Well they’ve gone and done it. FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (football meaning soccer) has managed to make me pay attention to the World Cup matches for the second time in my life. 

That’s something I haven’t done since I was living in Poland in the ’90s and the finals came down to Germany versus England.

I watched it in the expat watering hole in Warsaw and let me tell you it was tense. English expats were rooting for their country. Poles were rooting for anybody but Germany.

At one point Jacek the bartender shouted, “Stop this (expletive) German machine!” 

The game was tied and went into overtime, then it came down to free kicks. After several exchanges the English goalie missed and Germany took the Cup.

Gloom descended on the pub, except for a young very blond guy who jumped up, fist pumped and shouted, “Ja!” 

Then he looked around and said, “OK, I’ll just leave now.” 

Somewhere I heard of one Englishman consoling another, “OK mate, so they’ve beaten us twice this century at our favorite sport. We’ve beaten them twice at theirs.” 

But this year the drama is unfolding in Qatar. 

Qatar is one of the oil states of the Arabian peninsula. It is the smallest state ever to host a World Cup, and the first Islamic country. It is ruled by a hereditary monarchy and only about 12 percent of the population are citizens. The remaining 88 percent are guest workers. 

The choice of Qatar was odd and the process of selection somewhat murky.

Qatar does not have the best human rights record to put it mildly. The land for the stadium was allegedly taken from the al-Ghufran tribe without compensation. The facility was built by workers who are at best indentured servants, at worst outright slaves laboring under poor and unsafe conditions. Homosexuality is a crime which can technically at least be punished by death. And while Qatar does not have absolute Prohibition like Saudi Arabia the sale and consumption of alcohol is heavily regulated.

Qatar nonetheless got to host the Cup by agreeing to comply with FIFA rules on tolerance and inclusion, and allow beer to be sold in the stadium. 

Then at the 11th hour Qatar announced no, fans can’t have rainbow flags and arm bands and no they’re not going to permit alcohol to be sold in the stadium. 

Maj. Genen. Abdulaziz Al Ansari said that while LGBTQ fans would be welcome, “If he raised a rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to really insult him, but to protect him. Because if it’s not me, somebody else might attack him. I cannot guarantee the behavior of the whole people.” 

I think he probably has a point. Because I’ve seen a mob reacting to the sight of an unaccompanied woman in Saudi Arabia. They take their taboos seriously in that part of the world. 

Reactions have been mixed. Some have pointed out that Progressive activists are behaving like the stereotypical “ugly American” by waltzing into another country and demanding they change their ways to suit somebody else’s ideology. 

Others say Qatar agreed to certain conditions they had no intention of honoring and pulled a switcheroo after the facilities were built and it was too late to change the venue. 

And I am observing with wry amusement the shock preachers of “diversity” experience when they find out that human cultures really are pretty diverse.

— Stephen Browne is a former reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent