World Cup 2022: Qatar

[Zatman]

4 hours ago, fightoffyour said:

 

Brewdog are absolute scumbags, a wannabee Ryanair when it comes to publicity stunts

[Ingram85]

The Middle East/Islamic culture as a whole sure does seem to be ultra defensive about and have a problem with people being LGBTQ+ don’t they. Doth protest too much me thinks. All those immigrants and cheap Labour building their cities and infrastructure for them, the baking desert sun shining on their sweaty bodies. No wonder they don’t want their wives out and about with all that tempting ‘haram’ eye candy on show. 

**** Qatar. **** FIFA. **** the World Cup. 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Ingram85

[AJ]

9 hours ago, bobzy said:

This is excellent, to be honest.  Really puts things into perspective and isn't as insular as just dealing with this World Cup.

Agree, and also thanks to @Rodders for the link. This is a gem of a website.

[penguin]

5 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

I see the media witch -hunt against Ivan Toney continues. Southgate no longer has to worry about finding a pretext to keep Toney out of the squad that's picked on Thursday. Something isn't right, he picked him last month, put him on the bench and left him on it, then sends him home before the next game. 

It certainly provides food for thought. 

What are you implying is occurring here?

[sheepyvillian]

3 hours ago, penguin said:

What are you implying is occurring here?

Betting allegations , illegal number plates, overly tinted windows. These are all things Toney is apparently being investigated for. It just seems a little bit convenient days before the squad is to be chosen, and the fact that Toney was totally ignored by Southgate after being picked for the final two warm -up games. It's not like we have an abundance of good strikers. On form alone, he should be a shoe - in for that squad, but this character assassination by the media gives the impression that, for some unknown reason, he isn't wanted. Let's see on Thursday. Proof of the pudding and all that. 

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, far from it, but this doesn't sit easy with me.

Edited November 9, 2022 by sheepyvillian

[LondonLax]

There are a lot of reasons why Qatar should not have been chosen but the price of alcohol in the ME is not one of them IMO. 

In quite a lot of places in the world alcohol is not as prevalent as in Europe and drinking culture is not even associated with sports. 

If we’re truly going to have a ‘World’ Cup and not just a ‘European/American’ Cup then there should be a bit of acceptance that you might not have the same experience as you would back home. 

Human rights abuses are a whole other issue of course and we consider those to be universal rights rather than ‘cultural differences’. 

[Mic09]

36 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

There are a lot of reasons why Qatar should not have been chosen but the price of alcohol in the ME is not one of them IMO. 

In quite a lot of places in the world alcohol is not as prevalent as in Europe and drinking culture is not even associated with sports. 

If we’re truly going to have a ‘World’ Cup and not just a ‘European/American’ Cup then there should be a bit of acceptance that you might not have the same experience as you would back home. 

Naaah, don't buy that. Basically what they are doing is organising a party for meat lovers and going with a vegan menu out of spite.

When you host, you accommodate to your guests needs.

It's basically like saying Qatar's tradition and it's Muslim history require women to cover their heads, so when John Smith comes in with his wife, guess what, she has to do that too.

I have nothing against non drinking or burka wearing. But if I'm going to respect that way of life, please respect my cold lager with my mates before a game. 

[LondonLax]

9 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

Naaah, don't buy that. Basically what they are doing is organising a party for meat lovers and going with a vegan menu out of spite.

When you host, you accommodate to your guests needs.

It's basically like saying Qatar's tradition and it's Muslim history require women to cover their heads, so when John Smith comes in with his wife, guess what, she has to do that too.

I have nothing against non drinking or burka wearing. But if I'm going to respect that way of life, please respect my cold lager with my mates before a game. 

That’s one way of looking at it. But culturally they think about alcohol in a similar way to how we think about other prohibited drugs like cocaine. Alcohol is prohibited for Qataris but is permitted for foreigners to drink in designated hotels. 

A better analogy might be if you invited a bunch of people round and some of them were coke heads so you put some Charlie on for them to respect their lifestyle choices, but it was not the grade of coke or quality that they are used to. 

[villa4europe]

But you can drink a beer before the game, you can drink in hotels, in bars (which sound like they're in hotels) and in the fan parks that they've built around each stadium

What you can't do is go to the local shop buy 24 cans and sit in the street drinking them or drink in the ground which I think has been a thing for a while now, I'm sure at euro 2016 they only sold beer that was >0.1% alcohol in the ground and didn't advertise it as non alcoholic either

 

[villa4europe]

10 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

A better analogy might be if you invited a bunch of people round for a dinner party and you don't drink or know anything about beer and while you and the others eat in the dining room you make them drink budweiser in the spare bedroom

FTFY

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by villa4europe

[LondonLax]

4 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

FTFY

 

I’m not sure that quite captures the scenario

[Mic09]

6 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

But you can drink a beer before the game, you can drink in hotels, in bars (which sound like they're in hotels) and in the fan parks that they've built around each stadium

I guess if you buy tickets, fly to Qatar, buy a hotel room for a week, spending £10 a beer isn't exactly making you poor. 

