The 2022 World Cup is being hosted by Qatar,
a Middle Eastern country with a deep and rich
history of having oil.
And if you've been following the news, you know
that there's been some controversies over Qatar
hosting the World Cup, like, did Qatar offer
bribes to FIFA to be the host?
Did Qatar exploit migrant workers
to build the soccer stadiums?
Are we pronouncing Qatar right?
Is it Qatar or is it "Cutter" or is it "Cut-her"?
And if we mumble it, do you think they'll notice?
All of these are questions.
But one of the biggest controversies that Qatar has
has been the fact that they have
very strict laws prohibiting same-sex relationships.
And these anti-gay policies are causing
some tension on the pitch.
REPORTER: Amid the cheers of World Cup fans,
controversy is simmering.
It's over the host country Qatar and other nations'
treatment of LGBTQ people.
REPORTER: Rainbow imagery, a sudden flashpoint after FIFA
demanded the captains of seven European teams
not wear this armband in support of LGBTQ causes,
insisting the captains wear FIFA-sanctioned bands.
REPORTER: The team captains of several countries
say they will not be wearing the rainbow-colored 1 Love
armbands as they had intended after FIFA
threatened to give players yellow cards just
for doing so.
After receiving two yellow cards, of course,
a player will face a one-match suspension.
Yeah, that's right.
The captains of seven European teams
planned to show their support of the LGBTQ community
by wearing rainbow armbands.
But then, when FIFA threatened them with yellow cards,
they scrapped the idea, which, in my opinion,
shows that you're not the ally you claim to be, right?
You're just like, hey, I support your right
to live free from persecution unless I get a warning
in a game where I kick a ball. Then I'm out.
You gays are on your own.
I'm just saying, that's a yellow card.
I mean-- [laughs]
[applause]
It's like a yellow card.
It's not even like you're out.
Just a warning, and you're like, yeah,
no, [laughs] no, I can't.
I tried.
And, by the way, the rainbow ban has got to be
hard for the referees too.
That's risky.
Because the referees are out there,
and they're like, yellow card!
Red card!
Oh, wait, we just started a rainbow.
No!
Don't take me away!
Oh, a little crazy story as well,
if you happen to be in China watching the World Cup,
you probably are missing some things.
Because on the government TV network,
you'll barely see any footage of the fans at all.
Yeah, because China doesn't want its citizens
to see people from every other country enjoying themselves
without wearing masks.
Yeah, because they're like-- they just don't want them
to know that that's possible.
You know?
And, I mean, it sounds crazy, but it's the same way
Canadian TV censors their footage so it'll never
show fans behaving rudely.
Because then Canadians will be like,
wait, other people are telling others to [bleep] off?
We didn't know we could do that.
Hey!
But maybe my favorite part of the World Cup
is seeing how people from different parts of the world
find ways to yell at each other.
Because, remember, a lot of the teams
have coaches who are not from their country.
You know, like, for instance, Saudi Arabia's coach
is actually French.
He doesn't speak Arabic.
But the Saudi translator doesn't speak French.
So when the coach got mad at the team's performance
in the first half, he had to yell at them in English
so that the translator could yell at them in Arabic.
TRANSLATOR: [speaking arabic]
[laughter]
Oh, wow.
[applause]
Oh.
You see, this is the magic of the World Cup, people,
a French man yelling in English to a group of Saudis
about a British sport.
It's beautiful.
I also wonder if the translator is
augmenting the message so he doesn't lose any friends.
He's just like, you are terrible!
You all suck!
You should be ashamed of yourself-- is what he said.
[laughter]
Because you know me, Mahmoud. I love you guys, eh?
I thought you were great in the first half.
I thought you guys were great.
Now, so far, this World Cup has had a lot of great moments.
You know, Saudi Arabia pulled off a huge upset
over powerhouse Argentina.
Mexico had a heroic penalty save against Poland.
Wales proved to the whole world that they
are a different country than England.
And one of the most exciting moments
was when Japan defeated Germany in an incredible match.
But my favorite part of that game
was what the Japanese fans did after it.
REPORTER: When Japan beat Germany,
fans were ecstatic, right?
But instead of leaving after the match to celebrate,
hundreds of Japanese fans stayed in the stadium
and picked up the trash that other fans left behind.
Pictures on social media show the Japanese fans threading
their way through the seats, making sure the stadium
was tidy before leaving.
Some online comments calling them
the best guests in the world.
Wow, that is amazing.
Unfortunately, all of those Japanese fans
were arrested because the Qatari
police deemed the act of tidying up,
quote, "kind of gay."
[laughter]
Now I'm not going to lie.
This is one of the most amazing things to see.
And you see it at every World Cup.
It'll be Japan. It'll be South Korea.
And I think it's a valuable lesson to all of us.
If you are throwing a party, make sure you invite
Japanese fans to your house.
Because then you don't have to clean up.
And if you ask me, though, this is a huge flex
from the Japanese fans.
Everyone's like, oh, it's so humble.
No, it's a flex.
What is a more baller move than beating somebody, and then
cleaning up after them?
Yeah.
Like, here, oh, let me take out your trash.
Oh.
Oh, did you drop this?
Did you drop this? Oh, yeah.
No, no, no. We'll clean up.
You guys can go and figure out how to play soccer.
Yeah, we'll just do that.