New York Times<\/a> that rainbow flags remain permitted at all World Cup matches this summer, its president, Gianni Infantino, has previously distanced the governing body from the event\u2019s promotional themes.<\/p>\nPride flags have become a point of contention between FIFA and the Egyptian and Iranian football federations. Action Images<\/p>\n
He insisted there would be no official \u201cPride Match\u201d at the tournament in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Weltwoche, and added that any events taking place in Seattle \u201chas nothing to do with the match itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Iranian federation warned that it \u201ctakes this matter seriously and has clearly communicated its position\u201d to FIFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe FIFA should take into account the views and concerns of the participating teams when considering matters related to the match environment and stadium presentation,\u201d the Iranians said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFIFA has been informed of this shared position by both countries and is expected to take the necessary steps to ensure that no related ceremonies or promotional activities take place within the stadium or as part of the official match environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Egyptian federation objected to \u201cthe holding of any activities related to supporting homosexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a letter to the FIFA secretary general, the Egyptians clarified that \u201cthey completely refuse these activities, which directly contradicts with the cultural, religious and social values in the region, especially in the Arabic and Islamic communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Iranian national team. Getty Images<\/p>\n
The statement from the Iranian Football Association notably did not directly reference \u201cpride\u201d or \u201cLGBTQ\u201d \u2014 instead referring to the event and the community as the \u201cmovement.\u201d<\/p>\n
SeattleFWC2026 maintains that the match at Lumen Field is an \u201cinclusive event,\u201d reaffirming that \u201crainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026 Stadium Code of Conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Media coverage of the SeattleFWC2026\u2019s affiliation with Pride weekend was first reported in December 2025 \u2014 and immediately condemned by Egypt and Iran\u2019s soccer federations, which sought to prevent any connection to the Pride events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hossam Hassan, head coach of Egypt, holds a press conference in Seattle. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Iran is one of six countries in the world that formally imposes the death penalty for same-sex relations, alongside Brunei, Mauritania, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ali Larijani, the ex-Iranian secretary of the Supreme National Security Council \u2014 a regime hardliner who was killed in an Israeli airstrike soon after the start of the Iran war \u2014 insisted in an anti-LGBTQ+ tirade that the death penalty for homosexuality is \u201ceffective in keeping society safe from perversion.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, many gay men in Iran are heavily pressured by the state, clerics and even their own families to undergo gender reassignment surgery.<\/p>\n
The regime\u2019s repressive stance, originally codified under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini \u2014 the founder of the Islamic Republic and original supreme leader \u2014 in the 1980s, is rooted in the belief that homosexuality is an illness.<\/p>\n
Homosexuality is not explicitly outlawed in Egypt, but it is de facto criminalized<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Iranian and Egyptian soccer federations have urged FIFA to strip any \u201cPride Match\u201d displays and rainbow symbols…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[655,6986,27579,34,22687,27580,1617,2576,549,82],"class_list":["post-178530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-iran","tag-egypt","tag-fifa-club-world-cup","tag-gay-pride","tag-iran","tag-lgbtqia","tag-pride","tag-seattle","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116816402631030813","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}