Qatar, Riyadh and the dark side of Sport

Blatter & Platini NOT guilty

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62081675

Guess we had them all wrong...

 

"There's not a lot more England players can do than discuss key issues" says Gareth Southgate.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62988523

Yes there is.
They can refuse to go and play in the corrupt Qatar Sportswashing World Cup Finals.

They could do the right thing, and send a message that it is not OK to treat your migrant workforce like slaves, take away their passports and let them die by the hundreds on your building sites. You could send a message that migrant workers' lives matter.

But they don't matter, do they.

So lets wear an armband, and look a bit awkward when journalists ask inconvenient questions.
Hey, that's going to make a big difference.
About as much difference as turning taking the knee from a real act of protest into a safe and trendy gimmick.

Not one country that qualified for the 2022 World Cup Finals has said it won't be going.
And I'm certain that not one country whose team has worn 'protest' shirts or armbands will say one word out of line once they are in Qatar.
They'll be instructed by the likes of Southgate not to rock the boat.

That sends a clear message to all the corrupt dictatorships around the world who abuse human rights and women's rights and minority rights.
Bribing officials to secure a major sporting tournament will get your regime accepted and respected by all the weak-willed nations whose protestations of respect for equality and liberty are worthless.

 

Saudi Arabia has posted its application for the 2030 W/C. It would be another winter one. Let's see if FIFA really has changed.

 

Saudi Arabia is now our friend.
They helped to negotiate the release of our Ukraine POW's.
They will sell us and the rest of Europe oil & gas to replace what is no longer coming from Russia.
They will likely get the 2030 World Cup Finals as a quid pro quo.
Their appalling human rights record will be swept under the Persian carpet.

It was ever thus during the first Cold War of course.
One of our biggest allies after the fall of the Shah in Iran was Saddam Hussein - right through the 1980s.

 

Thousands of lives.

Qatar is being rewarded for doing nothing about those workers being slaughtered.
And a far larger number maimed for life I should think, by appalling conditions and ruthless exploitation.
Shame on all the teams who are going to play there.

 

Corporate hypocrisy? Who'd have thought it

 

Moral outrage sells products .

 

I am reminded of the Lynx antiperspirant sprays, which are liberally decorated with the CND logo.
To attract sweaty young people who'd like to be hippies presumably.

I wonder how long it will be before someone uses the XR logo on their bubble bath.

Note:
Avatars are excluded.
I'm not trying to sell anything...

 

France is gradually turning it's back on the World Cup. Initially the city of Lille last week said they wouldn't be showing the France games on a big screen in the city due to the environmental damage and human rights abuses in Qatar. There are now seven French cities that have made the same pledge, including paris and Marseille.

 

Abuse of referees at grass roots level is now out of control.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61425471

It's disgraceful. Players, coaches and thuggish parents at kids' games.
Referees will need minders in future. Grass roots venues may have to somehow pay for some security.
More of these incidents need recording, and offenders be banned for length periods - 6 months minimum.
Anyone with FA badges needs to be struck off if they threaten a referee.

 

By the way chaps, feel free to discuss the World Cup Finals & England's progress etc. in the coming weeks.
I have no interest in the tournament myself, but everyone who wants to should be able to start threads and post their views.

 

The Daily Mirror front page this morning must have the Qatari regime quaking in its boots...

Gary Lineker saying he hopes two top footballers come out as Gay during the World Cup
And he promises to talk about equality and stuff on telly, not just keep quiet about it
What a sacrifice.

I'm sure the families of the thousands of dead (and uncounted maimed) foreign labourers who paid with their lives and futures for this World Cup and other huge building projects in Qatar will be overflowing with gratitude Gary.

And meanwhile Qatar bribes and smooches its way to International acceptance and esteem.
While the reality is it's still illegal to be Jewish or Gay in Qatar, and freedom/equality for women is a pipe dream.

 

Can't get any enthusiasm for the W/C, it's too tainted. I was hoping Ukraine would knock out Scotland and Wales, but it was not to be. The real disgrace is that everyone knew they bought the nomination; everyone knew about the slave labour and deaths of migrant workers while it was happening, but no-one lifted a finger to do anything abahrt it.

 

Exactly my view. I love it when the world cup comes around, even though I always end up disappointed, but there is too much nasty stuff being buried under this one. I won't be watching the games, though it will be a wrench.

 

In a nutshell it stinks.

 

Jurgen Klopp's behaviour was an utter disgrace at the weekend, but he is far from alone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63281933

Morons will copy his antics - and worse - up and down the country at grass roots football games.
He should be ashamed of himself.
The FA should get tough and hit him with a 12 match stadium ban.
It's time referees and officials were protected from unending abuse and assault.

 

Especially at lower level, where refs are learning their trade.

 

It's long past time league referees had microphones on them like they do in Rugby.
If players and managers won't voluntarily show respect, they'll have to be forced to.

Body cams for grass roots refs is a sorry state of affairs, but necessary I suppose.
Some of these folks are badly beaten and have their lives threatened.
Can you believe it?
Over a game of footy in the park.