Grace Baldwin: The Matildas have earned their place on the Federation Square screen
As Australia’s best performing soccer team, the Matildas deserve to be shown on the big screen at Federation Square — and should not be the ones to pay for anti-social antics.
Opinion
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It is hard to over-estimate the cultural impact of the Matildas.
Even from a self-confessed soccer-hater, watching the Tillies has had an inexplicably profound impact on me.
When our girls won the quarter-final, I sobbed in front of my TV with a huge grin on my face.
When Sam Kerr gave her jersey to a little girl in Brisbane, I burst into tears at the joy on her small face.
When we lost the semi-final, I joined the rest of the nation in genuine sorrow and solidarity.
Women’s sport has never been platformed like this in Australia. Ever.
I cannot begin to describe how deeply, truly satisfying it feels to have professional women’s sport validated by the whole country.
The team has changed the way Australia views female athletes and more broadly, the way we engage with sport.
For the first time ever, a national team lost a match and domestic violence rates did not spike.
There has been a space for everyone in the Matildas celebrations – regardless of whether you know the rules or own a scarf.
So why, then, is the city threatening to take away the Federation Square showing of the Tillies’ final match against Sweden?
It is incomprehensible to even consider pushing women’s sport back into the shadows when we have only just made these gains.
By taking away that which has been uniting perfect strangers, the city’s authorities are devastatingly and forcibly hiding professional women’s sport once again.
Safety, of course, is paramount and needs to be taken seriously.
People need to know they will be safe when watching the game and not at risk of being burned by flares or caught up in tussles of arrogant and self-indulgent teenage boys.
Flare-wielding idiots run the risk of ruining the fun for everyone – but by any means necessary, we cannot let them prevail.
Showing football at Fed Square is a tradition and one that women deserve to be included in.
When huge fights broke out and broken bottles were thrown at the men’s World Cup viewing at Federation Square in 2022, there were no threats to ban showings of the game.
This is a threat that has been saved solely for women’s sport, which is absolutely despicable.
Our wonderful Matildas have fought tooth and nail to get where they are, standing on the shoulders of the female athletes gone before them.
They are marvellous – and damn it, they deserve to be shown on the big screen where we can publicly and communally celebrate them.
Do not take away one of the few things keeping us together in this divisive world.
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Originally published as Grace Baldwin: The Matildas have earned their place on the Federation Square screen
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