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On September 19, the Cumbre Vieja, a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, erupted. Since then, it's been a daily spectacle of plumes of black smoke and lava spewing in the air and destroying everything on its path down to the Atlantic shore, with some 6,000 locals forced to evacuate
With this autumn's dramatic images, all of Spain has been volcano-obsessed, and Madrid-based daily La Rázon pointed out to its readers last week that inside a (non-active!) volcano in Mexico, there is ... would you believe ... the El 'Teoca' soccer pitch.
We've explored, and found examples of places around the world where the love of soccer has prompted locals to carve a field into whatever natural surroundings were there first — defying the elements and offering breathtaking views.
We've found 10 from Iceland to Japan to Brazil, and beyond. Take the tour below:
El ‘Teoca’, Santa Cecilia Tepetlapa, Mexico
El 'Teoca', the field of the gods in Mexico
source: Google Earth
Teoca means 'place where the gods live,' and it is found right in the middle of an extinct volcano crater. You don't have to be a pro to play with the gods on this pitch located in the southern borough of Mexico City of Xochimilco, as both amateurs and professionals train and play on this field, rising 2,435 meters above sea level.
The floor is lava! Well, was, actually. This football pitch, located in the only human settlement in the Westman Islands archipelago, was built on a soil once covered in lava from the eruption of the Eldfell volcano in 1973. The volcano is actually still active and less than a mile away from the field. This doesn't stop the ÍBV club (Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja) from holding their matches here.
Despite being a small fishing village of 500 inhabitants, located in the Lofoten archipelago, Henningsvær has one of the most famously beautiful football pitches in the world. Offering a spectacular backdrop of sea and fjords, it has no stands but rocks.
Shell Football Pitch, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Player-powered Shell Football Pitch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -
PaveGen/Gen
Football can be a dirty game when it comes to energy consumption. This field instead is tapping into the players' very own kinetic energy thanks to PaveGen energy-capturing tiles placed under the artificial turf. They thus provide electricity to the spotlights around the pitch.
Jánošovka Stadium, Slovakia
A train going through the Jánošovka Stadium in Slovakia
Forget about your Vuvuzela! To cheer the players of TJ Tatran Čierny Balog, the local amateur club, trains will provide the right amount of whistles and steam as they pass slowly between the field and the supporters.
If soccer players want to be at the top of their game, they can try being on the top of a building. Located in the heart of Tokyo's busy district Shibuya, on the rooftop of the Tokyu Department Store, this outdoor futsal park is open day and night, for school children to professional players and offers a great panoramic view. One might argue futsal court is not a football pitch. Yet, this one was built as an introduction to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted by both Japan and South Korea.
If you're looking for some peace and quiet with your soccer, this is your place. Located 20 minutes outside the bustle of Moscow, right in the middle of the Meshchersky forest park, playing or watching a game can be followed by time on hiking trails and ski tracks. The pitch is open 24/7.
Like the Eiffel Tower, this football pitch is a good example of a temporary construction that was so popular it became permanent. This impressive floating platform is fixed to the seabed by six pylons while the stands sit separately on the shore.
It was designed in 2007 for the Singapore National Team to play while the National Stadium was being built. However, it never held a single match from the team but it has been used for concerts, ceremonies, community events and even otters gathering during COVID.
Yucai High School football pitch, Beijing, China
When Yucai High School was planning to building the soccer pitch, officials asked permission from the city to relocate the 100-year-old tree. No luck. Because of the tree's age, a removal would have been too risky for what is considered a national treasure. The field, instead, was built around it and now it has become the symbol of the institution.
A similar configuration can be found in the Romanian village of Tonciu, reports theIrish Mirror. And in Estonia, in the parish of Orissaare, the 150-year-old oak was even named 2015 European Tree of the Year.
There is a chance that as many footballs ended up in this pitch's goals as they did in the sea. Located between the Norwegian Sea and Lake Niðara Vatn, it is subject to very strong and unpredictable winds that make it difficult to control the ball trajectory.
Nevertheless, it hosted matches of the Faroe Islands national team until recently, despite having very little space for fans to sit, or stand.
