Football - , it's just that the world's about to end.

[BigFatCoward]

21 minutes ago, The Sunland Lord said:

They banned serving alcohol during games. Two days before the start. 

Unless you are in the corporate areas. 

[baxus]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

They are my dark horse. I've had £5 e/w @ 66/1. If they get out of the group, they could go deeeeeep.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Football is not among the sports we do well at in major competitions. We've had some really great teams over the years and every single time we'd crash and burn.

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

I'm going to watch.

Not only because a TV boycott is utterly pointless. I love the World Cup. Ever since since 1978. And I'm not going to miss this one just because FIFA are a bunch of corrupt bastards.

I doubt there are many football fans who don't love the World Cup, but something about this World Cup just feels off. World Cup taking place in late autumn will mean the whole ritual of watching matches will be different - you can't watch matches outside with your friends, cold beer will not feel as good as it does in June-July etc. And every time I think of something like that I'll remember that the reason for that is that a bunch of assholes paid off another bunch of assholes a huge amount of money and it will annoy the hell out of me.

I wouldn't call it a boycott for me, it's more that all the controversy (understatement of the year) has sapped my enthusiasm.

[Tywin et al.]

2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Unless you are in the corporate areas. 

So just tell them you're not a businessman, you're a business, man?

 

[BigFatCoward]

Eto had been at the sherry, predicted a Cameroon win v Morocco in the final.  And Qatar knocking out England in the last 16. 

[The Sunland Lord]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

Eto had been at the sherry, predicted a Cameroon win v Morocco in the final.  And Qatar knocking out England in the last 16. 

Maybe he thinks the Qatari bribed their way all to the quarter finals? 

[The Sunland Lord]

I watched the first 25 minutes of Ronaldo's interview.

It's unprofessional in the sense that he is the club's employee, but aren't his complaints the same as those some of their fans are raising for years now? Unambitious board in the sporting sense of the word, outdated facilities, etc.

Now it seems like the issues he raised are irrelevant because he is an employee that is being unprofessional. Good for their owners I guess. 

[Consigliere]

Repeating what United fans have been saying for years doesn't give him any credibility when he also goes on to insult Rangnick, Ten Hag and Rooney, claims that he's being forced out of the club since last season, claims that he's been betrayed, etc. His own actions say otherwise as he has attempted to undermine the manager at every turn - fucking off to Portugal without permission under Rangnick, skipping preseason while his agent shopped him around all over Europe, leaving the stadium while the match was still in progress against Rayo Vallecano and Spurs, refusing to be included in the squad against Fulham when Ten Hag told him Martial would be starting the game by claiming to be ill. The fact that he reached out to that rancid cunt Piers Morgan to do this interview should tell you everything about his intentions - he does not give a fuck about the club, the infrastructure or the Glazers. Only the deluded fanboys think he does.

[MercenaryChef]

football without beer is nothing. 

I'm guessing we are gonna see a lot of supporters getting arrested. I'm not sure how fifa could have fucked up worse than handing this event to qatar. i mean, maybe iran, but that would be a hard one to pull off. 

[Corvinus85]

Looking back at the list of bidders for the 2022 WC, besides Qatar there were USA, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. So 3 former hosts among the bidders with proven infrastructure.

Australia would also have been a first for the World Cup in terms of global region. I blame the AFL for Australia not getting it.  

[Tywin et al.]

53 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Repeating what United fans have been saying for years doesn't give him any credibility when he also goes on to insult Rangnick, Ten Hag and Rooney, claims that he's being forced out of the club since last season, claims that he's been betrayed, etc. His own actions say otherwise as he has attempted to undermine the manager at every turn - fucking off to Portugal without permission under Rangnick, skipping preseason while his agent shopped him around all over Europe, leaving the stadium while the match was still in progress against Rayo Vallecano and Spurs, refusing to be included in the squad against Fulham when Ten Hag told him Martial would be starting the game by claiming to be ill. The fact that he reached out to that rancid cunt Piers Morgan to do this interview should tell you everything about his intentions - he does not give a fuck about the club, the infrastructure or the Glazers. Only the deluded fanboys think he does.

Why should anyone give a fuck about the Glazers? Like seriously, this is not the sports ownership family you should point to and say, "They're doing it the 'right' way."

And look, I get it, CR has done himself no favors and deserves this public dragging, but at the same time from a leadership perspective if you have a valuable employee and things aren't working out, just let them go and figure out how financially you don't have to eat everything they're contractually owed. It's best for everyone. Sometimes a break up is what's needed and just do it as cleanly as possible.