I'm guessing tourists will be able to walk around and sightsee the desert, I hear that 35 degree heat is particularly lovely at this time of year. 

[DJ_Villain]

4 hours ago, sheepyvillian said:

Betting allegations , illegal number plates, overly tinted windows. These are all things Toney is apparently being investigated for. It just seems a little bit convenient days before the squad is to be chosen, and the fact that Toney was totally ignored by Southgate after being picked for the final two warm -up games. It's not like we have an abundance of good strikers. On form alone, he should be a shoe - in for that squad, but this character assassination by the media gives the impression that, for some unknown reason, he isn't wanted. Let's see on Thursday. Proof of the pudding and all that. 

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, far from it, but this doesn't sit easy with me.

Of course he shouldn’t be allowed in the squad…

Hes *only* a big fish in a small pond, playing for Brentford, showing decent form against high level opposition…

He hasn’t sat on the bench during a Champions League match…

That’s the benchmark for what Southgate wants in an England player…

[DJ_Villain]

31 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

I guess if you buy tickets, fly to Qatar, buy a hotel room for a week, spending £10 a beer isn't exactly making you poor. 

I'm guessing tourists will be able to walk around and sightsee the desert, I hear that 35 degree heat is particularly lovely at this time of year. 

I lived in Egypt for 3 months whilst doing my research for my dissertation…

Tell you what about those deserts…

They have a definite yellowy-orangey-beigy tone to them… quite hot… very dry…

Still stand by that Thailand would have been a much better choice for a World Cup host (if they HAD to have it in Asia in a country that hasn’t had it yet)…

[OutByEaster?]

I hope Toney doesn't go, for two major reasons; one, I'm not sure we need him, we play one up top and he's nowhere near the quality of Kane or Abraham and two, he's a prick and I want to laugh at him sat at home sulking and telling everyone he's too good for Brentford. 

[rjw63]

34 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I hope Toney doesn't go, for two major reasons; one, I'm not sure we need him, we play one up top and he's nowhere near the quality of Kane or Abraham and two, he's a prick and I want to laugh at him sat at home sulking and telling everyone he's too good for Brentford. 

Yeah, make your "zulu" sign to that you jizzgobbler.

[tomav84]

3 hours ago, villa4europe said:

But you can drink a beer before the game, you can drink in hotels, in bars (which sound like they're in hotels) and in the fan parks that they've built around each stadium

What you can't do is go to the local shop buy 24 cans and sit in the street drinking them or drink in the ground which I think has been a thing for a while now, I'm sure at euro 2016 they only sold beer that was >0.1% alcohol in the ground and didn't advertise it as non alcoholic either

 

think that was a stade de france thing. it was a non alcohol stadium for years (and yeah, they conned you into buying the non alcoholic stuff by not labeling it as such)

[Wainy316]

Even Saudi Arabia would have been a better choice than Qatar.  

It has all the issues with regards to human rights and ultra conservatism but at least they have some footballing pedigree.  Have Qatar ever qualified for a World Cup?  They certainly haven't in my lifetime.  

[Wurzel]

Just watched the FIFA Uncovered docuseries on Netflix. My interest in international football has shrunk to virtually zero as I've got older, but after binge watching this series I'm not sure I can in good conscience watch any of the World Cup. Thousands of migrant workers killed on construction sites to put on this shambles of a tournament awarded through corruption and greed, I do wonder how the broadcasters are going to spin this as some kind of celebration of football. How the likes of Beckham, Neville and Lineker can live with themselves working for this competition is beyond me. I hope the money is worth it.

[turnbull]

10 hours ago, Wurzel said:

Just watched the FIFA Uncovered docuseries on Netflix. My interest in international football has shrunk to virtually zero as I've got older, but after binge watching this series I'm not sure I can in good conscience watch any of the World Cup. Thousands of migrant workers killed on construction sites to put on this shambles of a tournament awarded through corruption and greed, I do wonder how the broadcasters are going to spin this as some kind of celebration of football. How the likes of Beckham, Neville and Lineker can live with themselves working for this competition is beyond me. I hope the money is worth it.

Money's always worth it, if that's all you care about.