Dr_Pangloss Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Saudi Arabia, a hot bed of Wahhabism and Dawah, two interrelated and disgraceful/ dangerous ideas, to host world cup games? Disgusting thought, glad it's not happening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 I know its the clubs fault but sickening a player like McCormack gets a pay rise for doing **** all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 7 hours ago, Zatman said: I know its the clubs fault but sickening a player like McCormack gets a pay rise for doing **** all In fairness he's got better and better at doing **** all, so perhaps the rise is justified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Arsensal fans in Baku wearing Mchitarjan jerseys getting stopped and harassed by local police. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Mino Raiola demanding a £13m agent fee in any deal for Matthjis de Ligt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 9 minutes ago, sne said: Arsensal fans in Baku wearing Mchitarjan jerseys getting stopped and harassed by local police. In fairness you have to be some idiot to wear that 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Just now, Zatman said: In fairness you have to be some idiot to wear that Yeah, while I support the sentiment I certainly wouldn't risk that myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) Any act of protest carries with it some degree of risk. It doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to do. Edited May 29, 2019 by HanoiVillan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 3 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: Any act of protest carries with it some degree of risk. It doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to do. True, but do it in the civilized world and you might get a police baton to the head, do it in Baku and you might "disappear" or get a knife in the throat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Just now, sne said: True, but do it in the civilized world and you might get a police baton to the head, do it in Baku and you might "disappear" or get a knife in the throat. I know it's a tough country, but presumably the Azeri police might think better of just assassinating EU citizens whenever they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) 5 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: I know it's a tough country, but presumably the Azeri police might think better of just assassinating EU citizens whenever they want. Honestly would not take the risk to be openly pro Armenian in a country that has a to put it kindly a dodgy human rights view and is fiercely nationalistic and religious Nor would I run around in Turkey with a PKK shirt I would just not go there, just like Israel and a bunch of other countries. Edited May 29, 2019 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 says to me they have no knowledge of what is actually going on just that its "unfair" for them and the footballing bubble or even worse have a "**** em" attitude conveying they are wealthy arsenal fans paying thousands of pounds to be there whats the worst that could happen, unless scrapping both of them ideas what they really wanted was to capture them getting pestered by people on video and it going viral im leaning towards them being dickheads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Funny thing for me is this is not even Arsenal 1st game in Azerbaijan this season. Was no media hysteria last time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_avfc Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 23 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: I know it's a tough country, but presumably the Azeri police might think better of just assassinating EU citizens whenever they want. Its probably not a bright idea to openly antagonise the locals to be honest. As others have said, I'm not really sure what they are trying to achieve by this. Walking around in openly antagonising shirts in what looks like a group of 2/3 people is pretty stupid. Its not like they're highlighting anything which everyone isn't already aware of either. Almost all of the reporting I have seen around the final has been about the issues between Azerbaijan/Armenia rather than the game. Is anybody looking at the video surprised that the police are getting involved? What are they achieving by doing it other than running the risk of getting themselves into trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 It is, to be blunt, an absolute disgrace that a player has been told that they cannot play in a match of this magnitude because the host country cannot guarantee their safety. There is no possible excuse for this. It doesn't matter that 'everybody knows', it doesn't matter that 'it's antagonising people', tough shit. If they want to host matches like this, then they need to guarantee the safety of players and spectators. There's no ifs and buts to that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 29, 2019 2 hours ago, Zatman said: In fairness you have to be some idiot to wear that And the video I saw of this "harrassment" was just two fans being stopped and spoken to by police. It could quite easily be them telling the fans that they might want to not wear that particular shirt. (I'm not defending anything regarding Baku by the way. Just that one instance the video I saw I think had been exaggerated a bit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 46 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said: It is, to be blunt, an absolute disgrace that a player has been told that they cannot play in a match of this magnitude because the host country cannot guarantee their safety. There is no possible excuse for this. It doesn't matter that 'everybody knows', it doesn't matter that 'it's antagonising people', tough shit. If they want to host matches like this, then they need to guarantee the safety of players and spectators. There's no ifs and buts to that. My understanding is that they have guaranteed his safety (across the board) but Mkhitaryan has chosen not to travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 How can they possibly guarantee his safety? In recent weeks here we've seen Jack Grealish and Luke O'Nian attacked by supporters during a match, what's to stop the same happening to Mkhitaryan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 2 hours ago, The_Rev said: How can they possibly guarantee his safety? In recent weeks here we've seen Jack Grealish and Luke O'Nian attacked by supporters during a match, what's to stop the same happening to Mkhitaryan? Using that measure though, any player could be a target and in any country, just for balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Yep, so you’ve got to factor in whether the locals want you dead or not when it comes to making your decision. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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