Zlatan tells LeBron James to stay out of politics...

cyberman

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Depends on what you think politics are.

He had to appeal to politicians, spoke to the leader of the politicians in this country and had to liaise with them to get this done.
But he would have made the same moves regardless of what governement are in charge. He just wants to feed hungry children and it doesnt get much more charitable than that. Thats just the route he had to go down.
 
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HTG

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I don’t think he means it to be an ass, but he comes from a country with the most vanilla politics imaginable.

He hasn’t quite grasped that he’s talking about a polarized place with huge race issues, where Arnie was governor of the richest state and Donald fecking Trump was president.

I think he’s just a bit closed and a bit thick here.
He lived there.
 

GueRed

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Zlatan is a clown.

Talks so much attention seeking trash. I think he is quite insecure.
 

Brightonian

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'Stop weighing in on things that have nothing to do with you,' says famously arrogant man with opinion on everything.
 

duffer

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What Rashford did was absolutely political.

He was just so effective at it that it was almost unrecognisable compared to what other "celebs" have tried to do.

If you have a platform as a famous person and don't give a shit about something then fair enough. If you do give a shit but don't speak up, you're a coward.
 

SwedishFish

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What Rashford did was absolutely political.

He was just so effective at it that it was almost unrecognisable compared to what other "celebs" have tried to do.

If you have a platform as a famous person and don't give a shit about something then fair enough. If you do give a shit but don't speak up, you're a coward.
Political in the UK, yes. Because your government has stripped away basic human needs and rights for your most exposed citizens.

It shouldn't be though for any modern democracy that follows the UN Convention on the rights of the child.
 

L1nk

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It's a dumb take of course, regardless of your status you should be able to have a political opinion. However, he's absolutely right about LeBron, the guy is just a massive hypocrite who want's it one way but then kowtow's to China the other. Nobody should have an issue with LeBron speaking up about and supporting good causes, however he should be dragged through the mud for supporting China over Hong Kong and the genocides that are happening over there right now, but he stays quiet about that because he gets money from it but then is fine talking about other stuff, it's a joke.
 

Bubz27

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Bit he would have made the same moves regardless of what governement are in charge. He just wants to feed hungry children and it doesnt get much more charitable than that. Thats just the route he had to go down.
And LeBron would've stood up for the rights of black people regardless of who was in charge? It's not as if racism stopped when Obama was president and started again when Trump came in.
 

HTG

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Feeding hungry children is an extremely political thing to do. Especially since so many politicians try their best not to.
 

duffer

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Political in the UK, yes. Because your government has stripped away basic human needs and rights for your most exposed citizens.

It shouldn't be though for any modern democracy that follows the UN Convention on the rights of the child.
Of course children going hungry shouldn't be an issue, does that really need to be said?

It is an issue though and without Rashford talking about it there would be more kids going without.
 

VeevaVee

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People complain when celebrities don’t use their platform for anything worthwhile. People complain when they do. I know which side has more assholes on it.
 

SwedishFish

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Of course children going hungry shouldn't be an issue, does that really need to be said?

It is an issue though and without Rashford talking about it there would be more kids going without.
I don't know, it seems to divide opinions all over the UK.

But regardless, like the video I posted earlier in the thread about the campaign Zlatan did for the World Food Programme a few years ago, I don't think that is what's being implied here in this interview.
 

duffer

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I don't know, it seems to divide opinions all over the UK.

But regardless, like the video I posted earlier in the thread about the campaign Zlatan did for the World Food Programme a few years ago, I don't think that is what's being implied here in this interview.
It's pretty clear what Zlatan said.

Just because he's Swedish, you don't need to try and justify what he said.

He's just a bit of a moron. It's not a slight on you or your country. There are plenty of English morons, I don't take it personally when they get called out.
 

Galactic

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Depends very much on how you define “politics” really. And depends on if one defines BLM as political.
 

SwedishFish

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It's pretty clear what Zlatan said.

Just because he's Swedish, you don't need to try and justify what he said.

He's just a bit of a moron. It's not a slight on you or your country. There are plenty of English morons, I don't take it personally when they get called out.
I don't need to do anything and I frankly think his nationality is irrelevant.

The difference is, you read up on all the press regarding players from the UK and you only get snippets of news when it comes to players from other countries.

His stance on players who come from immigrant backgrounds in the Swedish national team on multiple occasions, his initiatives for WFP, etc all disprove the point you want to force.

Disregard these things if you want to all you like to reinforce your image, but there is a bigger picture.

I think the quotes are sloppy but I don't think it takes away the other things he's done.
 

OleBoiii

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In my experience, when someone complains about politics not belonging somewhere that person usually:

A) has no actual opinions because he/she lacks knowledge about most things
or
B) has some absolutely shite opinions

Whether it's A or B, it all stems from the fear of being exposed for who you truly are. I wonder which is the case with Zlatan here.
 

africanspur

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I don't need to do anything and I frankly think his nationality is irrelevant.

The difference is, you read up on all the press regarding players from the UK and you only get snippets of news when it comes to players from other countries.

His stance on players who come from immigrant backgrounds in the Swedish national team on multiple occasions, his initiatives for WFP, etc all disprove the point you want to force.

Disregard these things if you want to all you like to reinforce your image, but there is a bigger picture.

I think the quotes are sloppy but I don't think it takes away the other things he's done.
Who says anything about how its taken away from other things he's done? What does that have to do with this particular case?
 

