Qatar 2022 World Cup Discussion

[IceCap]

It really does suck. Canada's men's team has been awful for most of my life. They qualified for ONE World Cup, before I was born. And they're getting an automatic bid in 2026. 2022 though... 2022 was something I didn't think I'd ever see. Canada qualifying for the World Cup on their own merits.

 

And it's THIS World Cup. I want to watch, I want to support them, but I just can't. The whole thing feels skeezy. Qatar is a theocratic fascist hellhole and it's disgusting FIFA is enabling their regime. I don't want any part of this.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

13 minutes ago, Sec19Row53 said:

Honest question - if we don't watch, will it change anything? I'm not sure it does, which is why I'll likely watch.

 

Of course it doesn't. It's just whether you want to participate -- no matter how passively -- in things you find abhorrent.

 

FIFA and the IOC are corrupt, illegitimate organizations that have no problem selling out to autocrats and despots. NCAA too. And here we are, people who just want to watch sports.

 

I know the list of terrible things we're forced to engage with is very long. I guess FIFA feels especially proud to rub our faces in it.

[Sport]

I've been curious about how this was going to look for 11ish years and it hasn't disappointed. In many ways it's worse than I imagined. Back when it was announced that they were hosts we didn't have "Fyre Fest of BLANK" as shorthand for disastrous and poorly planned event - this is officially the Fyre Fest of soccer. 

 

I've never really had a hard time abstaining from soccer, which Gothamite once scolded me on here for saying after the number of deaths building the stadiums came out, but I tried to watch some of that game yesterday and it felt gross.  I don't think I'll have a hard time not watching much of this tournament outside of US' games. 

 

 

 

[Seadragon76]

This might be the most awkward as hell World Cup ever, especially when Qatar isn't playing.

 

There may not be a lot of fans in the stands (actual fans, anyway) and it feels artificial as hell.

[TrueYankee26]

Teams from the Middle East are getting outscored 8-1 thus far.

 

Qatar loses 2-0.

Iran down 6-1.

[MJWalker45]

16 minutes ago, TrueYankee26 said:

Teams from the Middle East are getting outscored 8-1 thus far.

 

Qatar loses 2-0.

Iran down 6-1.

Is the AFC just that bad? Iran ran away and I expected a much closer match today. 6-2 final and that's what that Qatar match should have been yesterday.

32 minutes ago, Sport said:

I've been curious about how this was going to look for 11ish years and it hasn't disappointed. In many ways it's worse than I imagined. Back when it was announced that they were hosts we didn't have "Fyre Fest of BLANK" as shorthand for disastrous and poorly planned event - this is officially the Fyre Fest of soccer. 

 

I've never really had a hard time abstaining from soccer, which Gothamite once scolded me on here for saying after the number of deaths building the stadiums came out, but I tried to watch some of that game yesterday and it felt gross.  I don't think I'll have a hard time not watching much of this tournament outside of US' games. 

I think I'll be in the same boat as you. I won't be watching the English channel at least because Lalas pisses me off at the best of time, and the way he's sucking up to the Qatari leadership is just gross. If this England team shows up on Friday, the United States' time at Qatar will be pretty short if they don't win today. 

[Digby]

35 minutes ago, Sport said:

Gothamite once scolded me

There’s a shocker.

[Digby]

10 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Of course it doesn't. It's just whether you want to participate -- no matter how passively -- in things you find abhorrent.

 

FIFA and the IOC are corrupt, illegitimate organizations that have no problem selling out to autocrats and despots. NCAA too. And here we are, people who just want to watch sports.

 

I know the list of terrible things we're forced to engage with is very long. I guess FIFA feels especially proud to rub our faces in it.

 

I don't really fault any fans who want to watch. (I think there's something wrong with you to go there and watch in person, but watching at home I mean.) Maybe it's an opportunity to flip it around like the person who organized the donations to domestic violence charities having been forced to root for Aroldis Chapman. When your team scores, donate to Amnesty or an LGBTQ nonprofit working in the Middle East or something.

 

If we're boycotting, it should be the sponsors, frankly. Adidas made some nice kits -- I really want one of those Japan ones -- but I'm not buying anything from them, sorry. Coca-Cola, Budweiser, McDonald's... pass. Sponsors are the only ones with actual leverage with FIFA and they stood by and did nothing this whole time, happy to paste their brand all over the event.

[Sport]

10 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

Is the AFC just that bad? Iran ran away and I expected a much closer match today. 6-2 final and that's what that Qatar match should have been yesterday.

I think I'll be in the same boat as you. I won't be watching the English channel at least because Lalas pisses me off at the best of time, and the way he's sucking up to the Qatari leadership is just gross. If this England team shows up on Friday, the United States' time at Qatar will be pretty short if they don't win today. 

 

I know this is well-covered territory, but it's still so weird to me that this guy

 

 

turned into such a corporate shill.  

 

 

[Digby]

1 minute ago, Sport said:

 

I know this is well-covered territory, but it's still so weird to me that this guy turned into such a corporate shill.  

 

 

 

He's got the energy of a guy who spends hundreds of dollars on tickets to see Bruce Springsteen or that Grateful Dead John Mayer band, but does not exactly, ah, share the values of the artists on stage. And also lacks the self-awareness of that fact. Big "I'm just asking questions" energy, probably loves the idea of Musk Twitter, a rock'n'roll rebel in the same way that that creepy Subaru salesman with the annoying ads outside Boston has that persona.

