Sports
Federal Triangles to host IGLFA 2022 World Championships
D.C. event slated for June 7-12
The Federal Triangles Soccer Club will host the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) 2022 Outdoor World Championships from June 7-12 in Washington, D.C. It has been 13 years since the club previously hosted the event.
The discussion to host began for the Federal Triangles when they were competing at the 2018 Paris Gay Games with the initial intent to bid on the 2021 IGLFA tournament. The pandemic ended those plans as international tournaments were canceled through 2021.
The 2022 tournament was expected to be held in conjunction with the 2022 Hong Kong Gay Games, but the IGLFA pulled out two months before the Hong Kong postponement was announced due to lack of feedback on the playing fields.
“We restarted the bid committee and put everything back together with the same framework,” says Craig Williams, tournament chair. “The only change was re-envisioning the event for a post-pandemic world.”
The IGLFA selected D.C. for a 7v7 championship and Sydney was awarded an 11v11 championship to be held in February of 2023.
In an effort to drum up support for the event, bid committee members traveled to local soccer tournaments across the country and the Federal Triangles also competed at the IGLFA 2022 Indoor World Championships in Las Vegas this past January.
“We listened to what players were saying and shortened the tournament to four days,” Williams says. “We also adopted a 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. playing schedule, which will allow players to complete any remote work tasks before heading to the fields.”
The venue for bracket play is The Fields at RFK Campus and there will be D1, D2, D3, and Master’s (over-40) divisions for both all-gender and women’s teams. More than 300 players are expected to compete in the event.
The championship matches for all divisions will be held at Garrison Elementary School on June 11 from 1-6 p.m., just one block off the Capital Pride parade route.
Players from the tournament will be attending social events at locations around the District from June 7-12 and non-players are welcome to purchase guest passes for all of the events. There will be a beer garden onsite for fans during the bracket play at the RFK fields.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the IGLFA, there will be a diversity and inclusion panel at Pitchers/ALOHO on June 9.
“We hope that the atmosphere we are creating encourages anyone in the community to come out and watch some soccer,” says Williams. “All of the Federal Triangles are looking forward to welcoming old friends and new friends, great soccer matches, and celebrating Pride.”
Information for volunteers, fans and non-players can be found on the tournament website.
Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.
Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”
Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.
FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”
Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.
“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”
“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.
“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.
The Baltimore Orioles will take on the Washington Nationals on Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. for Pride Night at Oriole Park.
The first 15,000 fans will receive an exclusive Pride Night Orioles jersey. The Washington Blade is a media sponsor of this event.
To purchase tickets, visit Orioles.com/Tickets.
Sports
Minor league team in York, Pa., forfeits Pride Night game after some players refuse to wear special jersey
City is roughly 20 miles north of Md. border
An independent minor league baseball team says it is forfeiting a game because some of its players refused to wear a special Pride Night jersey.
The Atlantic League Pro Baseball’s York Revolution were planning to hold their 11th annual Pride Night event Thursday for a game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
But the Revolution announced the day of the game that it wouldn’t be played. York is about 20 miles north of the Maryland line. The Blue Crabs play in Waldorf.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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