Civil Society, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

ARGENTINA: Gay World Cup Tries to Level the Playing Field

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 27 2007 (IPS) - For the first time in its 10-year championship, the gay football World Cup is being held in Latin America, with teams from more than 20 countries hosted by Argentina this week.

“The idea is to give visibility to homosexuality in sports while protesting discrimination. If we have our own championship, it’s because we can’t play anywhere else,” said César Cigliutti, president of the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA), which is hosting the event.

“There have always been and will always be gays in professional football, but they have to hide their sexual preference because the atmosphere is so homophobic and machista that it is unthinkable for a player to go out on the field without being denigrated by the fans’ chants,” he told IPS.

Organised by the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA), which uses the sport to promote respect for the homosexual community, this year’s cup is the 10th annual edition, the first of which was held in Washington, D.C. in 1997.

Until this year, the championship was held in the United States or Europe. This is the first time the host country is in Latin America, a region where tolerance of sexual minorities is less developed in general terms than many countries of the industrialised world, and where there are no cases of openly gay professional footballers.

Walter García, one of the members of the Argentine team, told IPS that more than denouncing discrimination, the gay World Cup is aimed at showing that people can be good athletes regardless of their sexual orientation. “We’re just like anyone else; we like playing football, and we’re good at it,” he said.

García, a forward, has played in Racing, one of Argentina’s top first division clubs. But he left the club, “not because I’m gay, but because I wanted to continue my studies,” he said. If he had continued, he predicted, he would have been playing in Europe like many of his former colleagues.

The championship kicked off Monday in the Parque Sarmiento sports complex, where the Buenos Aires city government built new dressing rooms for the event.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is supporting the championship, providing funding for the Argentine team’s balls and jerseys, and lending referees. The final match on Saturday will be played in the Defensores de Belgrano stadium.

AFA offered the support two weeks ago, after a coach admitted that the players had been using the same jerseys since 1997.

Despite a certain indifference or lack of cooperation on the part of some authorities, the local organisers are pleased with the support they have received, which made it possible to pull the event off without a hitch.

“In the selection of this year’s host city, an important consideration was the strong image of Buenos Aires, which approved same-sex civil unions” in late 2002, said Cigliutti. The statute has helped make the city a gay tourism magnet since it went into effect in 2003.

Travel agencies and tour operators catering to the gay community point out that the Argentine capital is now the favourite Latin American destination for their clients, who in the past preferred Brazil’s two largest cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The number of gay-friendly hotels and night clubs has expanded to meet soaring demand.

Some 300 footballers from more than 20 countries are taking part in the championship, and over 1,000 friends, fans and others have accompanied them to the city. The 28 amateur teams represent cities, not countries, which means several teams from the same country can participate.

Besides the teams from Argentina, groups from countries like Australia, Britain, Canada, Chile, Iceland, Mexico and Uruguay are taking part.

All of the players this year are male. Women signed up, but they decided not to participate this time – although they have in past editions – as there were only enough lesbian footballers to put together three teams.

García plays with Saf Gay (Selección Argentina de Fútbol Gay), one of the four teams representing Argentina in this week’s tournament. His team, one of the favourites for winning the cup, also includes a few top-notch heterosexual players.

García, who works at a bank, blames the discrimination on a lack of education among fans. “If you don’t hide your sexual orientation, fans in the stands can hurl insults at you, but they also shout nasty things to heterosexual players, who just have to put up with it.”