DRAWING Qatar in the World Cup sweep at work would have been a blow to anyone with hopes of pocketing a few quid.
For Craig Anderson, treasurer and striker with the country’s only LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) football team HotScots FC, it was especially difficult to take.
HotScots have been providing a safe, welcoming and fun environment for members of the LGBT community to both play and watch the game they love since they were formed in Edinburgh back in 2007.
Seeing Qatar – where homosexuality is illegal and can result in imprisonment and even, although there is no evidence of capital punishment being administered judicially, death – stage the World Cup finals has saddened their players.
“It is both depressing and disappointing,” said Anderson. “I got Qatar in the sweep at work. But I didn’t watch their opening game against Ecuador or the opening ceremony for that matter.”
His views on this World Cup, which will come to an end today when Argentina take on holders France in the Lusail Stadium in front of a crowd of almost 90,000 and a television audience of hundreds of millions, are shared by his team mate and HotScots founder Kevin Rowe.
“To hold the finals in a country where it would be against the law for me to be myself is just ludicrous,” he said.
“The advice on the LGBT issue before the finals was essentially ‘you are welcome to attend, just don’t flaunt your sexuality’. You wouldn’t say to women ‘pretend you’re not women’ or to black people ‘pretend you’re not black’. It is very dismissive.
“A lot of our players haven’t watched the World Cup in protest. I have watched, but I have felt a certain amount of guilt about buying into it. It’s difficult. It’s a tournament that is meant to be inclusive. If you are feeling conflicted about watching it then that is a massive red flag.”
Staging the World Cup in Qatar - a Middle East country which, as well as criminalising homosexuality, has an appalling human rights record - has generated myriad negative news stories around the globe during the past four weeks.
Senior FIFA officials are adamant they are a completely different organisation today to the one which, amid widespread and well-founded accusations of bribery, awarded the finals to the gas-rich Arab state in 2010.
It is to be hoped the world game’s governing body will be far more sensitive and sensible about where they take the World Cup after the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026.
But both Anderson and Rowe remain far from convinced.
“I don’t think any football fan has faith in FIFA,” said Anderson. “Because the decision on where to play World Cup was made so far in advance, there has been a long time to prepare for it. I kept thinking: ‘Surely not! Surely this will get overturned!’ But nothing happened.
“It is very difficult for a country which isn’t wealthy to stage the tournament. Russia got it four years ago and there wasn’t a storm about that. It is not unrealistic to be sceptical about what the future holds given the corruption of the past. FIFA have no credibility.”
The impassioned defence of Qatar that FIFA president Gianni Infantino made on the eve of the opening game – he claimed the western world could not “give moral lessons” to people because of their actions in the “last 3,000 years” in a bizarre hour-long diatribe - did nothing to allay their fears.
“I’m always optimistic,” said Rowe. ”But look at the pre-tournament comments made by Infantino. That is not how LGBT people feel. They are still not taking responsibility at the top.”
That was arguably highlighted when plans by the captains of Europe’s leading teams to wear “One Love” armbands – a gesture designed to promote inclusion and condemn discrimination of any kind – were abandoned after it emerged they would be booked by referees for doing so.
“It comes down to FIFA and the FA,” said Anderson. “That the players were not willing to risk a yellow card for wearing an armband illustrates that support was not actually that strong.
“The FA lit up the arch at Wembley in rainbow colours before England’s group game against the United States in a show of solidarity with the LGBT community. But obviously the England players didn’t feel they had got their backs.”
Many Wales fans entering the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium before their opening group game against the United States last month were told to take off the multi-coloured bucket hats they were wearing by security staff.
The Qatari authorities relaxed their stance following an outcry and the distinctive headgear was very much in evidence in the stands at their following games against Iran and England. Rowe is hopeful that will encourage gay footballers to come out in future.
Zander Murray, the Gala Fairydean striker, became the first Scottish senior footballer to do so back in September. Could others now follow his lead after the scenes in Qatar?
“There has definitely been public support and in many ways that is encouraging,” said Rowe. “Whenever the question of players coming out in the professional game is raised the response is ‘well, they can’t because of the abuse they will get’.
“The fans get the blame. They are painted as these Neanderthal knuckle draggers. But in the main any player who has come out has had a good reaction. The vast majority of supporters in Qatar have been supportive of the LGBT issue. It is heartening in many senses.”
Does the very highest level of Scottish football, which has traditionally attracted many of the, to put it politely, less enlightened members of society, still have some work to do to move into the 21st century?
“Every one of us has had different experiences,” said Anderson. “In terms of being a fan going along to support a team, there were lots of Jimmy Hill chants (Scotland fans used to sing ‘We hate Jimmy Hill, he’s a poof’) back in the day.
“There is less racist abuse now. But there is still homophobic as well as racist abuse in stadiums. But it is not a linear thing. A lot depends on how clubs handle the situation. Some clubs do a great deal.”
HotScots have gone from strength to strength since being launched with the help of Awards for All lottery funding 15 years ago. They are members of the Gay Football Supporters Network League and play against other LGBT teams across the United Kingdom and in Europe on occasion.
They train at Saughton every week and receive invaluable financial backing from Planet Bar and Kitchen which enables everyone to take part in their away games regardless of their personal circumstances.
They provide a positive and supportive place for their players and supporters to pursue their passion for the beautiful game – something which has been much needed and warmly welcomed in many cases.
“There were certainly some people who had felt like the odd one out when they were playing, some people who felt isolated,” said Rowe. “One of our players had never taken part in sport after leaving school because he didn’t feel accepted.
“One lad came along who was more of a fan than he was a player. He hailed from the Western Isles and told us we were the first LBGT people that he had ever met.”
HotScots have also done a great deal to dispel the simplified views of LGBT people which prevail among the general public here by holding regular games against “mainstream” sides.
“We want to break down stereotypes,” said Anderson. “Although we are LGBT focused, we also engage with other clubs. Overall, we have been well received. Games are played in good spirits and with a lot of good banter.
“Visibility is important. The games we play allow players in clubs in mainstream leagues to be exposed to communities who they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to.”
Their rivals have very often had to seriously revise preconceived notions after their encounters.
“There have been a few surprises,” said Anderson. “In one game a lot of our opponents’ pals turned up to watch. They were obviously expecting a pretty one-sided match. When we scored after about 30 seconds they were all looking at each other as if to say ‘what’s going on here?’ We ended up winning 5-0.”
Rowe can completely understand the misconceptions. “I have the same stereotypes in my own head,” he said. “Before my first training session I was thinking: ‘What if everybody is really effeminate? What if nobody makes tackles?’. So I suppose everyone has pre-judged ideas.
“HotScots is open to everyone, male, female, non-binary, any sexuality. It is primarily people who identify as male who play. But we do have straight players as well. It is all about inclusivity.”
Qatar 2022 has very much not been. Time will tell if a World Cup which has been beset by as much controversy off the park as it has been lit up by moments of brilliance on it has set back or promoted a cause which HotScots FC have done so much to champion.
