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The 2022-2023 Football Thread
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Qatar have spent the last decade assuring people that beer would not only be available at the World Cup, but reasonably priced.
Today they banned it in all World stadiums.
Qatar 2022 is a joke, a travesty, an embarrassment. Corrupt from its inception and the textbook case of sports washing. Qatar is not an appropriate venue for global international tournaments.
Today they banned it in all World stadiums.
Qatar 2022 is a joke, a travesty, an embarrassment. Corrupt from its inception and the textbook case of sports washing. Qatar is not an appropriate venue for global international tournaments.
That people believed anything Qatar said was laughable. Its easy to make statements. Its a billion times harder to expect a culture to change overnight.
Watching Cronaldo's downfall is highly amusing, from a footballing point of view.But then I feel sorry for him because he never seems to have truly been happy. Losing a child must be the worst thing to happen to a person, too. So I'm willing to cut him a bit of slack. But before all that, for all his second stint at Utd, he's been pretty useless. There's a video clip of Cavani I think, chasing down a ball Cronaldo just gave up on, from twice as far away. Kind of sums him up these days. Undoubtedly a great player, but his achilles heel has always been his narcissism; it's always been about him. I remember him having a strop in one game, cos another player didn't pass to him yet still scored. International game I think. Rest of the team celebrating, Cronaldo stomps off in a sulk. He's never been a true team player like Messi. In my opinion he's always been overhyped; an excellent player in some excellent teams, but never quite the out and out brilliant game changer like Messi, or indeed many others. Prolific goalscorer cos he's only ever up one end of the field. But when a game's not going so well, he disappears. Seen it so many times in the EPL. Fact is, he's past it, and no longer capable of performing consistently at top level. Yet instead of accepting this and bowing out gracefully, he turns on the very club that made him a star, and destroys his entire legacy there. What a knob. He's now given Utd the perfect reason to sack him, and be rid. No top team is going to take him on now; past it, and a total narcissist prima donna. Not even Ashton United will want him on loan now. Sad.
Agreed.
Actually, I don't see this as a joke, and it is worse than a travesty and embarrassment. Actually, it is outrageous.
Instead, I see it as an example of deliberate bad faith, and a display of utter contempt for supporters, sponsors and for the competition itself. FIFA, of course, have been characteristically craven, and corrupt.
Not only that, but I would expect further examples of bad faith and unilateral decrees, decisions and diktats from the Qatar authorities.
And I would also expect a court action by way of response from Budweiser.
Is there a site where we can donate money? I’m worried he won’t be able to absorb the latest cost of living.
This is part of a emerging global realignment where nations like China, Russia, Iran, and assorted gulf states assert themselves as moral, economic, and strategic alternatives to a ‘decadent’ and perfidious West.
They corruptly acquired this tournament cup and have played FIFA for fools all along (not difficult). They intend to use it as a weapon to assert themselves as more globally relevant in an explicitly anti-western sense.
Good luck over there boys, but I’m not watching.
I actually have no issue with alcohol not being available, it is however absolutely disgusting this has changed days before the start when punters have spent a fortune based on lies.
I agree on both counts. Hope Budweiser sues the he’ll out of them. They can use the money to improve the taste of their beer! 🤢
The beer is not the issue, the issue is the deliberate and long-planned snub to make a political statement. They have corruptly bought this tournament in order to hijack it for purely political purposes.
Every major sponsor should pull out. FIFA deserves to go bankrupt over this.
Agreed.
Well, re alcohol, I do have an issue with it not being available, and not just because its availability at match venues is part of the culture of how European supporters enjoy attending a football game.
And, I have an even greater issue with the fact that Qatar would (more than likely) not have been awarded the World Cup had they not made (supposedly binding) commitments re the availability of alcohol.
For them to go back on this - by way of diktat at such short notice - is not just a (long-planned) snub - as @Lord Blackadder correctly points out, but is also an example of egregious bad faith.
What else will they disavow?
What is their word worth?
Already, their rent-a-crowd groupies (who were promised flights, accommodation, some match tickets and a per diem in return for positive coverage of the World Cup on social media) have received belated word (in a similar, abrupt, belated and rather tardy announcement) that their per diems are to be cancelled, - an announcement made merely two days befoe the tournament is scheduled to commence - calling into question whether some of these people will be able to afford the basic costs of daily living while attending the World Cup in Qatar.
Absolutely; I hope Budweiser (a perfectly dreadful drink, one that is beyond bland...) take them - FIFA (and indeed, Qatar, if that is possible) to the cleaners with a court action.
And I imagine that other sponsors must be feeling rather nervous, as well.
I'm in total agreement with this.
Can't wait to see how Al Jazeera (who have been excellent, on occasion, over the past two decades, in their coverage of a considerable number of international stories) cover this, or, whether they will dare to dream that they will actually be able to cover it, or will be allowed to cover it, with their usual incisive, intelligent, informed, (impartial?) coverage...
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You can venmo me and I'll see it gets to him and I'll make sure the beer is affordable...
Re beer; you can't buy alcohol in stadia in Scotland, Spain, France and Portugal, so...
As for Qatar; the WC has been held in plenty of countries with dubious histories, human rights records etc. The USA being a prime example; serial invader of sovereign countries, and has been responsible for more deaths in the late 20th and this century, than any other nation on Earth. And it's hardly a beacon of democracy and equality, is it? England hosted a WC at a time when its own imperialistic legacy was still in effect. Those in glass houses...
As for Qatar; the WC has been held in plenty of countries with dubious histories, human rights records etc. The USA being a prime example; serial invader of sovereign countries, and has been responsible for more deaths in the late 20th and this century, than any other nation on Earth. And it's hardly a beacon of democracy and equality, is it? England hosted a WC at a time when its own imperialistic legacy was still in effect. Those in glass houses...
Don't know about the other countries (but probably not much different) it is true you can't buy alcohol inside a Portuguese stadium.
But the key word here is inside. You can buy it everywhere else around the stadium. And I mean literally everywhere including supermarkets, general stores, gas stations, vending machines, street food trucks, well you get the picture. Also you can drink it however you want without any brown bags or anything familiar to this site mainly US audience.
A typical football day will always include having a few (or a lot) beers before the match and bifanas (pork sandwich with a particular sauce).
Regarding FIFA's president today speech about hypocrisy a stroll around memory lane.
Beer 'must be sold' at Brazil World Cup, says Fifa
Beer must be sold at all venues hosting matches at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, football's world governing body insists.
www.bbc.com
But as others mentioned the key issue isn't exactly beer and everyone can understand that.
...so what? Should we let everything pass because of that? Whether this behavior is acceptable or not is not solely determined by whether anyone else has anything to apologize for or not. THEY are CHOOSING to do this, and that is on them (and FIFA for their delusional supineness).
Moreover, the question of availability of alcohol in stadia elsewhere in the world is irrelevant; Qatar said one thing and did another thing, and for a nefarious purpose. THAT is the issue. If they deem drinking culturally unacceptable in their stadia that should have been made clear in their bid, and the issue discussed with FIFA. Instead, they lied about their intentions, and did so in a very premeditated and stage-managed way.
Moreover, if we accept that the ills of colonialism included brutality, injustice and corruption, Qatar haven't got a leg to stand on in presenting themselves as an alternative to that heritage. They occupy the same glass house our colonial forebears do in that regard. Lying and clumsy aggression won't get them out of it.
Not at all. Quite the opposite. But the West (particularly the USA) needs to get it's own affairs in order before it is critical of other nations. It's rank hipocrisy to criticise other nations of human rights abuses when you're the biggest murderers on the planet.
I'm not arguing with any of that.
The lied because money. Pure and simple. And now, having got what they wanted, they can do whatever they like in their own country, is the way they'll see it. They've got FIFA over a barrel, so they know that doing what they've done at this late stage, is something nobody can do anything about. Their house; their rules, end of.
Personally, I think anybody who has gone there ignoring the human rights abuses stuff, and is more concerned about not being able to have a beer for a couple of hours, can get in the salty sea. I have no sympathy whatsoever.
Unimpeachable purity is a ludicrous precondition to assigning standing in a debate over ethics, since it has never existed among any of the parties involved. And in any case humanity hasn't got that much time left as it stands. The West can't expect other nations to play by their rules any more than those nations can expect to achieve wealth and power by the (Western/Capitalist/Colonial/Industrial) methods they denounce. They will be blocked, and in any case it is immoral to pursue it.
