{"id":11004,"date":"2025-12-10T10:51:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/?p=11004"},"modified":"2025-12-15T19:26:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T19:26:02","slug":"muslim-nations-decry-lgbtq-event-timed-with-world-cup-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/10\/muslim-nations-decry-lgbtq-event-timed-with-world-cup-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim nations decry LGBTQ event timed with World Cup game\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt and Iran don\u2019t want to play a \u201cpride match\u201d at the 2026 tournament in the US\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Football officials from Egypt and Iran have protested plans to stage an LGBTQ-themed event alongside their 2026 FIFA World Cup group match in Seattle, denouncing the move as incompatible with their national values.<\/p>\n

The match is scheduled for Friday June 26, which coincides with the start of Seattle’s Pride Weekend commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots, considered a milestone in the US gay rights movement.<\/p>\n

Local organizers, who operate independently of FIFA, have branded the event a “Pride Match,”<\/em> promoting it as an opportunity to “make a lasting impact,”<\/em> highlight LGBTQ-owned businesses, and showcase related cultural organizations. Both Egypt and Iran maintain conservative religious and social attitudes in which same-sex relations are heavily stigmatized.<\/p>\n

Egypt’s football association said on Tuesday that it had sent a complaint to FIFA, stressing that it “categorically rejects”<\/em> any pro-LGBTQ messaging linked to the match. Such initiatives, it argued, “directly contradict the cultural, religious, and social values of the region.”<\/em> It called on FIFA to ensure the game is conducted “in an atmosphere of respect and focus solely on the sporting aspect.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>\u2018We are not gays\u2019: What British colonialism has to do with LGBTQ
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Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s football federation, told the ISNA news agency that both countries objected to what he described as “an unreasonable thing that supports a specific group,”<\/em> without explicitly naming the “Pride Match”<\/em> branding.<\/p>\n

Seattle is set to host six matches during the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. Egypt and Iran have been drawn in Group G alongside Belgium and New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Egypt and Iran don\u2019t want to play a \u201cpride match\u201d at the 2026 tournament in the US\u00a0 Football officials from Egypt and Iran have protested plans to stage an LGBTQ-themed event alongside their 2026 FIFA World Cup group match in Seattle, denouncing the move as incompatible with their national values….<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11005,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004\/revisions\/11005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}