Sepp Blatter's At It Again....But Is he Right?

[Springsteen]

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has landed himself in hot water for joking that homosexuals should keep themselves in the closet during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Blatter, whose organisation has been widely criticised for Qatar’s landslide win earlier in December, was responding to comments about the tiny Gulf state’s punishment for homosexual activity, which includes up to five years in prison.




"I would say they should refrain from any sexual activities," Blatter said in Johannesburg at the launch of a post-2010 World Cup legacy project, before adding that he expected attitudes in Qatar to soften over the next decade.


"I'm sure when the World Cup will be in Qatar there will be no problems. You see in the Middle East the opening of this culture, it's another culture because it's another religion, but in football we have no boundaries.



"We open everything to everybody and I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings be it on this side or that side, be it left, right or whatever.



"If (gay people) want to watch a match somewhere in Qatar 2022, I'm sure they will be admitted to such matches."


Gay activists and sportspeople were not impressed by Blatter’s comments, with John Amaechi - a British former NBA star who is now a prominent spokesman for gay rights - publicly condemning the FIFA president on his website.


"The statements and the position adopted by Sepp Blatter and FIFA regarding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) fans who would pay the enormous ticket and travel prices to attend the World Cup in 2022 should have been wholly unacceptable a decade ago," said Amaechi.


"Instead, with little more than an afterthought, FIFA has endorsed the marginalisation of LGBT people around the world.



"Anything less than a full reversal of his position is unacceptable and if the (English) FA and football and sporting associations around the world fail to acknowledge this insult, they too will be complicit.



"If sport cannot serve to change society, even temporarily during the duration of an event like the World Cup that invites the world to participate, then it is little more than grown men chasing a ball and we should treat it as such."


The Gay Football Supporters Network called for a boycott of the finals when Qatar was announced as host.

Eurosport

I toyed with putting this in P&D but decided against it BUT it is a question : Should gay people avoid Qatar in 2022 because of the rules they have there regarding gays? Should Qatar still have these rules in place in this era? Is it old fashioned? Or is it just a case of "It's our Country, we can do what we like"?

 

[Peter Parka]

Personally I think everyone should avoid this farce of a fixed world cup in Qatar. We already know Seb is as bent as a banana and a racist so it comes as no surprise to learn he's a homophobe as well.

 

[ATKU2]

Personally I think everyone should avoid this farce of a fixed world cup in Qatar. We already know Seb is as bent as a banana and a racist so it comes as no surprise to learn he's a homophobe as well.

Agreed. (That's really all I can say, lolz)

 

[skyblue]

blatters a buffoon who's opened his mouth without thinking yet again.......who'll ever forget when he said women players should wear tighter shirts?

 

[Tuffdisc]

blatters a buffoon who's opened his mouth without thinking yet again.......who'll ever forget when he said women players should wear tighter shirts?

Surely nothing wrong about that :ninja