Russia "annexs'" Ukranian territory by using masked Military personnel disguised as 'Militia".They intimidate and physically abuse any objectors. It attacks Military and Naval bases, imprisons Ukranian Officers, and shoots dead Ukranian soldiers. It organises an illegal referendum, according to the United Nations Charter of which it holds permanent membership, and the Veto. It uses North Koreans to oversee the voting process is fair, then signs everything off as a done deal, all in a week. The free World at least tries to minimise the impact and punish Russia as much as can be done without full scale escalation to war. What does the Swiss, neutral based FIFA do ??? Absolutely sweet f**k all except to confirm Russia will hold the 2018 World Cup as perviously stated. Time all football fans demand that Russia is expelled from all competitions and the 2018 WC rights are cancelled. Fans came together for Hillsborough, but what about the thousands now imprisoned and worse, by Russia ?? FIFA and the hideous, corrupt, debauched Septic Bladder are not fit to run a marbles game.
Saying that, I personally wouldnt give two ****s if ALL international football ended FOREVER. But thats just me.
Early days yet CP! I don't doubt as the days roll on, there will be all sorts of painful repercussions imposed! As for me there will no more caviar eaten in my house until they withdraw!
'What does the Swiss, neutral based FIFA do?' . If they are a politically neutral organisation, surely it is their right, nay, their obligation to refrain from espousing a political view? And not quite sure what you're referring to by the 'free world'. For example, I am of the firm belief that the Seppos are just as bad the Russians.
Great theory, except FIFA already has !! It did announce the 2 "former" Ukranian teams playing in the Crimea competition can continue to be part of the Ukranian comp till seasons end, but next year will be Russian !!!! Not much doubt which side puts the butter on FIFAs' bread is there ????? There's that theory gone .
FIFA are not and never have been politically neutral.They pretend to be by headquartering in Switzerland, but are Politically aligned with whoever pays them the most.eg South Africa, Brazil, Kuwait and Russia in that order. If you don't know the definition of the "free world", perhaps you could look it up ?? I can assure you Russia and North Korea are not there.
There is no "Free World". Western ideology of a free world maybe, but until the money is evenly distributed there never will be.
When you and I can write what we have on here ,and not go to gaol for it, then I consider I'm in the free world.
I meant free as in not having to pay for it. Oh wait a bit, No mate money corrupts everything, we live in a free society yet are continually robbed, lied to, and basically butt ****ed by the people we entrusted to represent us, when in fact they do not. So free world means so much more to some than to others, if to you being able to say what you want on an internet forum is free, then ok, but just look at it from an honest persons position, and you will find it very disturbing. I do not have the time or inclination to list all of the fears I have for my grandchildren.
You've got that wrong, these teams can only move if the Ukrainian football federation and the Russian Federation both agree to it and only then will FIFA and UEFA make a decision on whether to allow it. If you think this is FIFA making a political statement then you must also think that they made a huge political statement for my local team Derry City FC who are based in Northern Ireland but play in the Republic of Ireland.
How can you automatically presume that the Crimean declaration of independence had no validity - or that the referendum was invalid simply because there were armed men on the streets at the time. Are you forgetting how the west recognized Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence almost immediately, because it suited us to do so - so why should the Crimea's declaration not also be legal ? The 'free' elections in Iraq are presumably also invalid because the U.S. military were there at the time. If the declaration of independence, and referendum, were genuine wishes to free themselves from a new Ukrainian government which had gained power by non democratic means, and which showed signs of either turning to Facism or turning the Ukraine into a new NATO base. If the Russians had turned a blind eye to the calls of their ethnic majority in the Ukraine then the Ukrainians would have moved in to subdue that majority and 'punish' the so called offenders, which would have caused much more bloodshed. As it was we saw a nearly bloodless takeover.
How to interpret history in one easy lesson and at the same time read the mind of the Ukranian Government !! As it happens ,I wasn't in Kosovo. I WAS in Iraq during the elections, also in Namibia ,Cambodia and South Africa when Nelson Mandela got elected. Not directly involved or politically aligned, but there nevertheless as a credentialed observer. You would be amazed if I told you which of the above elections were rigged. Which one had people queuing up all over the country, in half a kilometre lines to vote ,when all the voting papers were locked in guarded trucks in the Police stations. Which one had guerrillas "visit " villages before the elections with "suggestions " as to why they shouldn't vote. Which one had masked armed militia standing next to ballot boxes monitoring which way people voted. Now tell me again about the validity of the Crimea vote !!! I didn't say Russia is alone in this, but don't try and patronise me about its' validity, I've seen too many dead bodies. And if you think Crimea was bloodless..... just wait. Anyway, my point is FIFA should not get in bed with only the top payers, they have a duty to all fans to conduct their business honestly, and they simply don't. We've seen how Russia does Olympic games, summer and winter. South Africa was the worst world cup ever, Brazil is a shambles and Kuwaiit, don't even get me started.
Russia's Sports minister enjoys the "solid friendship" of Septic Bladder on at least one of FIFAs' boards. Fifa and Eufa have agreed that the Crimean clubs complete this season in the Ukraine, but have already had talks with the Russian FA during a World Cup meeting, about next season. Which way do you think they will go ??? As for Derry, hardly a huge statement, but if FIFA was involved, follow the money.
Fifa will not force anything if all parties involved don't want this to happen. They need the Clubs involved, the Ukrainian fa and the Russian fa to all be on board before they will allow any club to play in a different country. If they all want this then I don't see a problem.
Glad you don't see a problem. Wish I had as high an opinion of FIFA as you obviously do. My dealings with them have shown them to be duplicitous, unable to keep their word and totally untrustworthy. Their record suggests the highest bidder gets the bacon, the most worthwhile gets the chop. That's not their claimed remit, but it is how they operate. Crimea will be no different.
It is not FIFA's job to police Russia and Ukraine. Jesus, Football is political enough already and "un-neutral enough" already. Leave the interfering to Bush and Cameron
The point I was trying to make was that your presumption (which is the dominant pesumption here in the west) was that Russia has illegally invaded the sovereign territory of another country - a 'crime' which needs to be punished. The question is - when is a unilateral declaration of independence legal ? I think if you look at precedents, both past and present, you may find that there are no binding International laws on this. Was it not the case that the U.S.A. and a number of other ex colonial states began their histories with a 'unilateral declaration of independence' ? I quoted Kosovo as being a more recent example of this. The fact that this declaration was followed by a referendum carried out against a background of nationalist fervour is maybe regretable - but how could it have been otherwise. I also have doubts about a referendum which shows a 93 % positive result - but don't forget that the government in the Ukraine told it's supporters to boycot this referendum and so the one sided result cannot be laid on Russia's doorstep. I'm sorry but if the declaration was legal (legality here being defined not by non existent International law but by acceptance or non acceptance of the International community) then the subsequent Russian annexation and occupation were also justified. As I stated before - the alternative would have been civil war as the Ukraine tried to reassert it's authority over a Russian majority there. From the Russian perspective it had to be done (and it had to be done quickly and without unnecessary loss of blood) and it has been. I also was against the awarding of the World Cup to Russia and to Qatar, but for other reasons - I also do not think that International sport can ever be free of politics. Quite simply because nations themselves are political entities, and the minute you have national anthems played before matches etc. then you have to do with politics. you could say that a condition of entry for International sport is that every nation is prepared to play against every other competing nation - but where does that leave Israel who, for political reasons, play all of their qualification matches in European groups, thus avoiding matches against their near neighbours.
On one hand you want FIFA to keep out of politics and on the other hand you are annoyed when they keep out of politics. <scratchheadsmiley>
