Sincerely, Saskia

Let me preface this by saying this is rant was born out of being forced to care about a sport that is and has been so inherently problematic that I wouldn’t usually give it the time of the day. However, on this occasion, I couldn’t not say something.

I understand there are certain events that unite a country. Whether it’s the Olympics, Eurovision (when they’re not being boycotted) or the World Cup, as much as I actually don’t care for any of these events, I appreciate the passion and community that comes with cheering on your country on a world stage.

What I don’t appreciate is how The Three Lions, who are world-renowned under performers, have managed to make it to Sunday’s final and everyone suddenly has to stop what they are doing and give a sh*t. Like, what?

As a frequent Wireless Festival attendee and someone who couldn’t care less about ‘the beautiful game’, you can imagine my rage when it was announced that Wireless would be ending three hours early to accommodate the fact that some people might want to rush home (to the pub) and catch the match.

It’s such an overt display of sexism that it’s like they aren’t even trying to hide it.

If you wish to waste the ticket you probably spent around £100 on, leave early and go and watch the football, then that is 100% your prerogative. But why suddenly no one attending has a choice but to throw away the money they spent for the sake of a team that is notorious for losing at such events is beyond me.

As annoyed as I am, when the news was announced my actual first thought was about the Lionesses. I know I don’t follow football but I don’t remember them receiving this kind of treatment when it was their time to take centre stage and show everyone what England had to offer outside of the usual disappointment. I don’t remember shops closing early, festivals being postponed, staff getting special perks all in the name of supporting the team. Do you?

Cast your mind back to 2022, The Lionesses had won the Euros and proven themselves as a force to be reckoned with. They then nearly ‘brought it home’ for England once more in the Women’s World Cup in 2023, the closest England has got to winning the World Cup in decades – considering the boys can’t seem to get their head out of 1966 – and how did the country repay them?

Goalkeeper Mary Earps’ jersey wasn’t available to buy meaning her family and friends had to wear those of her teammates, no bonus agreement was reached before they headed to the World Cup and the Royals didn’t even bother to make an appearance at their World Cup final.

Football on TNT Sports  – an account you would think actually knew what they were talking about – tweeted a picture of Gary Southgate with the caption: “The only England manager to reach two major international finals”. Thankfully Beth Meade MBE was watching and replied: “hmm, beg to differ” capturing the attention of media outlets who were able to immortalise the blatant snub.

Yeah so, TNT, would you like to talk about how you completely eradicated the existence of Sarina Wiegman, manager of the Lionesses who led them to Euros victory and notable World Cup success? Did you forget about Sarina because The Lionesses clearly don’t have the support of the country in the same way the men’s team do even when they are objectively better?

The men have been nothing but mediocre this whole season, and yet, there’s already talks about bank holidays, supermarkets closing early… forget any plans you had this Sunday as they’ll be completely shot to sh*t for the disruption this final is about to cause.

It’s such an overt display of sexism that it’s like they aren’t even trying to hide it. Imagine being the victors of such a world-renowned tournament and getting a mere pat on the back in comparison to the upcoming parade being put on for your male counterparts. Even if I could get onboard with the disruption for the sake of uniting people in a genuinely wholesome way, I can’t help but hope they lose because, quite frankly, England don’t deserve a win when this level of disrespect is on display for everyone to see.

Let us not forget the feral racial hatred Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford received the last time the men attended the Euros because they missed their penalty shots. How much do you want to bet it’s the same fans who called them “monkeys” — and who knows what else — now praising Saka and the other Black player’s performance this time around for the goals they scored.

With sexism and racism, discrimination and outright double standards going unchecked for the world to see, I hope it doesn’t come home. In fact, keep it as far away from home as possible and maybe then they’ll reconsider the ill-treatment of the Lionesses and put some actual respect on their names.