Interesting to read this morning that the attendance for a recent game in Saudi, featuring Jordan Henderson, was reported as being 696. Six hundred and ninety six!!!! I think most are in agreement that he moved there for the money, but playing in front of so few people must be difficult for a player’s ego and motivation after years of playing in packed stadiums.
I expect that there was actually 25,000, but 24,304 of them were a combination of women and Saudis who were not part of the royal family, so they weren't counted
I’m sure he will be crying himself to sleep on the solid bed of money he moved there for. My issue with Henderson is less that he has gone there (I mean it is an issue), but more that he pretends he has gone there to expand humanitarian values. Also that he is now playing League One standard football and therefore no longer merits a place in the National Team, even Flynn Downes is playing to a higher standard and would be more suitable for an England call up, Just to clarify I am not suggesting Flynn Downes should be called up.
Banned from the Euros. No fans allowed to travel to away European ties for years. The English disease blah blah Meanwhile France will have another terrible incident next weekend and no one will say a word. Not a chance I'd go to a football match in France right now. Would rather go on holiday to Gaza.
Bellingham’s first goal in El Clásico is a thing of beauty. https://youtube.com/shorts/y6sGYq_tdZA?si=CpJBGbOGaIk0yFCK
Saudis to host the 2034 WC. Sure nobody saw that coming... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67271423
Pretty cruel of the Aussies to drop out. There are dozens of FIFA officials who were counting on those Saudi bribes to flesh out their retirement savings, and now what are they going to do?
If only the major football federations of the world would come together and take a stand against FIFA. A few major European and South American nations is all it would take. Never gonna happen though cos they're all corrupt and spineless. Will just get some empty gestures when it's too late.
This is not even a complicated venture. The World Cup should move from region to region each time, and FIFA should help fund smaller nations to hold it. There is no justification for two middle eastern world cups within 15 years when England hasn't had one since 1966. It shouldn't be based on money but on the passion for the sport in that country. North America and Concacaf --> Europe --> Asia / Australasia / Middle East --> South America --> Africa That should be a rolling rotation.
I think I've spotted a weakness in your argument. Of course you are right but that type of thinking doesn't even seem to be in the equation. That has though prompted some questions. Does FIFA fund WC tournaments or is the financial burden all on the host countries? Does FIFA take a cut? (I think I know the answer to that one but how is it all divvied up, does anyone know?) Is there ever any profit to be made from hosting a WC? On the morality side of giving tournaments to countries with poor human rights issues, I have mixed feelings. On one hand Saudi and the rest are using sport to promote an acceptable face of their countries, sports washing if you like, but on the other hand should sport be used by politicians to do their job for them? Countries, including the UK, do billions of pounds worth of trade with Saudi alone every year. There is never any mention of embargoes or diplomatic pressure yet as soon as a sports event is suggested there are human rights organisations, politicians and the like saying it's immoral. That's not to say that Fifa, F1, Golf etc are blameless and football as a whole in this country likes to promote itself as champions of virtue until a WC comes along, then Southgate and his team of kneelers can't get to Qatar fast enough. If organisations or even individuals make their positions clear before an event it should be them acting on their own consciences not political pressure.
A Spanish referee using the foam spray to give himself space from players, whilst waiting for a VAR decision. Great idea. https://x.com/Juanlopezic/status/1718643753357848829?s=20
Taser might do the trick but wouldn't work on the Terry Horlock. Vinnie Jones, Roy Keane, Norman Hunter generation players, just a prod to provoke the retaliation.
Good idea in principle but it shouldn't have to come to that. Players should just **** off out of the way or get booked.
I wonder how last year's Saints would have fared in this year's PL. Badly, without question, but the bottom of the table is so exceedingly rank that we might've survived.
