I can confirm the stuff about Kerala and football fans. I even remember reading about a guy commiting suicide after Argentina lost the final.
Qatar WC | Fans and Atmosphere Watch
- Thread starter Samid
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Paying migrant workers to act as fans is peak.
It hasnt even started and it's a disaster already.
People saying this WC is more accessible for Africans are lying. Getting visas to the gulf countries for Africans has become a pain since Covid. UAE just outright banned Nigerians from applying for visa ffs.
Paying peiple to attend matches and pose as fans is notnthe worst thing in thebworld but you should not be surprised when people mock is as being inorganic.
I am on a group chat(Nigerian) and some on the chat have friends that are migrant workers in Qatar and they confirmed that the government has indded offered workers money to pose as fans and create an atmosphere. I don't know ofnthe porportion but is sounds pathetic.
Paying peiple to attend matches and pose as fans is notnthe worst thing in thebworld but you should not be surprised when people mock is as being inorganic.
I am on a group chat(Nigerian) and some on the chat have friends that are migrant workers in Qatar and they confirmed that the government has indded offered workers money to pose as fans and create an atmosphere. I don't know ofnthe porportion but is sounds pathetic.
The sheiks really has to be asking himself if the juice is worth the squeeze. All the bad stories leading up to the tournament must be the opposite of what he was planning for.
I hope that the big football federations have learnt their lesson and that next time there's a bidding process, that human rights/working conditions matter.
Yummm sports washing
I can 100% see it happening in a gulf state, its a sport washing campaign the whole thing, just like Saudi and Newcastle, whole cities have been built literally for the world cup in Qatar.
In the UAE the national news can never say anything bad about the rulers, and Qatar it will be the same. They will openly lie to the people about numbers attending and generally opinions anything.
The whole thing is a farce to try and make Qatar somewhat known as a nothing country but all people think is human rights abuse.
I expect fake fans, free tickets for anyone working in Qatar to go to the games purely to push up numbers.
I worked in Dubai as a federal employee in the UAE for Expo I got free tickets for 6 months, honestly it was great I can't complain but it's almost like the events they run in the countries don't always get heavy crowds so they want to encourage people to go.
My friend was a vice principal in a school in the UAE too and they paid for a huge villa for him and paid an ridiculous salary purely I think so when they write home it's "it's great here you should come and work", but of course UAE for westerners is great its the what happens to the construction workers and things that happen in the fragmented society because you don't interact with those people you see a big white bus take them to and from work after long days and thats it.
For the workers they get paid much more than back home for them they get to send their kids to school but it must be brutal, the fact it was never taken off Qatar too is laughable.
I feel for the players its an oven literally when you go outside and doing exercise out there? they are going to need a lot of water breaks.
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It was fairly obvious the whole fans thing was a charade.
Music was a dead give away.
Music was a dead give away.
HAHAHA, I mean, how could this get any worse. First we had these incredibly annoying "loud" vuvuzela sound throughout each and every single match during 2010 WC in SA and it turned out to be a fake when they were actually blasting the annoying sound through the speakers on the stadium.
And now we have fake fans that were paid some small amount to act as real fans of nation. One thing they forgot to take into account, and that is not all spain fans look like pakistanis and have indian accent and speak english
And now we have fake fans that were paid some small amount to act as real fans of nation. One thing they forgot to take into account, and that is not all spain fans look like pakistanis and have indian accent and speak english
Lakaka.
I have mental image that behind the camera is about 5 guys pointing guns at these "fans".
It would be even better if you spot the same guys wearing different nations shirts throughout the tournament
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The woman screaming Messi sounds more like a woman who has OCD about things being clean
Good question.
Then again, if they charge twelve quid for a plastic cup of feckin' Budweiser, I'd probably stick to drinking water anyway.
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That's probably how they enforce it, charge hotel room prices for a few drinks
Why is everyone so convinced all these fans are fake? There must be loads of fans from the sub-continent who have followed English football and travelled to the World Cup as fans of the English team. Sure they come across as a bit naff but that doesn’t mean they’re being paid to pretend to be something they’re not.
Assuming you are serious and not mocking (can't really say these days)
Because they don't look English or European. People may deny it, but it is obvious in some of the posts. I am pretty sure many people won't have a problem when in next WC, the Americans come out supporting European teams.
