It used to really annoy me, whenever I flew out of Saudi, many would head for the bathroom after take off, out their local attire and don Western clothes and then hit the whisky and anything else they could get down their neck. Hypocrites indeed.
A pound to a pinch of dogshit that after the games, they'll drag out a few examples to demonstrate the success of this farce in improving the situation in Qatar, which after a few months out of the spotlight, will drift back to exactly as it was before the farce arrived and the hypocrites got richer.
I think if it were down to the football many countries would have boycotted, unfortunately Qatar is a key political partner of the west so I’m sure there is a lot of pressure not to offend them from the top. Wouldn’t it be great if teams took to the pitch and refused to play. Or all the big nations purposefully lost.
Doesn't that just point to the fact that their lifestyle is forced upon them by the brutal regimes they exist under?There are probably masses of Muslims in parts of the World who don't want to live the way they do,under the religion they do,but isn't apostasy punishable by death in some branches of the Islamic faith? This flies in the face of the teachings of the Quran,which clearly states there should be 'no compulsion in religion' but in some of the more extreme countries they carry out the most brutal of punishments for anyone stepping out of line. This isn't a political or religious statement,I'm commenting on an awful situation that exists in the modern World we live in.
And this clown is in charge of the beautiful game for a further period. You have to read it all, not just the headline, to see how deluded he is, especially the bit about them setting Europe an example on how to improve the lives of people by offering jobs to migrant workers. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/s...cs-World-Cup-hosts-Qatar-shameful-speech.html
Erm not really that close. Doha is much more closely aligned to Iran and more recently China. Not to mention both Hamas and the Taliban whom they support. It wasn't that long ago Saudi, UAE and Bahrain (who are close to the west) cut all diplomatic ties with them over their political shenanigans. I agree though it should NEVER have been given to Qatar. I read this morning that due to bad press around paying fans they've now withdrew the stipend payments they'd promised "fans" with large social media followings who they were paying to attend and make positive posts. Many of them are already there. It has to go down as the most ill conceived World Cup ever.
Loved their statement on that. They are withdrawing those payments due to the erroneous misinformation in the media that they were paying people to attend. Though their flights, accommodation and match tickets will still be paid for. Orwell would have been proud of that one. Withdrawing a payment they weren’t paying because people erroneously reported they were, but still offering all the other free bits.
Well they let us base our troops there and have a lot of oil. Maybe it would have been more accurate to say our governments like to bend over backwards to appease them. Either way, I’m sure there’s quite heavy political pressure on football associations to treat it like any other World Cup, just behave and get it over with. Southgate’s carefully worded support of it is telling, he’s obviously got his tongue tied.
He had no issue backing BLM and kneeling (which I never had an issue with to begin with). Nor did the players. Silent as a mouse pissing on cotton when it comes to Qatari human rights abuses. Hypocrites, the lot of them, the FA included.
Not exactly silent... “I think I’m quite clear on the areas of concern about this tournament,” he said. “The building of the stadiums was the first, and there’s nothing we can do about that now. They’re built. There are obviously ongoing concerns about the rights of workers and the conditions they live in and those areas. It seems universally accepted that’s better than it was, but not in the position where people think it could be. And maybe policies that have been put in place are not always enforced as they might be. “Then there are the issues that potentially threaten our fans when they travel: the rights of women and the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in particular. Sadly, through discussions that I’ve had, I don’t think some of those communities are going to go and that’s a great shame. “We stand for inclusivity as a team – that’s been the big driver of a lot of the stances we’ve taken in the last couple of years – and it would be horrible to think some of our fans feel they can’t go because they feel threatened or they’re worried about their safety. So there needs to be some clarity and some better communication that they are going to be safe, because they’re not feeling that.” “I’m not sure that just wearing a T-shirt makes a difference,” he said. “I don’t totally know what we can do in every aspect. I think we have to be realistic about what that might be. There are some things we’re not going to be able to affect. Maybe there are some things we can affect; if we can and we think they’re worthwhile, we’ll try to do that. Without a doubt, one of the priorities in my mind is our own fans and how they’re going to be dealt with in particular. “Despite contradictory reports we are in regular contact with the NGOs. There are lots of conversations with organisations like Amnesty, so it’s not correct when they say discussions aren’t taking place. We’re trying to do the best we can. We’re going to get criticism here whatever happens. It won’t be deemed enough but we have always tried to affect things in the right way.”
I can’t believe he thinks it’s a ‘shame’ LGBT people aren’t going to go. My husband and I would never voluntarily go to a country where our relationship is illegal. I don’t understand how Infantino can be surprised that people won’t go to a place where they would face state enforced prejudice. This is a really good article about how LGBT people in the Middle East feel about the issues coming down from the top: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-63663845#chameleon-global-navigation-more-menu As for the comments about migrant workers. ‘The stadiums are built now’. What a terrible attitude. So now we sweep anything bad that happens under the carpet if it’s uncomfortable and causes difficult decisions? i was starting to get a twinge of World Cup excitement but I think his latest comments have made me lose all interest. Disgraceful.
Jurgen Klopp made a lot of sense to me. “Don’t put Gareth Southgate constantly in a situation where he has to talk about everything,” said the German. “He has an opinion but he’s not a politician - I’m not a politician. He’s a manager of England - so let him do that. “If you want to write about something else then do it - but by yourself without asking us so that it’s ‘Klopp said’ or ‘Southgate said.’ As if that would change anything. You more than I let it happen 12 years ago." I agree, take Southgate to task for playing nine at the back, not getting out of the group stage. Applaud him for astute tactics, demand a lordship for us winning the thing, But keep him and the team a million miles from everything that is not happening on the pitch. The powers that be should have said some rude words, along with No, twelve years ago. As Chaz said, turning up in a plane called rainbow, armbands, pissy gestures. Not going to change a thing. ps be interesting to watch Blatter ask for the cash filled envelopes back to repay Budweiser their 73 million sponsorship.
Yes Gareth, it is a shame. As in, a shameful indictment against the country of Qatar; it's rulers, laws and practices; FIFAs appalling corruption and greed; the mealy mouthed appeasement of our own FA and it's officials and the money grabbing hypocrisy of the likes of Beckham, Neville and Lineker. The only group who deserve to be free from criticism here is the players. None of this is there fault. They are not responsible for where they are told to ply their trade. If they individually refused to play then that could jeopardize their careers and livelihoods. If they all refused to play en masse however... That would be some statement.
I don't think I entirely agree with this. My preference would have been for a boycott, however I do think if you are going to go ahead, statements like this will make some small difference. LGBT Qataris will be aware of it, and even if its some small comfort of support thats a good thing. It might create stronger networks in the country. It could also lead to a backlash when the attention leaves the country, and that is something the world needs to watch.
Interesting that the Virgin plane arrived decked out like that but the Virgin crew were told they couldn’t choose to wear what they wanted according to which gender they are self identifying as, something they brought in recently. A spokesman said that although this would be allowed on UK, US and Israeli flights it was not appropriate (appropriate - the weasel cop out word to justify anything). Good to hear these three countries are not the oppressive, authoritarian places some claim.