of the wider, more flamboyent gay community, and prefer to keep their sexuality to themselves.

The openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitchum has come to Qatar to compete, and no one really cared.

I don't think homophobia here is anything to worry about. As people have pointed out above, there are heaps of gays in Doha, it's part of the Arab culture.

It is a taboo in Football and Rugby seen as the mens sports, that gays cannot come out openly. I guess the young lad in the article above is just the start for many others to follow him?

I don't think it will be an issue. Elton John played in the UAE and nobody batted an eye, so a few gay blokes kicking a football around won't ruffle any feathers...or feather boas!

On back to the question asked in this Thread,

Which is will Gay players be a big issue in WC2022. I expect that by then more and more players will come out and listen to their innerselfs.

safari911 I say no more, why dont you pass the souq area on a friday and see for yourself.

Thanks Moderator for taking the necessary actions against some people who really need help to deal with their inner conflicts.

woah!!! things getting a bit heated here... but back up a bit.... Milkybarkid..."The nearest I have come to them here is on a Friday afternoon in the souq area's. Men holding each others hands and scratching their balls with the other hand!"... could you elaborate, who was scratching whose balls?????ROFL

Wow. I leave for a few minutes to come back to this!

Agree with Milky_Bar and Pilgram.

Don't get dragged down to their level Frenchieman. They're clearly a bunch of deeply closeted guys dealing with conflicted feelings. Just look at their comments and have a little pity. The moderators have already deleted most of them.

Good day.

Pathetic. Agree Milky Bar, I'm out of here too. Leave the insane to their asylum.

I bet you are.

Because they are school children.

Sounds like naseerhammed and nunnu are getting quite excited about this topic. The door is locked, the lights are dimming, the box of tissues have been located . . .

Pilgram because the Mods lets some idiots run riots here. I am out for the day!

So I write just saeed, and you immediately write his whole username. Funny that.

Why is it impossible to ever discuss anything seriously on this site?

If you morons haven't figure out yet, I don't care if you call me gay.

I'm hetero but totally comfortable with allowing others to pursue their sexuality.

some body is getting frustrated

OK saeed. Then stop stalking me.

Only 10 minutes old and joining the rank and file of baazigar's many fake IDs. Thanks for underlining my points with your actions. ROFL.

naseerhammed--the more you post anti-slurs the gayer you look. Classic denial. And no, I still won't go out with you no matter how hard you try, because while I have no problem with gays, I am not gay. I have blocked you from PMing me.

nunnu--you people make me laugh. Every thread I start includes some idiot accusing me of being someone else. By count I have been accused of being about 50 different users--Christians, Muslims, even a Jew, Hindis, Indians, Americans, Qataris, male, female, lesbian (my favourite), straight, gay, poor, rich, etc. etc. The first post on this thread was to accuse me of being a guy who is clearly an anti-Western bigot.

Maybe what you and others need to do is to come to terms with the idea that the world is a diverse place full of people who disagree with you and monolithic, racist, and conceited views of the universe. ROFL.

Yep I guess it must the tolerant and open society like Sweden that someone will be come out and declare himself gay.

I really hope this bloke does well and makes the Swedish team for the 2022 WC.

He was stabbed to death naseerhammed. Interesting though how in womens sports no one cares if the player is homosexual, yet in mens sports players are murdered and driven to suicide.

You seem to know a lot about gays naseerhammed . . . hmmm . . . .

Exactly milkybar. That is why I started the thread--testing the waters to see if the concerns in the CNN article are valid. And it looks like they are.

Pilgram the important thing about those parades is that you dont have to be gay to go to one of those. Its about accepting each other..:)

The English Cricket team wicket keeper game out of the closet to announce that he was gay.His captain gave him his full support

LOL Milkybar. I miss gay pride week to! Nobody can beat their parades!

baazigar who did I say was refraining from sex?

Hmm, I'm surprised there are 2 outed NFL players. Not surprised how many lesbians there are in women's hockey though. Unlike Men's sports, people are surprised when a sportswoman is STRAIGHT not GAY!

Sadly the only male gay ice hockey player was murdered for being gay :(

ROFL milkybar. First time I saw it when i got here I had to take a few doubletakes. It's cultural, I know.

lesbians pilgram are they also refrained from having sxx ?

Dude using a ID pic of a man in a tank top to bash gays. Can't get more ironic! ROFL.

Pilgram my lovee, O i do miss the Pride Parades.

The nearest I have come to them here is on a Friday afternoon in the souq area's. Men holding each others hands and scratching their balls with the other hand!

Pilgram

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lesbian,_gay,_bisexual,_and_transgender_sportspeople

I think the homophobes on the thread are trying a bit too hard. Just shows they're gay. More gay men mean more lady options for ugly men.

Naeerhammed most Western cities hold Gay Pride days and weeks in the summer.

zenga zenga

Could be an interesting problem when the Germans come to play . . .

What does this have to do with the 2012 Olympics--London is a very pro-gay city, so no problems for them there.

Sadly homophobia is present in a lot of sports. I can't think of a single gay hockey player, or gay American football player. And it's not that they aren't out there, they just don't feel comfortable coming forward.

for serious issues.. HMC is there

shall i book a bed for u

there are already lot available here :-)

Just because you use multiple id's does not mean the rest of us do. For a guy advertising on QL for a tranny, you're hysterical.

Stop giggling a like a school girl and try reading the article and posting a meaningful comment for a change. This is a serious issue that has the potential to affect a number of supporters, particularly from the Euro zone, and run at odds with local traditions.

trying to change his taste.. he himself must be a G@Y

is on rest :/ hahaha