On September 19, the Cumbre Vieja, a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma, erupted. Since then, it's been a daily spectacle of plumes of black smoke and lava spewing in the air and destroying everything on its path down to the Atlantic shore, with some 6,000 locals forced to evacuate
With this autumn's dramatic images, all of Spain has been volcano-obsessed, and Madrid-based daily La Rázon pointed out to its readers last week that inside a (non-active!) volcano in Mexico, there is ... would you believe ... the El 'Teoca' soccer pitch.
We've explored, and found examples of places around the world where the love of soccer has prompted locals to carve a field into whatever natural surroundings were there first — defying the elements and offering breathtaking views.
We've found 10 from Iceland to Japan to Brazil, and beyond. Take the tour below:
El ‘Teoca’, Santa Cecilia Tepetlapa, Mexico
El 'Teoca', the field of the gods in Mexico
source: Google Earth
Teoca means 'place where the gods live,' and it is found right in the middle of an extinct volcano crater. You don't have to be a pro to play with the gods on this pitch located in the southern borough of Mexico City of Xochimilco, as both amateurs and professionals train and play on this field, rising 2,435 meters above sea level.
The floor is lava! Well, was, actually. This football pitch, located in the only human settlement in the Westman Islands archipelago, was built on a soil once covered in lava from the eruption of the Eldfell volcano in 1973. The volcano is actually still active and less than a mile away from the field. This doesn't stop the ÍBV club (Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja) from holding their matches here.
Despite being a small fishing village of 500 inhabitants, located in the Lofoten archipelago, Henningsvær has one of the most famously beautiful football pitches in the world. Offering a spectacular backdrop of sea and fjords, it has no stands but rocks.
Shell Football Pitch, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Player-powered Shell Football Pitch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -
PaveGen/Gen
Football can be a dirty game when it comes to energy consumption. This field instead is tapping into the players' very own kinetic energy thanks to PaveGen energy-capturing tiles placed under the artificial turf. They thus provide electricity to the spotlights around the pitch.
Jánošovka Stadium, Slovakia
A train going through the Jánošovka Stadium in Slovakia
Forget about your Vuvuzela! To cheer the players of TJ Tatran Čierny Balog, the local amateur club, trains will provide the right amount of whistles and steam as they pass slowly between the field and the supporters.
If soccer players want to be at the top of their game, they can try being on the top of a building. Located in the heart of Tokyo's busy district Shibuya, on the rooftop of the Tokyu Department Store, this outdoor futsal park is open day and night, for school children to professional players and offers a great panoramic view. One might argue futsal court is not a football pitch. Yet, this one was built as an introduction to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted by both Japan and South Korea.
If you're looking for some peace and quiet with your soccer, this is your place. Located 20 minutes outside the bustle of Moscow, right in the middle of the Meshchersky forest park, playing or watching a game can be followed by time on hiking trails and ski tracks. The pitch is open 24/7.
Like the Eiffel Tower, this football pitch is a good example of a temporary construction that was so popular it became permanent. This impressive floating platform is fixed to the seabed by six pylons while the stands sit separately on the shore.
It was designed in 2007 for the Singapore National Team to play while the National Stadium was being built. However, it never held a single match from the team but it has been used for concerts, ceremonies, community events and even otters gathering during COVID.
Yucai High School football pitch, Beijing, China
When Yucai High School was planning to building the soccer pitch, officials asked permission from the city to relocate the 100-year-old tree. No luck. Because of the tree's age, a removal would have been too risky for what is considered a national treasure. The field, instead, was built around it and now it has become the symbol of the institution.
A similar configuration can be found in the Romanian village of Tonciu, reports theIrish Mirror. And in Estonia, in the parish of Orissaare, the 150-year-old oak was even named 2015 European Tree of the Year.
There is a chance that as many footballs ended up in this pitch's goals as they did in the sea. Located between the Norwegian Sea and Lake Niðara Vatn, it is subject to very strong and unpredictable winds that make it difficult to control the ball trajectory.
Nevertheless, it hosted matches of the Faroe Islands national team until recently, despite having very little space for fans to sit, or stand.
Laura Valentina Cortés, Inès Mermat, Renate Mattar et Hugo Perrin
February 02, 2023
Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!
This week featuring:
Top athletes coming out
Scotland’s trans violence
EU defends inclusive fairytales
… and more
✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.
TW: This content may address topics and include references to violence that some may find distressing.
