Perry's Tracksuit Bottoms
King of Sussex
I personally am very relieved that sport had nothing to do with politics until this happened.
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[Albion] Albion going to Dubai
- Thread starter Swansman
- Start date
I'd be very surprised if the Swan gets that reference.
- Thread starter
- #43
I've heard of it before
Official Old Man
Uckfield Seagull
With hotel rooms at a premium in Qatar, many fans are staying in Dubai with extra flights being laid on for them. Can you imagine a fan walking down the street suddenly bumping in to 60 EPL footballers.
As for safety, went there with my wife who still says she didn't feel safe not knowing what she could and could not get away with wearing or doing.
As for safety, went there with my wife who still says she didn't feel safe not knowing what she could and could not get away with wearing or doing.
Don't have an issue with them going to Dubai personally, it's permanently packed with Western business people and tourists, not too far away, has great facilities and December is a good time to go weather-wise.
Re the death penalty - technically perhaps, but not practically in the case of Dubai.......no evidence it's ever been used (and execution is hardly used at all - handful of cases in 30 years or so, mostly involving child murderers or terrorists). I know several LGBT+ people in Dubai - just not flaunted perhaps as much as it might be elsewhere (same goes for unmarried hetero couples). I've been told there are even 'gay nights' in bars - they're just not openly advertised as such
GT49er
Well-known member
..... and just leave South Africa happily existing in apartheid? Stopping sports-mad South Africa participating in international sport, particularly rugby and cricket, was an absolute game-changer.
Wokeworrier
Active member
I could do with a bit of winter sun, is it POTG? 
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Ding Dong !
Boy I'm HOT today !
Jeez, some people don't half moan, bet loads on this forum have had a holiday or two in Dubai......are they getting frowned upon too ??
Next people will be saying they won't watch the WC ! It won't change anything though will it.
Next people will be saying they won't watch the WC ! It won't change anything though will it.
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- Thread starter
- #50
Yeah same as in Qatar then.Don't have an issue with them going to Dubai personally, it's permanently packed with Western business people and tourists, not too far away, has great facilities and December is a good time to go weather-wise.
Re the death penalty - technically perhaps, but not practically in the case of Dubai.......no evidence it's ever been used (and execution is hardly used at all - handful of cases in 30 years or so, mostly involving child murderers or terrorists). I know several LGBT+ people in Dubai - just not flaunted perhaps as much as it might be elsewhere (same goes for unmarried hetero couples). I've been told there are even 'gay nights' in bars - they're just not openly advertised as such
A bit of flogging is usually seen as enough to make people a bit less gay the next time the urge creeps in.
Nobby Cybergoat
Well-known member
- Jul 19, 2021
- 7,084
Question - Is there a genuine sporting reason to train in warmer weather?
Presumably if the league matches they will be playing in, will be in cold weather, surely you would want to training to accurately replicate the match environment as much as possible?
Is there a thing about how you're less likely to pick up muscle injuries? It seems a lot of effort to counter this marginal increase in risk.
I don't buy it. I think this is a club jolly. Which I don't especially mind, but surely we should be considering the club brand when embarking on a trip like this.
Presumably if the league matches they will be playing in, will be in cold weather, surely you would want to training to accurately replicate the match environment as much as possible?
Is there a thing about how you're less likely to pick up muscle injuries? It seems a lot of effort to counter this marginal increase in risk.
I don't buy it. I think this is a club jolly. Which I don't especially mind, but surely we should be considering the club brand when embarking on a trip like this.
When was the last time that happened in Dubai ? When was the last time anyone actually got punished simply for being gay ?
Green Cross Code Man
Wunt be druv
Funny the comments for 'leaving politics out of sport '. If that was possible or true, then middle eastern governments wouldn't have bought football clubs.
- Thread starter
- #54
I don't know. Probably a lot of people don't know as following Qatar getting the World Cup in 2010, there seems to be less public punishment for gay people, and more "disappearances" in general, in quite a few of the Gulf countries. Cleaner from the PR perspective I suppose, and also makes it easier for their luxuary tourists to fight their cases so that they can go and enjoy their vacations without qualms.
But yeah indeed it seems very unusual to - officially - get penalised for being homosexual in UAE and Qatar, so maybe the laws are just there for fun. Or maybe they will be enforced in a different manner when this decade-long whitewashing of the region is finished. Time will tell I suppose.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Well, quite. I've lived there for over 16 years. Around a third of the expat women's football team I used to coach were gay or bi.
My regular barber was a gay Filipino. One of the guys in the business networking group I attended married his boyfriend. It's not uncommon.
What's unhelpful is that people tend to lump all of the Middle Eastern countries in together as if they were all the same.
As anyone who's ever spent any time there, they're really not. The likes of Cyprus and Lebanon are a world apart from Yemen and Iran.
Even all the individual emirates in the UAE are very different. Abu Dhabi is very different to Dubai, which is very different to Sharjah.
Changes are being made in the area, albeit at different speeds from country to country.
As an example, rules on unmarried cohabitation have been relaxed in Dubai during the last few years.
The Pride flag was flown over the UK Embassy in Abu Dhabi last summer.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/british-embassy-uae-pride-flag-b1874493.html
As for the UAE, it's only been in existence as a country for 50 years. There's still work to be done, but things are changing.
Considering it took British Parliament and Royalty 60 years to posthumously pardon Alan Turing, let's not be too quick to judge here.
GT49er
Well-known member
Yep, this. Absolutely agree (I've never been there either).
- Apr 5, 2014
- 23,688
I always look up situations using Amnesty or, even better, HRW. Gives an overview of what is actually happening
Qatar: Security Forces Arrest, Abuse LGBT People
Qatar Preventive Security Department forces have arbitrarily arrested lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and subjected them to ill-treatment in detention, Human Rights Watch said today. LGBT people interviewed said that their mistreatment took place as recently as September...
Human Rights Watch documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022I always look up situations using Amnesty or, even better, HRW. Gives an overview of what is actually happening
Qatar: Security Forces Arrest, Abuse LGBT People
Qatar Preventive Security Department forces have arbitrarily arrested lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and subjected them to ill-treatment in detention, Human Rights Watch said today. LGBT people interviewed said that their mistreatment took place as recently as September...www.hrw.org
How does that compare to the Met ?
Seagull58
In the Algarve
They've got a few princesses locked up for wanting to live freely but, to be fair they didn't chop their heads or hands off.
Like Swanny for example
...anyway, agree with all of that. I know of several in our old office that were gay, and it was no secret locally. I've seen gay staff more scared in Switzerland.