At the World Cup, journalist Alex Scott challenges Qatar and Fifa wearing the "One Love" armband.

A former footballer turned sports consultant for the BBC, Alex Scott didn’t hesitate to do what our own French team players won’t do: wear the One Love anti-discrimination armband during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Covers the World Cup in Qatar for the BBCbut does more than many players on the pitch. Alex Scott’s name went around the world this Monday 21 November and for good reason: while a few hours earlier, several selections including that of England, had finally retreated and given up wearing the famous anti-discrimination armband after Fifa’s threats, the English consultant decided to proudly wear it on the air during the England-Iran match.

At the World Cup, journalist Alex Scott challenges Qatar and Fifa wearing the “One Love” armband.

The signal is strong: Alex Scott is a black woman, and although she has never explicitly mentioned her sexual orientation, she has been in a relationship with her former teammate Kelly Smith for some time. It is therefore affected in many respects by discrimination. She too asked herself questions before coming to Qatar to cover the World Cup and in the end she made the choice to participate precisely in the hope of being able to address human rights issues: ” I love my job and when I think about sitting here and having more complex conversations, that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? Let’s talk about migrant workers, let’s talk about the LGBT+ community, let’s talk about women’s rights. »

A busy start to the Mondial

It wasn’t the only strong gesture of this match, which ended with a great victory for England with 6 goals against 2: the Iranian team remained silent during the broadcast of their anthem. Faces impassive and dignified to protest the deadly crackdown in their country since the death of Mahsa Amini. In a press conference after the match, Iran’s team captain Ehsan Hajsafi offered his condolences to the families of the victims and openly criticized the situation in Iran.

So, sport is not yet political, Emmanuel Macron? In any case, we will not expect anything else from our French team given the revelations ofStop on the pictures yesterday about Captain Hugo Lloris who said in an interview that homophobic chanting and insults are part of the “folklore” soccer.