Gay rights groups condemn FIFA boss, seek apology

Sounds like he was just giving good advice.

Agreed, but it also sounds like a very good reason Qatar should not have been chosen in the first place...

Yet another special interest group trying to get another 15 minutes of fame. Sorry, this is a soccer tournament, not another stage for the gay rights camp to get in the headlines.

Tsk, you're so inthenthitive.

Agreed, but it also sounds like a very good reason Qatar should not have been chosen in the first place...

I was going to agree with you, but then I got to thinking...We do business with all sorts of scumbag countries, what makes Qatar and FIFA special. Qatar in the sense that why this country and not all the other ones that deny human rights? And why FIFA but not other businesses that should not do business with those countries?

Agreed, but it also sounds like a very good reason Qatar should not have been chosen in the first place...

I was going to agree with you, but then I got to thinking...We do business with all sorts of scumbag countries, what makes Qatar and FIFA special. Qatar in the sense that why this country and not all the other ones that deny human rights? And why FIFA but not other businesses that should not do business with those countries?

I have an issue with major sporting events going to the worst human rights abusers. China should never have been given the Olympics either. It lets them look all nice and clean and good when it's all a facade. Doing business with them, it's inevitable, and perhaps if the opressed get uppity enough wanting their slice of the pie they'll rise up and take it. But given the Chinese reaction to the Nobel Prize, I'm not sure the Olympics made them any more open. Probably the reverse, as they're now emboldened to convince other countries to boycott as well.

Come to think of it, and to look at the http://www.freedomhouse.org/ ratings, Russia shouldn't be given the 2018 cup or the 2014 olympics either - they're no better. The abuses are different, but no less.

FIFA is so corrupt it makes the Quebec construction industry look clean. Cherchez l'argent. Someone got rich out of that stinker of a pick.

oooh! I'm just seeing some Twitter feeds about a $10M bribe related to this. stay tuned!

It is a window into the flabby old corrupt minds that run FIFA. I agree with the gay lobby and Hurley. International sporting events shouldn't be going to despotic regimes.

wait don't you have to be gay to like soccer in the first place?

Try saying that in any pub in the UK.

Hard to blame the local Arabs for this one. The smart thing to do would not to let the players have gay orgies in their hotel rooms in countries where homosexuals get the death penalty for merely existing. The gay guys on the teams, pun not intended, can put a cork in it for the duration of the tourney. A couple weeks or so of abstinence won't kill them, or anyone else for that matter, but the locals might if they don't show a bit of respect and adhere to the native standard of behaviour.

Special interest groups tend to be really out of touch with the groups they try to represent. The fact that it's in Qatar means a lot of folks, including a lot more than just those of more homosexual persuasions, are going to be facing additional restrictions. Most gay men and lesbian women likely know that paying a lot of money to go somewhere doesn't stop local laws from impacting them. Just like Americans know traveling to some places won't earn them a kind reception (a part of their identity, even when undeserved), or how trying to tape some areas in China is not allowed, no matter who you are.

The problem here is not that these men and women were recommended not to have sex in a country where it's illegal. It's as hurley said -- the problem is that it went to a country like this in the first place, and that these countries still select against certain groups aggressively (amongst other issues, like support of Iran's nuclear ambitions). Qatar has experienced a lot of liberalization over the last decade and a bit, but it hasn't been liberalized that much. Had this been a scant few years ago, women traveling there would have had more problems, since Women's Suffrage is a relatively new concept there.

Yes, it sucks that this exists, but the ire of this group is being directed at the wrong person. This is sound advice for people potentially unaware of local laws which are contrary to their way of life. When I visit Cuba, there are things I don't do -- likewise would it be with Qatar.

All this proves is tha Sepp Blatter is the biggest tool in sports; bigger even than Gary Bettman.

What's he going to say if Israel qualifies for the WC? That their players shouldn't act Jewish?

Qatar should never have been picked. This is a country that is still a monarchy, outlaws homosexuality , even open displays of affection between heteros, and forbids the entrance of Jews.

I totally agree. FIFA make the Olympic guys look honest.