Mrenda posted:

I know Ireland at USA 94 is something of a joke (although some good performances, get in Houghton!) But Jack Charlton and the Irish team of the time basically called for and pioneered some of the player care stuff we see in modern games. They wanted water breaks, they wanted water to be laid in bottles around the pitch so players could take a drink during any brief stoppage, and they wanted water to be allowed on when someone was down for an injury. All that stuff is standard now, but Charlton and Ireland were made out as cranky fools of a team with no hope trying to upset a tournament they couldn't win.

Never mind the Aldrige incident where some loving moron of an American FIFA official in a ridiculous blue and yellow uniform with no clue about the sport other than he was gifted a job because of connections refused to let them make a sub.

There was a lot of anti-Irish talk during that, while Charlton was making extremely sensible recommendations for playing football in a place with billion degree weather. Things that are now standard almost 30 years later.

As for Qatar, I'm predicting a lot of it will go off without incident. There might be one or two "big events" but most fan stuff will get sorted out diplomatically if you're from a major western nation and if you're not it'll be swept under the carpet by the media looking down on poorer nations. The media will also go whole hog on, "The football is wonderful, despite the problems. Isn't the World Cup wonderful! A time of peace and nations with differences coming together." And it'll all be a giant wet fart and FIFA will continue to take bribes and accept gold watches. And poor people will continue to die.

Butterfly Valley posted:

If actual fans from richer countries like Germany and England can't afford to go why in the hell do you think a bunch of random South Asians could afford it

Also is plastic national supporting actually a thing? Buying shirts is one thing but actually buying tickets and actively supporting the team?

Eezee posted:

The argument from Qatari citizens is that those are migrant workers who are there totally voluntarily because they love football and support their favorite teams, since India did not qualify and organized a big parade on social media.

I guess that is not completely impossible? I dont think anyone claimed those were legit tourists instead of migrant workers, whether they are paid to be there or not.

Vinestalk posted:

There's no responsibility on them to tangibly change anything, because everyone is aware they can't. But the idea that a player can't protest something at a sporting event is loving ridiculous.

Tokyo Sexwale posted:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar boycotted those Olympics for similar reasons and the media destroyed his character and went after him for decades because of it. His career pretty obviously wasn't ended because of it but it definitely obliterated his public image for the rest of his career.

the sex ghost posted:

Trying to sleep in my freezing tent in the middle of the desert while the rent a cops teargas a load of French ultras. Hanging up the do not disturb sign on my thin piece of cloth

Mickolution posted:

Chris James 2 posted:

https://twitter.com/FootyScran/status/1592878355954937856?s=20&t=J7qvxrjJbjtS3QTJzPJ9Tg

goatface posted:

Might as well double down on the dodgy.

Elliptical Dick posted:

Did anyone say "what a shitshow" yet?

Crazy Ted posted:

I believe they have fans. Those count as air conditioning, right?

Ziggy Tzardust posted:

*Italian Shania Twain voice*: EEEEEEEEEEY I feel-a like-a da woman!

mila kunis posted:

apparently they've flown in extra police from places like turkey and pakistan to cope with the influx of people. this could be tragic and/or hilarious

joepinetree posted:

Eh, it's not something that is happening to them as much as it is something that they are doing.

I don't think it was ever about PR. I don't think a single one of the rich fucks cares too much about what the NY Times is printing about them. And if they did they could have just done what they said they would do. Let some team captain wear a rainbow flag, let people drink some beer in the stadium that even without all the infrastructure they promised the media can spin this as a transformative event. But that means that maybe one of their indentured servants might have a bit of fun.

For me, the WC was always about the rich Qataris wanting to party in some expensive VIP suite with a David Beckham and some models. And once that was secured, they could just not give a gently caress anymore.

Mickolution posted:

Genuine question, what do you call it?

vyelkin posted:

Mushroom Zingdom posted:

I’m convinced a large part of it is simply asking who the Qatari leadership and elite views as it’s peers — their counterparts in the other gulf states — and whose opinions they care about (the same). Clearly they only care about the opinions of people in the broader western world to a point (to when their money would become reputationally toxic, which we are very far from- an article pointed out that the #10 landowner in the UK is Qatar, though I don’t know if that represented a singular entity or Qataris as a group).

njsykora posted:

London’s main industry is basically money laundering. And they don’t care about reputation so long as they have something everyone needs (oil). See the US basically turning a blind eye to everything the oil states do and then they still said “lol no” when Biden went to them begging to increase production.

Dell_Zincht posted:

He probably wasn't murdered, but they also didn't really try very hard to keep him alive either, so... *shrugs*

Bea Nanner posted:

actually when you are corrupt, calling everyone else corrupt seems to be a surprisingly effective smokescreen

paddyboat posted:

Akbar posted:

association hooligans