Prejudice. Because Qatar bribed their way to the WC, hence everything has to be fake. Qataris and others living there are not fans of football.
In all previous WC, like the Brazil one, the "real fans" spent their own money and spontaneously dressed up and started a carnival. No one had to organize it. Marketing during a WC never existed and has only started with Qatar.
I think there is some serious lack of awareness about other parts of the world than England/Europe. Lot of people seem to believe that there is only one way to become a fan and that is by being born in that country.
havent verified it myself but my friend told me the drums of all these fake fans look similar. Besides that it’s just plain easy to see that it looks like people from Nepal dressing up in the pictures
Denmark’s fans are probably under representated but I found it quite striking that the Danish Media could only find 1 danish family to interview in Qatar when they tried some days ago
Whats wrong with you guys with everything being fake because the world cup is held in Qatar. If you asked 20 English fans who the premier league legend it I bet everyone will have a different answer or chose their own club legend. Like football is only for Europeans.
There may be a bit of that but to me it looks fake because all of these fan groups look and sound the same. By that, I don't mean their nationality or race but the size of the crowds, the flags and banners they have, the fact they are there so early, each groups seems to have at least 1 Qatar flag mixed amongst them. There's also barely a female in sight, from what I have seen.
Loads of things point to these groups being somewhat choreographed.
Lame? Hady Cane and Dervad Bekkim are quality mate!
That would be normal amongst football fans from fairly conservative Muslim countries, I’d have though?
I am being serious and I think I agree with you. Just because they’re not the sort of fan European people associate with football (and maybe American too? Dunno much about yank fans) they’re being written off as fake. Which arguably is a form of prejudice.
They are not fake and I doubt they are being paid - many posts here talking about how it's the norm in several countries to support a different national team
You can give that to people from Bangladesh, but I’m not sure this works for India that’s often quoted (ridiculously IMO) as a country that finally has a chance to enjoy WC.
Then again, I wonder if the “Qatar WC is actually great for diversity” brigade actually cares about all the female football fans that decided not to travel to a country with giant issues with women rights
Yes, probably. There are children with these groups though – which I'm not sure says anything as I'm no expert – but would they travel with children and not their wives?
The children all seem to be on roller blades too, which was another pointer towards them being choreographed to me.
It's actually not due to that - it's because they are virtually all migrant workers living in Qatar, the vast majority leave kids and wife back home and travel abroad alone to work
How do you know the background of the people in those videos though?
I'd assume most of these folks are migrant workers from South Asia who are actually fans of various national teams.
From a Canadian perspective we've been to the WC once before this one. As a nation of immigrants most of us support a men's national team that is somehow connected to us (i.e. my dad is from Germany so I've always supported them) or a team that they like for whatever reason.
There's plenty to criticize Qatar about for this tournament but this seems geuine.
From a Canadian perspective we've been to the WC once before this one. As a nation of immigrants most of us support a men's national team that is somehow connected to us (i.e. my dad is from Germany so I've always supported them) or a team that they like for whatever reason.
There's plenty to criticize Qatar about for this tournament but this seems geuine.
As an Indian I think very few Indian women are into football. Its mostly 15-40 y/o urban men, that'd be the demographic I would imagine.
And cringe haha.
Let me guess, they will play "fans chanting" over the speakers also.
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Olivier Giroud at a press conference: “It's always nice to feel welcomed like that. I did not know that the Indians supported the France team, it is a weight given that they are a billion”.
Obviously no one knows for certain but I’ve seen lots of social media posts saying the group sizes and drums look like they’re templates/similar.
also, at other WCs (I’ve seen a lot), I’ve not seen almost every fan in a group all wear latest country tops. Some do, some wear vintage, some wear own clothes. For example, England.. you’d get white (new and vintage), red, grey?
again, can’t say for certain (until a journalist posts a photo of 100 guys changing from Spain tops to Uruguay tops) but just feels/looks so clinical and organised.
Maybe it’s not organised to give the world a positive view of Qatars WC, maybe every fan does happen to look similar and all wear brand new tops, maybe the Danish journalist was doing something wrong when they stopped him filming and said they might smash his camera. Who knows?
she just wants to clean the streets man! all that litter. Poor woman.