🇪🇬 In Egypt, Gangs and Police Target LGBTQ+ People Using Dating Apps
The new BBC investigative documentary Queer Egypt Under Attackhas revealed how criminal gangs and Egyptian police officers are using dating apps to target the LGBTQ+ community.
In a two-year-long investigation, journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin uncovered the tactics used to lure, and eventually prosecute, LGBTQ+ people in Egypt, where no explicit law against homosexuality exists, but where queer people are more and more at risk of abuse and extortion.
Gangs meet their potential victims on dating apps, where they pretend to be regular people looking for a date, then rob, beat, and extort their victims for money, usually filming these acts and using them to humiliate the victims. The videos often end up online and get millions of views, or they are directly sent to the victims’ families and friends. The police are using the same methods.
While there is no explicit law against homosexuality in Egypt, the crime of debauchery, which is originally a sex work charge, is commonly used to prosecute the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the witnesses interviewed by Shihab-Eldin also declared that they were promised freedom if they in turn became informants and named some of their peers that had the same “perversions”.
🏈 Change Afoot? Top Athletes Come Out In Basketball, Rugby, Tennis
Daria Kasatkina of Russia during the second round of the 2023 Australian Open Grand Slam
A number of high-profile athletes came out this week, such as former pro Australian basketball player Trevor Torrance. Torrance said that he never considered coming out during his career, which coincided with the peak of the AIDS epidemic. “I suffered from anxiety,” he says. “I know I had moments of bouts of depression.”
Russian Tennis Champion Daria Kasatkina also says that being able to come out was a relief to her. “Living in the closet is impossible. It is too hard, it is pointless,” she stated. Kasatkina has also been a vocal critic of the Kremlin and Russia’s war against Ukraine. She officially came out as queer this past summer, but shared in an interview with the Guardian this week that coming out “helped her” and that she is “happy with the outcome.”
Former New Zealand prop Campbell Johnstone has also come out as the first gay All Black. Johnstone said that he has been “leading a double life” and “living a lie” when he came out on television this Wednesday. His coming out has been praised and regarded as “pretty courageous”, especially by All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea: “He probably doesn’t realize how many people he’s helped internally with what he’s done, so big ups to him.”
🏴 Report Shows Explosion Of Trans Hate Crimes In Scotland In Past 10 Years
Hate crimes committed against trans people in Scotland are rising faster than any other type of hate crime, according to new government statistics published recently, with a 68% increase from 2020–2021 to 2021–2022. Hate crimes targeting the sexual orientation of minorities almost doubled since 2014.
At the center of debates is the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), which allows trans people to be recognized properly on many legal certificates. In the UK, trans people must submit a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before they can obtain one.
In December 2022, Scotland passed legislation that would have removed it to make the process simpler and more accessible. In January, the UK government blocked the reform for women and children protection.
🇮🇳 Delhi Lawyer Denied Judge Position Because Of “Attachment To Gay Rights”
Kirpal, whose appointment as high court judge has been pending for the past five years, is appalled by the matter and claims that the bench is composed of upper caste, heterosexual men – all of whom are biased, which is not a reflection of the society he lives in.
🇱🇹 EU Says “No” To Warning Label On Lithuanian LGBTQ+-Inclusive Fairy Tales
Cover of a children's book containing LGBTQ+ inclusive fairy tales
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that imposing a warning label on a children’s book because it contains LGBTQ+ inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable and violates the right to freedom of expression.
In 2013, the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences published late lesbian writer Neringa Macaté’s book Gintarinė širdis (“Amber Heart”), containing six fairy tales, two of which had storylines about relationships and marriages between persons of the same sex. After it was published, complaints were submitted and the Lithuanian courts agreed that the book could cause harm to children because of the LGBTQ+ inclusive fairy tales
The Inspectorate of Journalistic Ethics concluded that the book has a negative effect on minors and therefore recommended that the book be labeled with a warning that it might be harmful to children under 14 years of age. But in 2019, the author, who passed away in 2020, took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights. On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that imposing a warning label on a children’s book because it contains LGBTQ inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable and violates the right to freedom of expression. The court also ordered Lithuania to pay €17,000 to the author’s mother to cover damages and litigation costs.
