Zatman Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Ah yeah, Australia, that great footballing nation, really deserved it. This comment really makes no sense when you put into context the fact that Qatar were awarded it instead. i think his point is that people are criticizing Qatar for not being a footballing nation then suggesting give to Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 (edited) Ah yeah, Australia, that great footballing nation, really deserved it. This comment really makes no sense when you put into context the fact that Qatar were awarded it instead. i think his point is that people are criticizing Qatar for not being a footballing nation then suggesting give to Australia While Australia may not exactly be a super power in world football, you cannot compare them to Qatar. One is a nation that competes on the world stage on a semi-regular basis, the other is a complete non entity. Edited September 23, 2013 by Shillzz 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 That argument kind of plays in to FIFA's hands, I think part of their justification in awarding it to Qatar is to promote the game in the region and stimulate the interest in the game (no i don't believe it either but I'm sure they'd say that was a big part of the decision making process). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 True enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted September 23, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted September 23, 2013 That argument kind of plays in to FIFA's hands, I think part of their justification in awarding it to Qatar is to promote the game in the region and stimulate the interest in the game (no i don't believe it either but I'm sure they'd say that was a big part of the decision making process).And they have history there.The US would not be where they are in world football absent '94 (though qualifying for '90 was proximately due to Mexican ineligibility, that the US put in a serious effort is down to being awarded the Cup). Arguably the same can be said with respect to Korea and Japan after '02.Australia can't decide what code "football" refers to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Football is already massive in the Middle East. They didn't need a World Cup. Somewhere like India would have been better if FIFA were actually looking at development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Relative of the bloke who's the uber-rich Qatari chairman of Malaga ain't he? The one who complained about corruption and bias in the champions league after Dortmund knocked them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 What makes a 'footballing nation' though? Surely football being the most popular sport amongst the Qatari people renders Qatar one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 What makes a 'footballing nation' though? Surely football being the most popular sport amongst the Qatari people renders Qatar one? To me it's one of those generic tags that doesn't actually mean anything, like the whole "big club" thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 What makes a 'footballing nation' though? Surely football being the most popular sport amongst the Qatari people renders Qatar one? To me it's one of those generic tags that doesn't actually mean anything, like the whole "big club" thing. I've always thought it just basically meant any nation where football is the main sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 i always had it as a snobby way to talk about country which isnt a popular place for football. USA gets it a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 (edited) What makes a 'footballing nation' though? Surely football being the most popular sport amongst the Qatari people renders Qatar one? A nation that has actually qualified for a World Cup. Qatar have never qualified. Australia have on more than one occasion. Edited September 23, 2013 by TRS-T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 So if Qatar qualify for the 2018 World Cup then they'll automatically become a footballing nation? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 They won't though. Even South Africa are more of a footballing nation than Qatar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 While i'm not really sure what being a "footballing nation" means, football being our 4th biggest sport doesn't mean it's not popular over here. The other football codes have just been established a lot longer. It has the highest junior participation of any sport in Australia. In any case, we have reasonably sized stadiums (especially post upgrades) and every game would undoubtedly sell out. What else do you need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 What else do you need? Bribes. Qatar bought PSG. Gazprom is now sponsoring the Champions League. What can Australia offer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Australia wont get it as not good for the European market which provides most of sponsorship and viewing figures to FIFA. At least Qatar will have games at the lucrative prime time European time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 They could argue that its a 'WORLD' Cup? Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted September 24, 2013 Moderator Share Posted September 24, 2013 What else do you need? The bidding process to be open and transparent, those voting to be honest and beyond personal or federation brides, the people voting to actually consider the merits of the bids rather than which stamp they need in their passport. The fans and the players to be considered and generally speaking a less corrupt, self serving and insidious world governing body of the sport. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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