Safe, organized, friendly – ​​but inaccessible: a fan’s assessment of the World Cup

It wasn’t an “affordable” World Cup, except for people who are very lucky and privileged like me, who have some money or have saved up – I don’t do things on purpose at the weekend to save up to go to trips around England like this one.

And I know I was very privileged. I met a woman in Qatar who debated issues facing women in Iranand we chatted about their ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ slogan on their T-shirts and I was very appalled that women and men are banned from stadiums in Qatar for wearing a T-shirt with such an important slogan.

Naturally, I asked myself, “Should I go?” because of the country’s women’s rights record – women in Qatar need the approval of a male guardian before they can marry, get only 50 days of maternity leave, and neither marital rape nor domestic violence are criminalized. I was aware of all this. But if she thought about everything like that, as a woman she wouldn’t leave the house.

Here, two women a week are killed by violent men. And how many states in the US have taken away reproductive rights effectively bans abortion? They will be co-hosting the next World Cup and I haven’t heard anyone talk about it yet. And given the sexist and misogynistic abuse young women have to endure at football matches in this country, let’s not pretend the UK is perfect.