Morocco hides LGBT+ criminalisation in attempt to get FIFA World Cup

In Morocco’s 483-page bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup there was no mention of the fact that homosexuality is a criminal offence in the country. Following the controversy surrounding the choice to host the Cup in Russia this year and Qatar in 2022, FIFA has updated its guidelines for host cities to guarantee “no discrimination of any nature”.

Ahmed El Haij, president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, said Morocco was blatantly trying to sidestep these new rules: “If Morocco was to host the World Cup, LGBT people coming to watch the games will face a lot of discrimination. The state will not be able to protect them nor will it be able to commit to preventing measures that could be taken against them by both the state and society.”

Currently, under Article 489 of the Moroccan penal code, any sexual activity between people of the same gender warrants up to three years in prison.

American organisation Athlete Ally released a statement saying: “Morocco’s attempt to hide its anti-LGBTQ law and not define a clear remedy for the discrimination it enables, is a violation of the FIFA bid requirements, and cannot be tolerated.”

Jamel El Amrani, from the Junior Chamber International Morocco, said the criminalisation of homosexuality should be a non-issue: “Organizing a World Cup is mainly about infrastructure, being passionate about football, and the ability to organize a safe World Cup. We have our laws and we have our values and maybe FIFA also ha[s] theirs… We may have some differences, but we just need to have the ability to respect the differences and to be tolerant.”

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