[MJWalker45]

11 minutes ago, Sport said:

 

I know this is well-covered territory, but it's still so weird to me that this guy

 

 

turned into such a corporate shill.  

 

 

How many of those "not selling out to the man" bands did the same? He's that one guy that took the team to the state championship in high school and expects everyone in the town to acknowledge that fact, even people who weren't alive when he did it. And can totally f@Ck off for telling Crew fans, "Just go get a USL team and let Austin have yours, you didn't take care of it anyways".  Nevermind that leach of an owner did everything he could to kill attendance. 

[BrySmalls]

I couldn't watch the England match at work so wondering why there were about 12 minutes of stoppage time in both halves?

[Digby]

5 minutes ago, BrySmalls said:

I couldn't watch the England match at work so wondering why there were about 12 minutes of stoppage time in both halves?

 

First half, Iran's keeper got a head injury and a nosebleed that the medics took a long time to treat on-pitch. When they were done he tried to stay in the match only to immediately fall over and call for a new round of medical attention.

 

Second half, Maguire had had a head injury as well as a VAR check. Though the 10 minutes that time felt excessive, idk.

[MJWalker45]

1 minute ago, Digby said:

 

First half, Iran's keeper got a head injury and a nosebleed that the medics took a long time to treat on-pitch. When they were done he tried to stay in the match only to immediately fall over and call for a new round of medical attention.

 

Second half, Maguire had had a head injury as well as a VAR check. Though the 10 minutes that time felt excessive, idk.

There were a bunch of substitutions and time added for goals scored a well, but still felt like too much time. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

As long as we're busting on the World Cup: https://www.espnfc.com/fifa-world-cup/story/4808225/world-cup-chaos-englandus-fans-face-ticket-issues

 

Quote

Thousands of supporters, including England and United States fans, faced chaos at the World Cup in Qatar on Monday as the FIFA app crashed, meaning they were unable to access their tickets. 

 

An organiser of an American fan group confirmed to ESPN that tickets on the FIFA ticketing app, which fans planned to use to enter the stadium, "disappeared" from accounts, and also left fans unable to transfer tickets to individuals with whom they planned to attend the U.S. men's national team's match against Wales, set to kick off at 10 p.m. local time.

 

[Sport]

7 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

He's got the energy of a guy who spends hundreds of dollars on tickets to see Bruce Springsteen or that Grateful Dead John Mayer band, but does not exactly, ah, share the values of the artists on stage. And also lacks the self-awareness of that fact. Big "I'm just asking questions" energy, probably loves the idea of Musk Twitter, a rock'n'roll rebel in the same way that that creepy Subaru salesman with the annoying ads outside Boston has that persona.

 

5 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

How many of those "not selling out to the man" bands did the same? He's that one guy that took the team to the state championship in high school and expects everyone in the town to acknowledge that fact, even people who weren't alive when he did it. And can totally f@Ck off for telling Crew fans, "Just go get a USL team and let Austin have yours, you didn't take care of it anyways".  Nevermind that leach of an owner did everything he could to kill attendance. 

 

He's a born-again contrarian and he loves to take the minority opinion with everything because he thinks it makes him smarter when it really just makes him annoying. His siding with Precourt in the whole Crew saga was upsetting and annoying. He was the only person I saw in favor of the super league and his take on Qatar was the other countries should've bribed FIFA more. His religion now is the free capitalist market over anything else, which is, again, weird for the guy who was the face of hippy soccer in the 90's. His response on Qatar has been, "if you don't like it then don't watch" and it's like obviously, that's why I'm mad about it, idiot. Also weird stance for someone who should be trying to grow the sport's popularity in the US. I'd like to watch, but they're putting me in the position of choosing to ignore human rights abuses in the name of entertainment. He lives in a very black or white world - I am capable of not watching soccer while also voicing complaints on social media, Alexi. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Alexei Lalas starts every day with a Twitter post to the effect of "what are we being sanctimonious about today?"

 

He knows who and what he is.

 

The frustrating thing to me is that his :censored:ty opinions aside, he's actually really good at being on television. It's a shame American/MLS soccer doesn't have a stronger foothold in the US, because with people like Holden, Lalas, Dempsey, Twellman, Gomez, and Salazar, there are some really great TV personalities shunted to lower-level broadcasts.

[Red Comet]

Take solace in the fact that the moment Qatar runs out out of oil/natural gas or said resources become non-viable, all the migrant workers they abused will probably rise up. 

[Rockstar Matt]

I am nervous! Can’t believe I was 22 the last time I watched the USMNT in the World Cup and now I’m 31. Been a long 8 years! Expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
 

Either we advance out of the group or Bethalter is fired in disgrace after a terrible showing over this next week. That’s a win-win for USMNT fans. 

[MJWalker45]

9 minutes ago, Rockstar Matt said:

I am nervous! Can’t believe I was 22 the last time I watched the USMNT in the World Cup and now I’m 31. Been a long 8 years! Expecting the worst but hoping for the best.
 

Either we advance out of the group or Bethalter is fired in disgrace after a terrible showing over this next week. That’s a win-win for USMNT fans. 

Some people think as long as the games are close, even if we don't advance he could stay in place.