With the World Cup due to start at the end of this week, there have, rightly, been many discussions around the country, and indeed around the world, on the morality of staging the biggest competition in football in Qatar.

At Dulwich Hamlet, we always do our utmost to promote inclusivity and to do what we believe to be the right thing. We have had plenty of discussions on whether we would open up the club to show World Cup matches, and after much deliberation, we have decided that we will show each of the England matches in our clubhouse during the competition, and donate to charities through various means.

Those wishing to watch England at Champion Hill can pay £10 to book a table for six for the games, with the club splitting all booking fees between two charities. One of these is Give Out, an LGBTQI community foundation who provide grants to LGBTQI organisations around the world to allow them to help campaign against inequality and push for lasting changes. They are currently focussing on supporting LGBTQI communities within North Africa and the Middle East during the first World Cup to be held in this part of the world.

The other charity is Human Rights Watch. They investigate, expose, report on and seek change to abuses and crises from across the globe, with the Qatar World Cup no exception. They have published a 42-page ‘Reporters Guide’ which summarises their concerns about the World Cup, and includes features on migrant worker rights, women’s rights, LGBTQI rights and freedom of expression and press freedom in the country.

The club, of course, will also be making a donation to both charities. Should anyone wish to watch the matches but do not require a table, entry is free, but we will have QR codes around the bar linked to the charities, and we ask you to provide donations if you are able.

Courtesy of the Supporters’ Trust, the club have also been signed up to This Fan Girl’s World Cup Pub Charter, which ensures female fans wishing to watch games can feel safe in doing so at the club. This is because the Charter ensures that their pub spaces are open to all fans, understand and acknowledge lived experiences of watching football as female fans, and help to break down the toxic football culture.

If you wish to book a table for yourself and family/friends for any of the three group games, these can be found under the Events tab on the men's Fanbase page. The doors will open an hour before kick off for each of the games, times can be found below. One ticket books you a table for up to six people.

Monday 21st November - England vs Iran - 1pm KO, doors open from 12pm
Friday 25th November - England vs USA - 7pm KO, doors open from 6pm
Tuesday 29th November - Wales vs England - 7pm KO, doors open from 6pm

Iran booking link: https://bit.ly/3hOsJtf
USA booking link: https://bit.ly/3UQ5RrT
Wales booking link: https://bit.ly/3XdcBBE

GiveOut WC link: https://giveout.org/lgbtqi-mena-appeal-world-cup-2022

Human Rights Watch Reporters Guide: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2022/11/202211mena_qatar_worldcup_reportersguide_2.pdf