{"id":4660,"date":"2023-07-17T17:13:13","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T15:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/?p=4660"},"modified":"2023-07-17T17:15:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T15:15:22","slug":"penalties-passes-and-a-touch-of-politics-the-womens-world-cup-is-about-to-kick-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idrottsforum.org\/forumbloggen\/penalties-passes-and-a-touch-of-politics-the-womens-world-cup-is-about-to-kick-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Penalties, passes, and a touch of politics: the Women\u2019s World Cup is about to kick\u00a0off"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Shutterstock\/IOIO IMAGES)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup kicks off this Thursday night, the first football world cup hosted by Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.<\/p>\n

New Zealand opens the tournament by taking on Norway in Auckland, while Australia\u2019s Matildas will play Ireland in front of an anticipated 80,000 fans<\/a> at a sold out Stadium Australia in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Despite the persistent delusion of some that politics should be kept out of sport<\/a>, it has always been suffused with political calculations and meanings. The major question is not whether but what kinds of politics<\/a> will be played and by whom.<\/p>\n

In the lead up to this tournament, world football\u2019s governing body FIFA announced a suite of eight armbands that could be chosen under its Football Unites the World<\/a> program. Permitted selections, in partnership with various United Nations agencies, include \u201cUnite for Indigenous Peoples\u201d and \u201cUnite for Gender Equality\u201d.<\/p>\n

But notably, the OneLove<\/a> armband associated with LGBTIQA+ rights isn\u2019t among them. That was banned at last year\u2019s Men\u2019s World Cup in Qatar, with captains including England\u2019s Harry Kane<\/a> threatened with a yellow card if they wore it as planned.<\/p>\n

Unlike in Qatar, homosexuality is not illegal in these host countries, but FIFA\u2019s \u201cextensive consultation with stakeholders including players and the 32 participating member associations\u201d produced the same outcome.<\/p>\n

Among the latter are three African countries (Morocco, Nigeria and Zambia) where homosexuality is criminalised, as it is in stakeholders including Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia that are increasingly influential in football and other world sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s captain Sam Kerr<\/a> has been deprived, to her regret, of the opportunity to make a statement with a rainbow-coloured armband.<\/p>\n

But 44 players<\/a> have taken the chance to cooperate with climate advocacy groups Common Goal and Football For Future to help compensate for the environmental impact of their world cup related flights.<\/p>\n

Already it\u2019s clear that politics will vie with passes and penalties as major talking points at the biggest sport event in the region since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.<\/p>\n

Indeed, when the esteemed Brazilian team flew into Brisbane<\/a> two weeks before the first ball would be kicked, their plane\u2019s tail bore pictures of Iranian human rights activists Mahsa Amini and Amir Nasr Azadani. The plane\u2019s body also declared, \u201cNo woman should be forced to cover her head\u201d and \u201cno man should be hanged for saying this\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Brazil's football squad landed in Australia for the 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup on a charter plane that paid tribute to Iran protesters, including pictures of Mahsa Amini and Amir Nasr Azadani \u2935\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/LYrUcOytPC<\/a><\/p>\n

— AJE Sport (@AJE_Sport) July 4, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n