Pep's Suit

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To be fair, a lot of famous people are so disconnected from reality of 99.9% population that it's sometimes better when they stay in their bubbles. Or they just jump on whatever social media fans want from them.
 

duffer

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I don't need to do anything and I frankly think his nationality is irrelevant.
Come on now! If he was Welsh rather than Swedish you wouldn't give a single shit! I'd bet a million quid that if I went into the thread about the Zlatan v Lukaku spat, you've posted on Zlatan's side.

I don't think Zlatan is a bad person. He's done a load for good causes over the years but he does talk a lot of bollocks and because of his talent and charisma, people pay attention.
 

DWelbz19

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I don't need to do anything and I frankly think his nationality is irrelevant.

The difference is, you read up on all the press regarding players from the UK and you only get snippets of news when it comes to players from other countries.

His stance on players who come from immigrant backgrounds in the Swedish national team on multiple occasions, his initiatives for WFP, etc all disprove the point you want to force.

Disregard these things if you want to all you like to reinforce your image, but there is a bigger picture.

I think the quotes are sloppy but I don't think it takes away the other things he's done.
They don’t. Nor are they actually relevant — for anything other than your PR damage control in this thread.
 

SwedishFish

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Who says anything about how its taken away from other things he's done? What does that have to do with this particular case?
That we are quick to rush to conclusions that this particular snippet is regarding BLM or racism when he many times in the Swedish press has opposed himself against racism in particular involving the national team.

Granted, I could be wrong and so could you. But it would be a bit weird for him to take a stance on one end and slam people for doing the same on the other.

He could refer to something other than that particular issue.
 

JPRouve

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The thread should be moved to the general/current event forum. It has nothing to do with football and it should lead to discussions about society and politics.
 

SwedishFish

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They don’t. Nor are they actually relevant — for anything other than your PR damage control in this thread.
Why would I care, if he talks a bunch of shit, slagging everyone off, and knocks out England of the Euros I'd be happy as can be.

I just think in this instance we don't really know what he's referring to. That's something that would need clarifying.
 

JPRouve

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That we are quick to rush to conclusions that this particular snippet is regarding BLM or racism when he many times in the Swedish press has opposed himself against racism in particular involving the national team.

Granted, I could be wrong and so could you. But it would be a bit weird for him to take a stance on one end and slam people for doing the same on the other.

He could refer to something other than that particular issue.
He brought Lebron James into it and Lebron James main topic when it comes to politics concerns African americans conditions in the US and systemic racism.
 

SwedishFish

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Come on now! If he was Welsh rather than Swedish you wouldn't give a single shit! I'd bet a million quid that if I went into the thread about the Zlatan v Lukaku spat, you've posted on Zlatan's side.

I don't think Zlatan is a bad person. He's done a load for good causes over the years but he does talk a lot of bollocks and because of his talent and charisma, people pay attention.
I think both players behaved like kids in that incident.

Agreed, he does talk a lot of bollocks. I think this quote since it stirred a lot of emotions and left a lot of room for interpretation, certainly came out wrong.
 

Mike Smalling

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I like Zlatan, but he is clearly wrong in this case. Nothing wrong with Lebron using the platform he has created to try and better the world.
 

SwedishFish

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He brought Lebron James into it and Lebron James main topic when it comes to politics concerns African americans conditions in the US and systemic racism.
Yes, it certainly is. But it's not his only topic. If you'd scroll back on his Twitter page you'd find him making a lot of posts in regards to the 2020 presidential election.

Now, I'm no fan of Trump and this election definitely had the BLM movement during the summer fresh in mind, but it's not directly correlated. Nor is it the first time that LeBron wades in to politics that isn't regarding racial justice.
 

horsechoker

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Political in the UK, yes. Because your government has stripped away basic human needs and rights for your most exposed citizens.

It shouldn't be though for any modern democracy that follows the UN Convention on the rights of the child.
Completely agree with you
 

JPRouve

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Yes, it certainly is. But it's not his only topic. If you'd scroll back on his Twitter page you'd find him making a lot of posts in regards to the 2020 presidential election.

Now, I'm no fan of Trump and this election definitely had the BLM movement during the summer fresh in mind, but it's not directly correlated. Nor is it the first time that LeBron wades in to politics that isn't regarding racial justice.
But that's irrelevant because it includes racial justice, Ibrahimovic made a blanket statement about athletes involvements in politics, he brought up Lebron James and didn't think that it was an idea to exclude racial topics. So it's not only fair to assume that Ibrahimovic includes those in his remarks but it's dishonest to arbitrarily give him a pass because in all cases he is wrong.
 

Devil may care

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The sports/movie/music stars that don't want other stars to speak up on politics or social matters are usually the ones who favour the likes of Trump and that mindset.
 

decorativeed

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That's a strange take because politics is something that we all do and should all do, we are members and actors of society, no one should be a bystander and let "politicians" do politics.
Spot on. I hate people saying we should "keep politics out of (X)" because everything in life is political to some degree. What they mean is the don't like hearing people's politics that challenge their own.
 

SwedishFish

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But that's irrelevant because it includes racial justice, Ibrahimovic made a blanket statement about athletes involvements in politics, he brought up Lebron James and didn't think that it was an idea to exclude racial topics. So it's not only fair to assume that Ibrahimovic includes those in his remarks but it's dishonest to arbitrarily give him a pass because in all cases he is wrong.
Do you think he's wrong if it would be in regards to LeBron's comments over China/Hong Kong? or anything political that isn't about racial justice?

How do you know what he thinks? I think it could've and maybe should've been clarified in the interview by the person who interviewed him.

But it's equally dishonest to say that his answer has any relation to BLM/racial justice when that simply hasn't been clarified and in regards to what Zlatan said in previous interviews himself, contradictory.