Overview
- Seattle’s World Cup committee confirmed it will hold Pride-related community programming around the Egypt–Iran game on June 26 during the city’s Pride weekend.
- Egypt’s football association sent a formal letter to FIFA saying it “categorically rejects” any activities supporting homosexuality and asked that none occur inside the stadium on match day.
- Iran federation president Mehdi Taj called the Pride designation unreasonable and said the issue will be raised at a FIFA Council meeting in Qatar next week.
- FIFA has not publicly commented on the complaints, and reporting notes its authority covers stadiums and official fan zones but not independent community events.
- Both nations enforce laws used to prosecute same-sex relations, and the dispute revives scrutiny of FIFA’s consistency after the 2022 Qatar armband restrictions.