Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Yemeni Armed Forces: The blockade on the Port of Haifa comes following the successful imposition of the siege on the Port of Umm al-Rashrash, which has since ceased operations
Yemeni Armed Forces: The Port of Haifa is now officially part of our target bank
Yemeni Armed Forces calls on companies with ships currently in the Port of Haifa or en route to it to take into account the contents of the statement and any forthcoming announcements
Yemeni Armed Forces: The imposition of a blockade on the Port of Haifa comes in response to the enemy’s escalation of its brutal aggression against Gaza and the continued siege and starvation
Yemeni Armed Forces: Our decisions and operations against the occupying entity will not cease until the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade on it is lifted
Yemeni Armed Forces: We have decided to begin enforcing a naval blockade on the Port of Haifa, which is now among our list of designated targets
The Israeli occupation has released the child Mohammad, the son of martyr Ahmad Sarhan, whom it abducted earlier today from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, but his mother remains in detention
UK, France, and Canada in a joint statement: The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law
Leaders of UK, France, and Canada warn that their countries would take action if "Israel" does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions
Putin says Trump in conversation expressed his position on cessation of hostilities in Ukraine

What about Yemen? Palestine? Arabs denounce sports 'double standards'

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 25 Mar 2022 22:48
4 Min Read

The sports world was mobilized following the war in Ukraine but maintains silence over the war on non-Western countries.

  • x
  • A
    A "No War" sign with the colors of Ukraine, lifted during an English Premier League match

Russia's special military operation in Ukraine has drawn unprecedented sanctions that caused its ban from most international sports.

For many Arabs, who have seen their own sportsmen and women punished for refusing to compete with Israeli athletes, the exception made for the war in Ukraine exposes double standards.

Solidarity with #Ukraine is being shown across stadiums worldwide, breaking the sports no-politics doctrine.
On the other hand, athletes and football clubs were fined and even punished for showing support for #Palestine.
Who's politicizing the matter? #Russia pic.twitter.com/GVZ6Sxjyfl

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 28, 2022

Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Egyptian squash champion Ali Farag had recently said this month that "nobody should be happy about what's going on."

"We've never been allowed to speak about politics in sports but all of a sudden now it's allowed," he highlighted.

"Now that it's allowed, I hope that people also look at oppression everywhere in the world," he pointed out.

The Egyptian athlete underscored that "the Palestinians have been going through that for the past 74 years but I guess because it doesn't fit the narrative of the media of the West, we couldn't talk about it." 

Wholesale bans on Russia, unprecedented support for Ukraine

Days after the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, football governing bodies FIFA and UEFA swiftly suspended Russia from all international competitions. Similarly, Formula One suspended its contract with Russia, barring it from hosting its Grand Prix in Sochi.

However, the bans on Russia coincided with unprecedented support for Ukraine. The blue and yellow colors of its national flag were displayed at all English Premier League matches on the first weekend of March in a show of solidarity.

#Formula1 drivers have been posing for pictures in front of the #Ukrainian flags while wearing "No War" t-shirts and choosing to ignore one fact: The ongoing #Saudi-led coalition war on #Yemen. #StandWithYemen pic.twitter.com/XQcQtoZD08

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 22, 2022

Related News

'Israel' retrieves executed spy Eli Cohen's belongings from Syria

Alawite Council rejects Syria’s Transitional Justice Commission

What about Yemen? Syria? Libya?

"International sports associations, including FIFA, have banned any political or religious expression on the sports field," said James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.

"What they have done now is they effectively have lifted that for Ukraine. There is Palestine of course, but what about Yemen? Syria? Libya?" he wondered.

FIFA exceptions

In the past, sports governing bodies have tolerated some exceptions to the general ban on making political statements, but they have all been short-lived.

During the Israeli occupation's war on the Gaza Strip last May, England's Football Association announced that players would not be punished for raising the Palestinian or Israeli occupation flags.

But in November, FIFA fined the Scottish Football Association 10,000 Swiss francs (about $10,700) after Scotland fans booed "Israel's" anthem and raised Palestinian flags during an October match between the two sides.

Later, the head of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, urged FIFA to commit to applying its standards equally.

Talking about double standards, when Algerian judoka Fathi Norine refused to face off against an Israeli athlete at the Tokyo Olympics in July out of solidarity with Palestine, he and his trainer were slammed with a 10-year ban.

Cheaper lives?

In early March, Palestinian midfielder Mohammad Rashid refused to stand with his Indonesian club Persib Bandung when they raised a sign reading "Stop War" at a game.

"I am against any war in any country, but people are dying every day in Palestine and in Syria and Yemen," he said in video remarks published by an Egyptian sports website.

According to Rashid, "When war erupted in a Western country, everyone stood with it, but when people die in Palestine, we are not allowed to show solidarity and are accused of mixing politics and sports."

"It makes us feel like our lives are cheaper than the lives of those in the West," he added.

Politics & sports are inseparable

Senior fellow James Dorsey said keeping politics out of sports was always an impossible goal.

"The idea that politics and sports are separate is fiction. They are Siamese twins inseparably linked at the hip," he considered.

Dorsey pointed out that "the only solution is to acknowledge the relationship."

  • Syria
  • Fethi Nourine
  • Palestine
  • Libya
  • Egypt
  • Russia
  • Formula 1
  • Israel
  • Olympics
  • FIFA
  • Olympic Games
  • English Premier League
  • Yemen
  • Ukraine
  • Scotland
  • Algeria
  • Sochi
  • Premier League
Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

Most Read

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

Gaza and the logic of necropolitics: Sovereignty measured by killing

  • Politics
  • 15 May 2025
Two F-35 jets arrive at it's new operational base Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Hill Air Force Base, in northern Utah. (AP)

F-35 near-misses over Yemen signal new risks for 'Israel': Forbes

  • Politics
  • 14 May 2025
Abu Obaida

Abu Obeida posts shortly after Israeli reports about his assassination

  • Palestine
  • 15 May 2025
YAF say struck 'Israel's' Ben-Gurion Airport with missiles, drones

YAF say struck 'Israel's' Ben Gurion Airport with missiles, drones

  • MENA
  • 18 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Foreign secretary David Lammy leave after attending the annual Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP)
Politics

Labour Minister breaks ranks, blasts government over Gaza

China’s advanced AI may surpass US Efforts: Report
Asia

China’s advanced AI may surpass US efforts: Report

A Boeing 777X is brought on the runway ahead of a display flight, at the Farnborough Air Show fair in Farnborough, England, Tuesday, July 19, 2022 (AP)
US & Canada

Boeing stock rises after Trump secures major Gulf deals

MEPs urge the Commission to act so that all EU citizens can travel to the US without visas©AP Images/European Union-EP
US & Canada

Americans race for EU residency as immigration doors begin to close

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS