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News, Sport

Scotland Didn’t Make the World Cup – Why I’m Glad

By Zak Williamson

While Scotland fell short of the World Cup this year, they could not have picked a better year to miss out.

While many Scotland fans were upset at our 3-1 defeat to Ukraine back in June, which removed any chance of World Cup qualification, after seeing what Qatar had in store for the competition, I for one am glad we did not get to go.

As weird as it may sound for a lifelong football fan who has followed Scotland for all his days, Scotland not being in Qatar prevents us from being associated with the many, many human rights violations and corruption associated with this year’s tournament.

This year, FIFA has chosen to hold the World Cup, the biggest footballing competition in the world in a country where same-sex relationships are punishable by imprisonment.

What message does this send to football fans who are a part of the LGBTQ community? That they are only welcome to watch the beautiful game when it suits FIFA? That they need to sit this one out?

It completely goes against the messages we have been seeing across the sporting world over the last few years. From players taking the knee in support of Black Lives Matter to showing solidarity with Ukraine throughout their ongoing conflict.

The promotion of kindness and diversity in sport has been a very prevalent theme in football recently and hosting the competition in a place like Qatar that has no respect for these topics is an insult to every fan and player who has dedicated themselves to promoting these principles.

FIFA themselves have exposed exactly where their priorities lie in this situation, asking the 32 competing teams to not speak out in protest and ‘focus on the football’, even going as far as to book players who wear the LGBTQ Pride armbands on the pitch.

To add salt to the wound, FIFA cannot provide any form of defence for why teams and fans should not protest the Qatari treatment of LGBTQ people. When questioned about this, among other things, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said this:

‘I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.’

So Infantino believes that due to past transgressions, the people of the world should not strive to be better and should instead say nothing when it comes to injustice. This is exactly the kind of morally bankrupt response to be expected from the man whose organisation chose to host its flagship competition in a place where people cannot express themselves freely.

Questions also have to be asked of the players involved, with many accepting the ban of the armbands in fear of being booked and missing a game. It could be argued that the best showing if solidarity would be for the players to wear the armbands and take the bookings.

This may be unfair to say as it may actively go against their self-interests as unfortunately for most players, football will always come first.

To FIFA and its officials, it is clear that the whole thing is about money. In April 2020, a report from the NY Times revealed that sources from within the US Department of Justice were claiming that FIFA officials were bribed by officials from both Russia and Qatar in order to secure their World Cup bids for 2018 and 2022.

There have also been various reports emerging of worker deaths while working on the new stadiums built specifically for the World Cup. While the official reports say 40, news outlets such as the Guardian believe that this number could be much higher, even in the thousands.

Unfortunately, the Qatari Government have been unwilling to share details regarding this, meaning that people are being left to speculate precisely what the human cost of this World Cup actually is.

There have been reports that Qatar has spent over $220 billion in World Cup infrastructure in order to make it the biggest, most expensive tournament in history. Some of this money no doubt going to the hired fans being used to create the illusion of an atmosphere amongst the questionable living conditions supporters are being forced to endure.

What is undoubtedly a massive financial win for FIFA and Qatar is a loss for football and the world as a whole.

While it may sound like the bitter ramblings of a disgruntled fan, Scotland should be relieved that we do not need to partake in this farce of a World Cup.

We can only hope that the 2026 World Cup is a different story, although with the USA being one of the host nations, there will undoubtedly be more problems down the line.

News, Sport

Stevie Ray loses PFL Final

By Zak Williamson

Scottish MMA fighter Stevie Ray narrowly missed out on big money after losing in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) final last weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Ray faced Canadian fighter Olivier Aubin-Mercier for the organisation’s Lightweight Title, which guaranteed the winner a life changing $1 million prize.

This was one of six championship bouts on the night, taking place in front of a sell-out crowd.

It was a close opening round in which neither man was able to gain a foothold, both looked tentative and did not want to give anything away with so much on the line.

However, it was the Scot who gained the advantage in the second round, utilising his world class grappling to take his opponent’s back, almost submitting him.

Unfortunately for Braveheart, Aubin-Mercier survived the onslaught, getting back to his feet and delivering a vicious right hook to win by knockout with just seconds left in the round.

The result of the fight comes as a shock after Ray’s recent performances in the PFL, beating former UFC Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis twice on his way to the final.

The Scot gave his opinion about the fight on social media, offering his respect to his opponent and reflecting positively on his experience:

‘The fact I was told 3 years ago I was injured and wouldn’t/shouldn’t fight again, and I made it to the @pflmma finals. I’m proud of also beating a former world champion twice.’

It is unclear whether Ray will return to the PFL in its next season, after coming so close to the title.

His opponent has expressed interest in returning to the PFL, despite considering retirement in the lead up to the fight, claiming that he would like to take the PFL to his hometown of Quebec.

Mercier also trains with former UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St Pierre who is largely considered as one of the greatest combat athletes of all time.

While it is unfortunate that Stevie Ray could not push on and bring the million-dollar prize back to Scotland, the Fife native can still be proud of what he has achieved in his new organisation.

After being forced to retire from competition in 2021 with a 7-4 record in the UFC, few would have imagined that we would see the Scottish fighter compete again, let alone in a million-dollar championship bout.

Stevie Ray has become somewhat of a trailblazer with his run in the PFL, showing other Scottish fighters what they can achieve on the world stage if they put in the work.