Dear FIFA, all I want is a Men’s World Cup I feel safe attending

When Saudi Arabia were announced as the hosts of the 2034 FIFA Men’s World Cup on Thursday morning (AEDT), no one was shocked or surprised.

How can one be shocked when they were the only bid on the table, carefully calculated to be so by the powers that be with the 2030 Men’s World Cup to take place on three separate continents under the guise of celebrating the centenary of the first edition of the tournament.

If only it were that easy to believe, because if it were about celebrating the centenary of the first FIFA Men’s World Cup, wouldn’t you just hold it in South America completely, rather than across South America, Europe, and Africa?

The feelings elicited were not that of shock or surprise, nor were they of anger, but those of concern and sorrow.

Dear FIFA,

All I want while I am still capable of vast international travel is a Men’s World Cup I can feel safe attending being my true authentic self.

I never had the chance to travel to a Men’s World Cup when it was in places like Germany, where it would have been safe for me to be myself, because I was too young to travel, but what has happened in the years since?

The Men’s World Cup has been held in Russia and Qatar, and will be held in the USA, Morocco, and now Saudi Arabia.

Do you want to know what four of those five countries have in common?

They are all very unwelcoming to LGBTQIA+ individuals, such as myself, and the USA could still go either way depending on what happens when Donald Trump takes office, but I’m not going to bet any money I’ll feel safe travelling there in 2026.

In Qatar, despite claims that it would be safe for LGBTQIA+ people to travel to enjoy the World Cup, there were reports throughout the entire tournament of people being harassed and targeted for anything that might have been considered supporting queer people, let alone actually being queer and being with a partner.

This is before you even get to the vast human rights abuses, which also made me not want to travel and support an economy built on the back of horrific actions, the same of which can also be said of Saudi Arabia.

In Morocco, homosexuality is illegal, let alone being transgender, which is at odds with the rights in the other two countries primarily hosting in 2030, Spain and Portugal, where being queer is celebrated.

What happens if Australia were to be drawn to play a game (or several) in Morocco, after I’ve already committed to travelling?

Do I just not get to support my country because it would be unsafe for me to travel to Morocco?

This is the same problem I face in 2026 with the USA, Canada, and Mexico bid. What happens if Australia get drawn into a group that plays most, or all, of its games in cities or states unwelcoming to LGBTQIA+ individuals?

I’ve had the joy of experiencing a Women’s World Cup when Australia and New Zealand hosted in 2023, and I hope to experience my first World Cup as a traveller in 2027 in the LGBTQIA+ friendly country of Brazil.

And I would love nothing more than to be able to experience that at a Men’s World Cup as well, but who knows what 2038 holds?

I’d like to say it’s all about safe travel for myself and plenty of others like me who should be able to travel to support our countries without fearing for our safety, but it’s not just about that.

If it’s not safe for us to travel as LGBTQIA+ people, what about those who live there?

I am able to be live as my true authentic self, but there are many who aren’t, because they fear for their lives. Why should these countries be rewarded with one of the biggest and most recognisable events in the world when people can not be themselves without risk of imprisonment or death?

The short answer is they shouldn’t. The long answer is that they really shouldn’t.

Because this won’t help change laws in these countries to protect LGBTQIA+ individuals. It didn’t in Qatar, where the maximum punishment is still death, even if it has never been enforced, and I doubt it will in Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

Football should be for everyone, and this sport has the power to unite in a way that no other sport around the world does.

But it can’t while a non-profit organisation is driven blindly by profit, of awarding events to the highest bidder, or the only bidder, because the deck has been stacked in their favour.

And that legitimately makes me not only sad, but fearful of the future when it comes to the Men’s World Cup, and that I, and many others like me, who just want to be ourselves, will never get to experience it because we fear for our safety.