Qatar, Riyadh and the dark side of Sport

Chelski up for sale, and Roman selling all his British assets I hear.
And contrary to the blather about proper process, I think he'll be gone in a week like he never existed.
Somebody in our Government seems to be protecting RA at least temporarily, buying him a little time.
I don't know if they are doing that to protect Chelsea FC, but it doesn't smell right.

I've been doing some simple maths regarding the £1.5bn Chelski owes Abramovich.
If you divide that sum by 20 (years) I believe it averages out at £75 million per year.

Does that mean that any new Chelsea owner must be prepared to lose £75 million per year in order to maintain CFC in the style to which it has become accustomed?
That doesn't seem very likely Comrades.

 

Apparently he’s writing off the loans ? Be good to see Chelski “ normalised ! “ I hope they fuking struggle ! Welcome to the real world glory hunters

 

Yes, the fact that Chelsea's £1.5 billion debt has just been written off is beyond galling.

Has a Club ever in the history of football been allowed to squander such a fortune and just get away with it? Not in this country.
I don't want to see CFC cease to exist. They are part of our English football heritage.
But I cannot see how they can now remain a force in the Premier League, or maybe even remain in the top flight.
However, stranger things have happened.

I heard on the telly that Chelsea fans at the Luton game were singing "We've won it all", to which the Luton fans replied "You've bought it all".
Never was a truer chant chanted.

 

Now at last the IPC grows a pair and makes the right choice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/disability-sport/60599739

Perhaps they realised the Games would be shattered by refusal of many other athletes to compete if the Russians & Belarussians were allowed in behind a 'neutral' figleaf.
The IPC itself has admitted the situation in the Athletes' Village was untenable.

Well done all the Athletes who were having none of it You should be proud of yourselves.

 

Comedy Gold

Harry Kane being asked about LGBTQ+ fans not being welcome in Qatar
(not to female & Jewish fans).
Poor Harry didn't have much to say.
Asked if the tournament should be there in the first place, he burbled nonsensically for fully five minutes, when a simple "no" would have sufficed.

Sportswashing - Gareth & England are bought and paid for

 

Criminal behaviour by some disgraceful 'fans' yesterday.

Broken glass being left (thrown?) in the goal mouth area at the Rangers v Celtic match during half time.

Utterly despicable.
Goes beyond even coin & bottle throwing in my view.
The injuries that could have been caused don't bear thinking about.

Pure hatred and malice.
It poisons what should be a great sporting event.
Time for real high-definition CCTV to identifuy the culprits and ban them for life.

 

You can't beat an Ugly Sisters match for sheer unadulterated hatred. I've only ever been at one, that was enough.

 

Anything to say about this Mr Southgate?

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61018432

No. I thought not.

Protesting and taking the moral high ground is so easy where no sacrifice at all is required (taking the knee).
As is criticizing fans who don't embrace the gesture that has been rendered worthless by being so watered down.

But when there is a price to pay for speaking up - the loss of revenue and prestige if England boycotts Qatar 2022 & possible sanctions from FIFA - the silence from Southgate and the FA is deafening.

I find Southgate's endless moralising, then evasions over Qatar 2022, a combination that is utterly stomach-turning.

 

It's hardly new though, the slave labour from migrant workers, and thousands of deaths has been known for years, and the world's football authorities turned a blind eye. This W/C is severely tarnished, and I won't be too unhappy if Ukraine knock Scotland out in June. I don't even know if I'll watch it.

 

You're right, the bad treatment of workers and high death rates have been going on for decades in that whole region.
They went on here too, until the Labour movement began to force changes around a century ago.
And even today, our treatment of migrant workers in the UK leaves much to be desired.

We can't expect the Middle East to change overnight.
But we (FIFA) could have given the World Cup Finals to a country where workers' rights are protected.
But no. Corruption was the order of the day.

 

Australia would have done a brilliant W/C. No country is better at staging sporting events (Sorry Boris).

 

Genuinely a bit sad that Russia have withdrawn their appeal against being slung out of the World Cup. They would have been a great addition to a world cup being hosted in a country with such an outstanding record on Human Rights, and it also would have given football fans there the chance to show their appreciation of a country that employs rape and slaughter of civilians as part of their de-nazification of a peaceful neighbour. Who knows, FIFA could even grow a pair and intersperse football highlights going back to Moscow with pictures of some of the elderly people shot in the head with their hands tied behind their backs for the people of Russia to enjoy.
Personally I love the world cup, and under other circumstances I'd be happy to watch every match. Not going to happen though. The idea of having people die to build the stadiums is way to far for me - FIFA knew this was a bad place to take football but they did in anyway. As Lardi said, the Aussies could have done a great job and killed no one, but presumably their level of bribes was insufficient.

 

An EFL report on gambling and football has been trashed by an MP;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61033156

The report is said to be flawed and misleading.
Who funds the EFL?
SkyBet

 

And who funds SkyBet? Elfs!

 

I knew Elfs had a dark side

 

Welsh LGBTQ+ fans believe it is not safe for them to travel to Qatar

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61712221

They are 100% right.
The Qatari regime does not want them. They aren't welcome and they would be liable to prosecution in that country.
That position alone should have disqualified Qatar as a host nation.

Isn't the World Cup Finals supposed to be something that all and any football fans can enjoy?
Not just ones who conform to the laws of the country that is hosting it.
A country where your gender and your religion (never mind your sexual orientation) puts you on the wrong side of some laws.

English LGBTQ+ fans will also not be welcome in Qatar.
I wonder what Saint Gareth has to say about that? - probably nothing at all.
He sees no evil, hears no evil.

 

£150 million for Dustin Johnson just to play in the LIV Golf tournament - before he hits a ball.
And I hear Tiger Woods turned down £400 million just to appear.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/61718753

Those sums of money are just obscene.
There is no way they can be interpreted as being beneficial to the sport of Golf.

 

Systemic physical and emotional abuse of British gymnasts...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/gymnastics/61834703

This isn't China or the Soviet Union.
Pushing children to breaking point like this is totally unacceptable.
And it illustrates that the very top level of elite sport is now a meat grinder which destroys individual people's bodies and minds.
This has gone too far.

Gold medals are not worth this amount of anguish.

 

Apparently Charlton Athletic could be getting as much as £2million if Newcastle United buy Nick Pope.

In my opinion that is Saudi blood money.
If I was Thomas Sandgaard I'd give it to charities working to promote human rights in that region. And maybe some to the family of that journalist they murdered in their Embassy.
Guess it's fortunate that I'm not Sandgaard.

 

Newcastle United's 3rd kit for season 2022-23

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61962841

Rather similar to the Saudi national kit.
Scrubs up nicely too, after a spot of sportswashing