Then again I did break off an engagement thinking I was doing what was best for both of us hoping we could still be friends and...her parents and family overall still liked me. Not so much her or her friends, lol. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

7 hours ago, Spockydog said:

I'm going to watch.

Not only because a TV boycott is utterly pointless. I love the World Cup. Ever since since 1978. And I'm not going to miss this one just because FIFA are a bunch of corrupt bastards.

Do as you please. I'll avoid the tournament best I can (my dad will probably have it on tv, when I visit him, which will be all I'll see from the tournaments).

Wil it make a difference? No. But I still want no part of that abomination. The only thing I care about regarding this tournament is, the return of Jackson Irvine without any injuries. 

[Tywin et al.]

2 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Do as you please. I'll avoid the tournament best I can (my dad will probably have it on tv, when I visit him, which will be all I'll see from the tournaments).

Wil it make a difference? No. But I still want no part of that abomination. 

But will you still watch anything associated with FIFA afterwards?

Call me cynical, but these protests won't lead to anything and most of you will be right back on that narcotic. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

21 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

But will you still watch anything associated with FIFA afterwards?

Call me cynical, but these protests won't lead to anything and most of you will be right back on that narcotic. 

I care very little for International matches tbh. I picked my club, not my country. So I am not really emotionally invested in how they fare. If you ever catch me flag waving at a Germany game like a brain dead zombie, please put me out of my misery. You are American, you have guns; aim for the head.

[Tywin et al.]

11 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I care very little for International matches tbh. I picked my club, not my country. So I am not really emotionally invested in how they fare. If you ever catch me flag waving at a Germany game like a brain dead zombie, please put me out of my misery. You are American, you have guns; aim for the head.

Still to this day one of the funniest things ever said to me was on day two, I believe, of my summer abroad in Buenos Aires. Touring the city either the bus driver or tour director pointed out all the flags because the 2010 WC was about to start and said we should feel at home seeing that.

But all the same, you're still investing in the same product if you're watching and contributing to your club in Germany unless it's independent of FIFA. I think the head of the NFL is an idiot, most of the owners range somewhere between horrible and feed them to the sharks, my team's owners are slum lords and yet...we're 8-1, go Vikings. 

Not everything has to be a complete moral decision. If it was we wouldn't be able to communicate because we'd never use our laptops and phones, by and large. There's no way to be totally moral and ethical and also enjoy capitalism. It is what it is.

[Padraig]

29 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I care very little for International matches tbh. I picked my club, not my country.

I have the opposite reaction.  I grew up supporting a club but as the winners of these leagues became more and more determined by who had the wealthiest owner, I lost a lot of interest.  I have barely watched any club game over the last 10 years.  I still pay attention to who is winning what but the passion died.  I'm a little sad about that but it is what it is.

The international scene still held some magic to me. There are still obvious issues but at least countries couldn't be so nakedly bought.  And every 4 years, there would be a glorious party.  It seemed admirable that a lot of the world would be captivated for a month by a mere game, instead of the usual conflict.

I'm very ambivalent about this tournament though.  Sadly, it's not even a once-off as next time we have a 48 team, 3 team per group monstrosity.  Money is having its baleful influence but in a different way to the club scene.

[Rorshach]

What I notice for me is that my interest in Bryne FK is growing when money infests top level football. 

Sure, I do follow PL (and I have posts here to prove that), but for engagement these days I notice the less money, the better. And I'm considering if I should start cutting PL watching too. Will be hard given I've suffered with Everton for near 40 years now (well, I've experienced wins too, but I was young at the time..). 

But yeah, dissolving FIFA would be a neccesary, though not sufficient, condition to correct football.

[Raja]

There are totally legit reasons for not being excited for this WC, but the stadiums not serving beer is so far down the list of them. Imo I think that's totally fine.

[polishgenius]

Yeah, I don't think people would have been getting this outraged if Brazil had kept their own beer ban in place in 2014.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Isn't it just Miller's, so no real beer anyway. 

I agree, FIFA will not be brought down by pressure from the grassroots, but sponsors turning on them, that's a different story.

[BigFatCoward]

I have no problem with the beer ban in principle. I have a problem with it last minute, the same as changing the date.

If their pitch had been 'winter world cup with no beers' they wouldn't have won the bidding, no matter how many bribes were paid.