It Could Get A Bit Messi In Here - The Football Thread.

I downloaded football manager touch for IOS.
Why would anybody want to play this? It’s like having a second and not getting payed for it.
 
Dtknuckles said:
I downloaded football manager touch for IOS.
Why would anybody want to play this? It’s like having a second and not getting payed for it.
Click to expand...

It’s ridiculously immersive and addictive. I don’t allow myself to buy them anymore. In the old championship manager and early football manager days I’d lose weeks to it…
 
So this had to be the plan all along, right?

www.nytimes.com

Qatar Bans Beer Sales at World Cup Stadiums

The about-face on alcohol could violate a multimillion-dollar FIFA sponsorship agreement, and signaled that soccer’s governing body may no longer be in full control of its showcase event.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

I've felt pretty conflicted about this world cup, and have only been begrudgingly looking forward to it. Now...I think I'm rooting for chaos.

I'm not saying I believe this, and I don't care enough to actually look into it, but it's not that far fetched:

 
mgp said:
So this had to be the plan all along, right?

www.nytimes.com

Qatar Bans Beer Sales at World Cup Stadiums

The about-face on alcohol could violate a multimillion-dollar FIFA sponsorship agreement, and signaled that soccer’s governing body may no longer be in full control of its showcase event.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

I've felt pretty conflicted about this world cup, and have only been begrudgingly looking forward to it. Now...I think I'm rooting for chaos.

I'm not saying I believe this, and I don't care enough to actually look into it, but it's not that far fetched:

Click to expand...


I saw about the beer which is ridiculous but I think the World Cup should be cancelled and Qatar banned from international football for a generation if the second is true. Of course FIFA is increasingly centred around money from the Middle East so that won’t ever happen.
 
FIFA, you bought your tickets. You knew what you were getting into. I say, let it crash.

CB_vGOqUEAMd2OM.jpg
 
Fifteen years ago (yesterday, actually) I happened to go to a WC qualifier in Buenos Aires.* When I told the guy that I went with “I’ll get you a beer at the stadium,” he looked at me like I had three eyes. “Uhhh, they don’t sell beer at the games. That would be a bad idea.”

To me it’s less about the beer and more about the bait and switch. Like the BS that has led us to a winter WC.

*argentina beat bolivia 3-0 on a first half goal from upstart striker Sergio Agüero and a second half brace from veteran Riquelme. The young winger, Messi, wearing the 18 shirt had the assist on the third goal.

1668783939973.jpeg.
 
Hey, finally some good news: Last week, only a few days before the most senior executives of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, were set to jet into Doha for meetings ahead of a World Cup 12 years in the making, local officials delivered the bad news: The five-star hotel picked to house FIFA’s leadership — a group infamous for its affection for perks, its healthy appetite for life’s finer things and its six-figure salaries — would not be ready for them.

www.nytimes.com

An Unlikely Group Scrambles for World Cup Rooms: FIFA’s Elite

The luxury hotel set to host soccer’s most senior leaders wasn’t quite ready when they began arriving, the latest in a series of last-second tweaks to Qatar’s well-laid plans.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
Chomp Chomp said:
It really is maddening that Qatar is hosting this global event.
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That’s two maddening hosts in a row now. It was every bit as much a sportswashing event but at least Russia was big enough to host and has a long and deep football tradition.

Hope the shared Euro 2028 bid wins, would love to see some big games in Dublin, it’s a pity we had to pull out of the World Cup running for 2030 because there's no real chance of winning it. I’m resigned to the fact that England, either in a joint bid like this, or on its own, won’t get a World Cup I’m my life time.

Meanwhile you guys will have had two which, given the relative size of the game over there, is infuriating.
 
Joe Mac said:
That’s two maddening hosts in a row now. It was every bit as much a sportswashing event but at least Russia was big enough to host and has a long and deep football tradition.

Hope the shared Euro 2028 bid wins, would love to see some big games in Dublin, it’s a pity we had to pull out of the World Cup running for 2030 because there's no real chance of winning it. I’m resigned to the fact that England, either in a joint bid like this, or on its own, won’t get a World Cup I’m my life time.

Meanwhile you guys will have had two which, given the relative size of the game over there, is infuriating.
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Have you watched FIFA Uncovered?

It really is stunning that England is not a host country. It seems all the boxes should be checked in their favor.
 
Chomp Chomp said:
Have you watched FIFA Uncovered?

It really is stunning that England is not a host country. It seems all the boxes should be checked in their favor.
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I haven’t yet. I will some rainy weekend day when there’s a shit couple of matches on.

The first error they made was 2006. A deal was done that Germany would give England a free run at Euro 96 if they stood aside to have UEFA communally get behind Germany for 2006. Reneging on that and loosing out to Germany regardless caused some wounds at UEFA. 2018/2022 was a shit show of a bidding process as we can see by the last two hosts. They have no confidence in there having been changes for 2030 so the joint bid between the 5 associations on the two islands was pulled.

It is sad because in terms of the number and size of football specific stadia, infrastructure and being big enough to cope but small enough to navigate I don’t think there are many better options out there.

Hopefully the Euro 2028 bid wins, Ireland qualify and we get someone big drawn to play in Dublin!
 
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It's conflicting to be in the world cup for the first time in 30 years... and the first time for real really, because that 80's team was a bunch of amateurs, and it has to be this one. At least we know we get another go in 4 years.

On another note, Canada beat Japan 2-1 in their last tune-up game, without Phonzy, so that's something.
 
Turbo said:
It's conflicting to be in the world cup for the first time in 30 years... and the first time for real really, because that 80's team was a bunch of amateurs, and it has to be this one. At least we know we get another go in 4 years.

On another note, Canada beat Japan 2-1 in their last tune-up game, without Phonzy, so that's something.
Click to expand...

I kinda don’t think it’s wrong to follow your team and want them to do well or to expect players to turn down a tournament that happens every 4 years and for some nations ones a lifetime. So long as people educate themselves about why this is so wrong and keep the light on the things Qatar doesn’t want us to talk about.

Interestingly on their TV and Radio adverts I haven’t seen the BBC refer to Qatar or use Qatari imagery like they usually would do in the promotion of a tournament. It’s very generic references to “The World Cup”.
 
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