{"id":49679,"date":"2023-07-24T20:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/24\/womens-world-cup-press-conference-cut-short-after-reporters-political-question\/"},"modified":"2023-07-24T20:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T20:10:00","slug":"womens-world-cup-press-conference-cut-short-after-reporters-political-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/24\/womens-world-cup-press-conference-cut-short-after-reporters-political-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s World Cup press conference cut short after reporter\u2019s \u2018political\u2019 question"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A reporter\u2019s question has been decried as \u201cout of line\u201d and \u201cunethical\u201d during a press conference leading into a Women\u2019s World Cup clash between Germany and Morocco. <\/p>\n

With Moroccan captain Ghizlane Chebbak facing media ahead of the North African nation\u2019s historic World Cup debut, one reporter from the BBC World Service asked whether there were gay players in the Moroccan squad. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWe know that gay marriage is illegal (in Morocco), are there any gay players in the team, and what is it like for them,\u201d the reporter asked. <\/p>\n

It came after another question about defender Nouhaila Benzina, who will become the first player to wear a hijab at a senior women\u2019s football tournament, being brushed off by Chebbak. <\/p>\n

Women\u2019s football has historically acted as a safe haven for LGBTQ+ communities and openly embraced queer players in a way that is unique from many male professional codes, but homosexuality remains illegal in Morocco, punishable by up to three to five years imprisonment and a fine of 1,200 dirhams ($184 AUD). <\/p>\n

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Morocco’s captain Ghizlane Chebbak (R) and coach Reynald Pedros (L) ahead of a historic fixture for the North African nation. (Photo by William WEST \/ AFP)<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The question was shut down by a FIFA moderator, reminding media that they were not there to discuss politics, but The Athletic\u2019s Steph Yang said that Moroccan media were \u201caudibly dismayed\u201d at the question. <\/p>\n

Yang slammed the question on social media afterwards, saying that while it was \u201cvital\u201d to talk about the intersection of sport and politics, \u201cwe should take care that our questions don\u2019t cause further harm to those impact by those very politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a harm reduction perspective, this is not an appropriate question for a player and would have endangered the players themselves,\u201d Yang wrote. <\/p>\n

Tasmanian journalist Molly Appleton said the question demonstrated \u201cwhy you need diversity in journalism\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is your answer,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo unethical, harmful questions like this aren\u2019t asked.\u201d <\/p>\n

CBC Sports\u2019 Shireen Ahmed said the reporter was \u201ccompletely out of line\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHarm reduction matters and posing the question to the captain or coach was unnecessary,\u201d Ahmed said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAsking a player about her teammates and whether they are gay and how it affects them when you know it is not permissible is bizarre and out of line. The captain cannot out players nor comment on policy because it could be dangerous for them too. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe question reeks of privilege from a journo who should know better.<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalists have an obligation to be fair, accurate and practice with care. If reporting harms someone, it is not only unethical but dangerous.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
Chebbak (C) is already a footballing icon in Morocco. (Photo by William WEST \/ AFP)<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ESPN\u2019s Marissa Lordanic said: \u201cgenuinely astounding that this needs to be explained, but please don\u2019t ask players questions that will directly put themselves in harm\u2019s way.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chebbak would go on to focus on the historic fixture against Germany, saying that the Atlas Lionesses were \u201cnot here just to make up the numbers, but to compete.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are honoured to be the first Arab country to take part in the Women\u2019s World Cup,\u201d Chebbak said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel that we have to shoulder a big responsibility to show a good image, and to show the achievements that the Moroccan football team has made in terms of progress by qualifying to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great milestone for us and we hope that our match with Germany tomorrow will pave the way for other matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morocco\u2019s debut at this World Cup marks a major milestone, having made the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) final last year in front of over 50,000 fans after a penalty shootout win over Nigeria, having only been formed in their current guise in 2017. <\/p>\n

Having gone from no national competition made up of players mostly from a single club almost two decades after the team\u2019s inception in 1997, to becoming the first nation in the world in 2019 to have two divisions of professional women\u2019s football, the rise of Moroccan women\u2019s football has been rapid. <\/p>\n

The women\u2019s team comes to Australia as football icons on the same level as the men, who sensationally made the semi-finals of the men\u2019s World Cup late last year after upset wins over powerhouses Belgium, Spain and Portugal. <\/p>\n

Benzina will extend her status as an icon across the Muslim world when she steps out against Germany on July 24, and Chebbak, the daughter of a former African men\u2019s champion, can expect to be mobbed by travelling fans. <\/p>\n

Morocco play Germany in their first group stage game at 6.30pm AEST on July 24 in Melbourne, before playing South Korea and Colombia. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reporter\u2019s question has been decried as \u201cout of line\u201d and \u201cunethical\u201d during a press conference leading into a Women\u2019s World Cup clash between Germany and Morocco. With Moroccan captain Ghizlane Chebbak facing media ahead of the North African nation\u2019s historic World Cup debut, one reporter from the BBC World Service asked whether there were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[151,23898,2228,1800,1641,83,1736,23905,3271,23826,6597,23911,1567,1788,1429,23902,11852,23897,23788,23780,23907,23910,23908,862,23904,23909,23900,560,314,23901,2449,1728,18849,23896,493,2588,23906,23899,23903,23787,239,5429,472,240,2457,2902,1465,13309,3150,2674],"class_list":{"0":"post-49679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-african-men","10":"tag-agence-france-presse","11":"tag-america","12":"tag-asia","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","15":"tag-bbc-world-service","16":"tag-belgium","17":"tag-cheating-storm","18":"tag-colombia","19":"tag-conference-cut","20":"tag-eastern-asia","21":"tag-espn-inc","22":"tag-europe","23":"tag-football-icons","24":"tag-football-tournament","25":"tag-gay-players","26":"tag-harm-reduction","27":"tag-harm-reduction-perspective","28":"tag-historic-fixture","29":"tag-journalists-question","30":"tag-male-professional-codes","31":"tag-melbourne","32":"tag-molly-appleton","33":"tag-moroccan-football-team","34":"tag-moroccan-women","35":"tag-morocco","36":"tag-nigeria","37":"tag-north-african-nation","38":"tag-northern-africa","39":"tag-oceania","40":"tag-penalty-shootout-win","41":"tag-players-questions","42":"tag-portugal","43":"tag-press-conference","44":"tag-question-reeks","45":"tag-reporting-harms","46":"tag-reynald-pedros","47":"tag-shireen-ahmed","48":"tag-south-africa","49":"tag-south-america","50":"tag-south-korea","51":"tag-southern-africa","52":"tag-southern-europe","53":"tag-spain","54":"tag-victoria","55":"tag-western-africa-sub-saharan-africa","56":"tag-western-europe","57":"tag-william-west"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}