The idea that we have no right to criticize Qatar is, to put it nicely, incorrect. We have not only a right, but a moral duty to do so, if we wish to protect our core values in the broad sense. So long as the criticisms are genuine.
I'm not sure what you mean in the first sentence - they lied through money, if that's what you mean. This is about converting money into political capital. They bought the world cup, and they intend to use it for their political purposes, not mere financial gain. That is precisely why FIFA were so easily hoodwinked. They are a greedy cabal of charlatans looking to increase their wealth and public profile, but have no political platform as such - but, more importantly, virtually no political intelligence either. Buying them off was laughably simple. Seeing Infantino babble incoherently in response to this fiasco simply reinforces our image of FIFA as a bunch of corrupt, greedy nincompoops.
I couldn't agree more. I could say they've gotten precisely what they deserved, but the reality is they're getting off cheaply. I have zero respect for anyone shilling for this depressing farce.
I'm not saying nobody has the right to criticise Qatar; I just think the moral indignation expressed by many nations is disingenuous and massively hypocritical. Instead of just saying 'oh Qatar bad', we should be also saying 'and we're no angels either, we need to make far more efforts to set a better example to others'. No good criticising other nations for abuses when we're bombing the living daylights out of innocent people, and manufacturing and exporting weapons and giving financial aid to those same nations we criticise!
That doesn't mean individuals and organisations which are not part of that hypocrisy, cannot be critical. But you'll find that such are equally critical of our own regimes too. And that part of the discussion needs to be heard equivocally.
Ultimately, it's all about money. And power, but money brings power. So. Let the games begin!
I was so desperate for some football that had nothing to do with Qatar that I sat through the entirety of Exeter 0-2 Ipswitch. 🤣 Desperate times & etc.
Sure, I think we really agree here. So, Qatar are wrong. No matter how many times we remind ourselves of our own hypocrisy we are still fully justified in saying that. We should be acknowledging and trying to correct our own failings. But that doesn't in any way justify or diminish Qatar's appalling human rights record and their disingenuous manipulation of this sporting tournament.
At the end of the day, I am complaining here because FIFA's ExCon, Russia and Qatar are guilty of ruining the biggest sporting tournament on the planet. We should be able to enjoy this, but no thoughtful person can, fully. Thanks to them.
It isn't , though, that's my point. Power is far more expensive and important than wealth, even if the two are largely inseperable. FIFA are all about money. Qatar are all about power and influence. A match made in Hell.
Sure, I think we really agree here. So, Qatar are wrong. No matter how many times we remind ourselves of our own hypocrisy we are still fully justified in saying that. We should be acknowledging and trying to correct our own failings. But that doesn't in any way justify or diminish Qatar's appalling human rights record and their disingenuous manipulation of this sporting tournament.
At the end of the day, I am complaining here because FIFA's ExCon, Russia and Qatar are guilty of ruining the biggest sporting tournament on the planet. We should be able to enjoy this, but no thoughtful person can, fully. Thanks to them.
It isn't , though, that's my point. Power is far more expensive and important than wealth, even if the two are largely inseperable. FIFA are all about money. Qatar are all about power and influence. A match made in Hell.
Good game was it? I have to admit there was a football shaped hole in my Saturday today.
Not especially. Exeter looked bereft of ideas. Burton v Plymouth seems to have been a reasonably exciting affair.
See the thing is it’s a World Cup and it doesn’t belong to Europeans. Countries shouldn’t be excluded from hosting it because they have different customs to Europeans.
I personally don’t believe things like world cups and Olympics should be considered sports washing they’re owned by the people of the world and celebrated in the manners of the people of the world.
I do think everyone should be welcome and different groups should be able to visit free of any fear of persecution. I also don’t think the stadiums etc should be built without virtual slave labour etc.
Beer though is a total non issue in my opinion. It’s only an issue for me because they decided to ban it 48 hours in advance.
Should have watched the women's game today. Arsenal and United played a very compelling match at the Emirates today, with United sealing a comeback win.
In other news, Karim Benzema got injured in training and will miss out on the World Cup.