🇲🇽 Mexico Police Arbitrarily LGBTQ+ People On Grounds Of “Lack Of Morality And/Or Good Manners
In the State of Mexico, phrases such as "lack of morality" are used by the police to harass, extort and arbitrarily detains LGBTQ+ people in public spaces. The findings are shown in an analysis of the 125 municipal governments of the State.
Ricardo Torres, president of Fuera del Clóset A.C. explained “we have been documenting arbitrary arrests, extortion, and harassment by public servants, especially municipal police, for 10 years… And this is something that not only occurs in the State of Mexico, but throughout the country, which uses the figure of ‘lack of morality’ or ‘exhibitionism’ as the perfect excuse for the detention of LGBT+ people."
🇫🇷 France Mourns Bullied Gay Teenage Teenager Who Committed Suicide
Lucas, a 13-year-old gay boy committed suicide on Jan. 7 in Vosges, France. According to his mother, during a press conference last Monday, he was the victim of harassment in the form of teasing and insults due to his homosexuality. A march in memory of Lucas will be held Sunday, Feb. 5.
On Friday, Jan. 27, public prosecutor Frédéric Nahon announced that four students will be tried in the spring for harassing and pushing Lucas to suicide, He also announced the opening of an “incidental investigation against X for non-disclosure of ill-treatment of minors”. During Monday's press conference, broadcast live by the news channels, Lucas' mother said: "It's not just these four young people, it's not just them [...] But it will be the court that will decide. I just want my son to rest in peace and for justice to be done.”
The news has shaken the country with many institutions being scrutinized. One wrote to the French President: “Mr. Macron, stop saying that primary school is "far too early" to deal with questions of sexual orientation and gender identity.“
🇺🇬 Ugandan LGBTQ+ Rights Activist Margaret Sekaggya Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
The U.S. Mission in Uganda has given activist Margaret Sekaggya the Dorothy Ngalombi Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her outstanding service and achievements as a human rights defender during the U.S. Mission Alumni Impact Awards Ceremony.
Before she founded the Human Rights and Peace Center, of which she is currently the executive director, Sekaggya served as the Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), which she also helped establish. Sekaggya was also the first United Nations special rapporteur for human rights defenders.
Sekaggya is also known for having successfully opposed the 2010 Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda that would have imposed on an offender imprisonment of at least five years, and in the case of a non-governmental organization, the canceling of its certificate of registration and criminal liability for its director.
🇬🇧 London’s Trans Inclusive “Vagina Museum” Gets Eviction Notice – Again
The world’s only vagina museum dedicated to “vaginas, vulvas and the gynecological anatomy” currently located in London, UK, has been yet again asked to vacate the premises, less than a year after it moved into its Bethnal Green site.
The museum’s aim since it opened in Camden Market in 2019 has been to promote queer and trans-inclusive education about anatomy, which has subjected the venue to severe transphobia. After welcoming 40,000 visitors free of charge during the past ten months, the Vagina Museum will be closed to the public from Feb. 1 so it can vacate the premises.
🇺🇸 Utah Bans Gender-Affirming Medical Care
The Republican-dominated state of Utah has become the first U.S. state to ban gender-affirming care for young trans people. The new measure, passed into law on Jan. 28, will include gender surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy for minors that had not been yet diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Utah Governor Spencer Corx affirms that this ban was brought on by a desire for “more and better research” to understand the “consequences” of gender-affirming healthcare. But Brittney Nystrom, executive director of the ACLU of Utah, affirms that this bill “bans access to life-saving medical care for transgender youth in Utah”. Another 18 other states are currently considering similar legislation.
🇳🇱 Dutch Constitution Changed To Ban Sexual Orientation-Based Discrimination
“A disability, or who you fall in love with, should never be a reason to be excluded,” said Habtamu de Hoop, member of the PvdA, a left-wing opposition party in the country.
🇺🇸 Trans Model Laith Ashley Stars As Taylor Swift’s Love Interest In New Music Video
Trans model and actor Laith Ashley is Taylor Swift’s love interest in her new music video. Laith Ashely co-stars as the singer’s love interest in the new music video for “Lavender Haze,” the second single from her 2022 album Midnights. Ashley has previously appeared in campaigns for Barney’s and Diesel, walked the runway for Marco Marco, and was the first out trans member of the “pit crew” on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Swift’s choice of casting for a video she wrote and directed herself has been defined as “a big moment for representation” by Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s director of trans representation Alex Schmider.
