The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

  By James M. Dorsey To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click  here. A podcast version is available on Soundcloud,   Itunes ,  Spotify ,  Spreaker , and   Podbean. Qatar 2022 put the myth of a separation of sports and politics to bed. Like in Qatar, human, worker, and LGBT rights are likely to be left, right, and centre as other Gulf and North African states move centre stage as hosts of and bidders for some of the world’s foremost mega-sporting events, the 2030 World Cup and the 2036 Olympics, and major Asian tournaments, including the Asian Cup and the Asian Games. For FIFA, upholding the fiction of a separation of sports and politics will increasingly be perceived as a farce. At the same time, the world soccer body’s decisions on what protests are legitimate during a World Cup, like in Qatar (LGBT, yes, Iran conditionally) , will be seen as political. The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco in February and...

  By James M. Dorsey Please click here to watch a video version of this story on YouTub e . A podcast version is available on Soundcloud,  Itunes ,  Spotify ,  Spreaker , and   Podbean. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s far-right, Jewish nationalist, ultra-conservative coalition government threatens to put the Jewish state on a collision course with Diaspora Jewry and could weaken or undermine a pillar of Israeli national security: unquestioned US support. The looming crisis with two of Israel’s crucial constituencies, the United States and Diaspora Jewry, stems from Mr. Netanyahu's embrace of the far-right and willingness to sidestep the rise of anti-Semitism among Christian nationalists and Evangelicals , two groups that constitute the mainstay of US grassroots support for Israel. The Israel that was Details, leaked to Israeli media, of the coalition agreement between Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party and five ultra-nationalist and ultra-co...