https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-qatar-on-course-for-its-improbable-world-cup
Interview with Hassan Al-Thawadi who is organising the tournament.
Interview with Hassan Al-Thawadi who is organising the tournament.
2022 World Cup Qatar thread
- Thread starter padzilla
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
wonderful Brexit.
We managed just fine in 1966 ( I know there were less teams) and in 1996 for the Euros.
Honestly cannot see a WC in the desert.
If its not Qatar, perhaps the US.
If its not Qatar, perhaps the US.
A complete farce and foreseen disaster of a tournament from top to bottom.
i forgot this was actually happening 
Wouldnt be surprised if by the time it comes, some NT's boycott the tournament.
Nah.
Ticket is your visa.
Can't see a brexit scenario that would affect our ability to host the world cup - except if we were asked to do it at short notice whilst our ports were already fecked
The Chinese are examining the possibility of hosting it on the moon.
Who will be US president after 2020? What will their policy on Qatar / Iran relations , and the Muslim Brotherhood, Saudi Arabia be? Very uncertain.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/15/trump-will-regret-changing-his-mind-about-qatar/
https://www.theglobalist.com/middle-east-conflict-oil-united-states/
This region has always been unstable. FIFA have taken a big risk.
Didn't know where to post this (searched and found no trace of it anywhere else).
Might be worthy of its own thread but it was toss up between here and corruption thread.
British man detained in UAE after wearing Qatar football shirt to match
https://twitter.com/i/moments/1092892690759462912
Wonder if people knew about this before they cough "won" the right to host the World Cup?
Might be worthy of its own thread but it was toss up between here and corruption thread.
British man detained in UAE after wearing Qatar football shirt to match
https://twitter.com/i/moments/1092892690759462912
Wonder if people knew about this before they cough "won" the right to host the World Cup?
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Not that I'm a massive fan of the Qatar World Cup, but you've got this the wrong way round. It's the UAE that have arrested the guy, so not Qatar's fault. There seems to be a bit more to the story, but this is regional rivalry at its pettiest level. Anyone traveling to the UAE (I lived in Dubai for 5 years) should really have known that in the current political climate they'd have been taking a risk wearing a Qatar shirt like this (I'm not condoning it for one second though).
Well pointed out, and sorry for the mix-up. I had missed the tiny detail of which country he was being held in prison in … but … even if you don't "condone it" the story is more than worth spreading in my opinion.
You don't think people travelling a long way to the upcoming WC might not want to take the opportunity to experience different countries in the region (without risking seeing the inside of their prison cells for wearing the host countries national strip)? He reportedly wore the shirt to an Asia Cup game held in the UAE and the imprisonable offence is … showing sympathy for Qatar.
And FIFA will ban those countries from participating in the next WC.
Can't believe no one's talking about it but absolutely nothing fecking dodgy about Qatar winning the Asian cup at all, nope, nothing dodgy at all.
They're legitimately a decent team. Sanchez has done a wonderful job coaching them and it'll be interesting to see how they do in the Copa América this summer.
Seriously? A British guy is in prison for wearing the national football shirt of the country that won the tournament, in the country that hosted the tournament, and no-one seems to think this is newsworthy? This place is mental sometimes
What the basis for your comment? Its dodgy because you know nothing about their football team?
They were easily the best team this year. They've been heavily investing in youth football for a long time so it's not surprising and many Middle Eastern pundits had them as favourites.
Any examples of dodginess? Which games, what calls, etc.?
Nah, there's nothing wrong with it. Just like there was nothing wrong with all those Russian athlete's moping up medals at the Olympics that time when Russia were due to host. Nothing suspicious at all. Absolutely nothing to see here...
Again what are you basing it on? And have you been following their football?
I never watched the tournament but from the replies in here, seems Qatar was arguably the best team at the tournament. Surely there'd have been scandalous refereeing to aid this conspiracy, a-la South Korea in 2002? So what are you basing your "objection" on?
At least the British guy can rot in a UAE prison secure in the knowledge that the news helped to bump this thread which led to a discussion on the merits of Qatar winning a cup no-one's interested in
Guy is safe, UAE is letting spies get off the hook, let alone some fan.
Oh, that's OK then … it's all smoke is it?
I know he's an Arsenal fan, but, how would you like this luxury treatment:
A little knowledge on how things work in a foreign country would have helped. The world is never fair. People don't have the same rights everywhere in the world.
Modifying one's behaviour/actions accordingly is not a bad idea. I believe that all the British, Americans and Europeans living/working in the middle east countries don't do things in the same way as they do in their countries. They adapt and even learn to ignore stuff that is not in their hands.
Agreed. The Asian Cup was hosted in the UAE (and the British man was arrested in the UAE). Given the regional politics at the moment, if there was any funny business going on in this tournament it's much more likely to have been in trying to prevent Qatar winning the tournament!
As others have said, Qatar have invested serious time and money into their football system, and they're now reaping the rewards. They've got some genuinely decent players and a top coach.
Cool, it seems I'm the only one who is horrified by this and that's fine.
Hands up, I thought it was outrageous behaviour from a country hosting an official FIFA tournament but obviously, it's universally acceptable.
No problem, won't make the same mistake again
Spot on. As above, I lived there for 5 years and I modified certain behaviours, little things -- I wouldn't have sworn at an Emirati, I wouldn't have stuck two fingers up at a driver that cut me off, I wouldn't have been overtly touchy with a female in a public place, I wouldn't be belligerently drunk in public, and I definitely wouldn't have worn a Qatar football shirt in public. All of those examples are really pretty trivial, but some behaviour that is trivial in the UK can have major consequences in the UAE (or Qatar for that matter).
I'm not saying that it's necessarily right that behaviours should have to be adapted (it's ridiculous that the British guy was arrested). But anyone thinking of going to Qatar for the World Cup should not expect that they can behave as they might do in the UK while they're over in Qatar with no consequences.
It's funny actually, but Saudi, UAE etc ganging up and embargoing Qatar has actually made me like Qatar a little bit. The enemy of my enemy etc
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I'm still hopeful the WC will be taken away and awarded to the US,UK or Australia.
But FIFA is still dirty so I doubt it.
But FIFA is still dirty so I doubt it.
Only way this will happen is if some major nations/broadcasters pull out. I'm a bit apathetic towards international football, but the first big team to pull out of the tournament gets a massive fecking thumbs up from me.
We (the fans) need to boycott it completely, otherwise nothing will happen.
It is ridiculous to reward the corrupt regime under Blatter.
Blatant.
England, France and Germany withdrawing will destroy the tournament.
But money talks.
A tournament in the desert in the summer.
You could not make it up.
feck it.
FIFA is a corrupt cesspool and the whole WC selection process is corrupt. I wouldn't trust FIFA to manage a "clean" re-bid process if pressure mounts to strip Qatar of hosting it.
It's not going to be in the summer though.
None of the countries will withdraw either