The World Cup Squads and Preamble; And it's ... Live!!

chicagohammer

Thanks for that, you just enable me to feel better about myself, just a little :-)

Bazshuayi

Well, for me, the good old English way entails we can all despise it with a passion once England start doing badly/go out.

Hamstew

Declan is talking from the England camp at 13:30 today. On YouTube etc..

OutcastLondoner

The problem with football is so much deeper than Qatar as well. No one’s blinking an eye about half the league doing their winter camps in the UAE, which is just as bad on almost every front and with a much worse foreign policy record in Yemen.

There’s a thin line into crossing into whatabouttery but the use of football as propaganda won’t end after the final.

Deanscaleshammer

Football also has a huge inclusion and diversity issue which seems to remain largely unaddressed.

IronHerb

Deanscaleshammer said:

Football Society also has a huge inclusion and diversity issue which seems to remain largely unaddressed.

Fixed it for ya.

Kuchinghammer

IronHerb said:

Deanscaleshammer said:

Football Society also has a huge inclusion and diversity issue which seems to remain largely unaddressed.

Fixed it for ya.

I shall not address that comment 😉

alderz

“Santa says let’s play the Christmas tree formation” has to be one of the best song lyrics of all time.

Ravel49

The Christmas pud / 🏆 did it for me 🤣

MrsGrey

Ding dong merrily on Sky

Love the whole thing 🤩

MrsGrey

Except...

... NOW IT'S IN MY HEAD!!!

... Aargh.

buffybegood

Could FIFA have made a bigger pigs ear of this WC? Alcohol now not available in stadiums, changed at 2 days notice. I bet major sponsor Budweiser is thrilled:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63674631

Ravel49

MrsGrey said:

Ding dong merrily on Sky

Love the whole thing 🤩

‘What a cracker of a game…England are giving them a real good stuffing…Ding dong merrily on Sky…oh no it’s not on Sky…it has to be on terrestrial doesn’t it…for legal reasons’ 🤣

MrsGrey

buffybegood said:

Could FIFA have made a bigger pigs ear of this WC? Alcohol now not available in stadiums, changed at 2 days notice. I bet major sponsor Budweiser is thrilled:

More U-turns than a Truss government.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/18/fans-paid-to-attend-world-cup-by-qatar-have-daily-allowance-cancelled

IronHerb

MrsGrey said:

buffybegood said:

Could FIFA have made a bigger pigs ear of this WC? Alcohol now not available in stadiums, changed at 2 days notice. I bet major sponsor Budweiser is thrilled:

More U-turns than a Truss government.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/18/fans-paid-to-attend-world-cup-by-qatar-have-daily-allowance-cancelled

Actually anyone receiving money to good mouth this World Cup shouldn't be allowed anywhere near it.

MrsGrey

I take your point, and agree, of course Herb.

I was just pointing out that another promise/ commitment is being dumped at the last minute.

What's next?

Fortuneseeker

buffybegood said:

Could FIFA have made a bigger pigs ear of this WC? Alcohol now not available in stadiums, changed at 2 days notice. I bet major sponsor Budweiser is thrilled:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63674631

Isn’t it more like pressure being applied by the Qatar Royal Family? Typical get the tournament & then move the goalposts.

buffybegood

Fortuneseeker said:

buffybegood said:

Could FIFA have made a bigger pigs ear of this WC? Alcohol now not available in stadiums, changed at 2 days notice. I bet major sponsor Budweiser is thrilled:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63674631

Isn’t it more like pressure being applied by the Qatar Royal Family? Typical get the tournament & then move the goalposts.

But this had all been agreed, extremely poor. As soon as they couldn't deliver a summer World Cup the whole thing should have been re-tendered imo; they aren't delivering what they promised so it should have been done again. After all, there were still 7 or 8 years to go at that point, weren't there (change to a winter tournament was made 2014 or 2015, wasn't it)?

Both FIFA and Qatar will be looked on far worse for this World Cup, whatever happens. I suspect most people knew little about Qatar before all this, now most people have nothing but negative opinons of them regardless of what now happens on the pitches.

Fortuneseeker

buffy, I was actually in agreement with you. 👍

buffybegood

Fortuneseeker said:

buffy, I was actually in agreement with you. 👍

Yeah I know, I just needed another rant 😂🤣😂

MrsGrey

For me, I can understand that it's an east
v west ( or Muslim v secular) culture clash. So those who aren't big fans of alcohol ( for religious, or other, reasons) might not be all that keen on alcohol sales in the match venues

But , here's the thing, just like abortion...
If you don't want to participate, you don't have to. Feel free to not drink alcohol.

But let other folks who want to make a different choice get on with it.

chicagohammer

I learned and have managed to control the anger I felt when it was first awarded to Qatar, the corruption was just so blatant, brazen and in your face, I recall a comedian saying that he truly hoped that corruption was behind the award, as that is the only thing that made any sense whatsoever.

The trouble is, I can feel that anger building inside of me again.

This is a game that I love, played it competitively into my thirties, have actively supported a club into my sixties and this is just so very wrong on every single angle.

But I will still watch it - I KNOW!

IronHerb

MrsGrey said:

I take your point, and agree, of course Herb.
I was just pointing out that another promise/ commitment is being dumped at the last minute.
What's next?

👍

This is the third change insisted upon by Qatar since being awarded (buying) the World Cup. it was originally set to be a summer event but was then changed to a winter event at Qatars demand. The opening game was meant to be on Monday but then changed to Sunday with Qatar playing at Qatars demand and now the alcohol change.
Infantino insists that the countries should focus on the football and not the politics but surely FIFA should have concentrated on the signed contracts and not the brown envelopes.

Slacker

As an aside, someone on a radio phone-in the other day came up with a great idea to stop this farce happening again.As part of the criteria for submitting a bid to host the men’s World Cup any country must also host the women’s.
As usual the simplest ideas are usually the best.

Ravel49

T minus 1
First up
Qatar vs Ecuador
Ecuador with 3 Brighton players and former Hammers hitman Enner Valencia 💪🏿

buffybegood

Slacker said:

As an aside, someone on a radio phone-in the other day came up with a great idea to stop this farce happening again.As part of the criteria for submitting a bid to host the men’s World Cup any country must also host the women’s.
As usual the simplest ideas are usually the best.

I think, after this farce, that the criteria that the host nation has to meet to be considered will have to be changed if they haven't been already (and no, I don't mean the size of the brown envelopes 😂🤣😂).

Fortuneseeker

buffy, You can just see the promotional video when the bidding process starts. "We will offer the travelling supporters the full football experience apart from if you expect to drink alcohol and are from the LGBTQ community".

IronHerb

Trouble is that most countries would not be able to meet the criteria.

Slacker

Slacker said:

As an aside, someone on a radio phone-in the other day came up with a great idea to stop this farce happening again.As part of the criteria for submitting a bid to host the men’s World Cup any country must also host the women’s.
As usual the simplest ideas are usually the best.

Colin Murray just said much the same but added that a bidding country would also stage a gay pride celebration.

That’d sort the philistines from the righteous.

thornburyiron

Slacker that would also be a gift to Qatar to have all the LGBTQ community in one place at the same time. Doubt you’d see them again.
Already a gay Qatari has said that it’s all well and good countries trying to make a stand with rainbow armbands etc but their lives will be made a misery when the World Cup is over as the country will want to rid itself of the western influences.