Qatar 2022

[Amo]

BBC are running article saying that Saudi Arabia have blocked the WC streaming service. Sorry if this is a dull question but why would they do this?

post the article link and we could perhaps tell you.

 

[nipponyid]

oh dear!

 

[DanoCanuck]

Bloody hell. Lots of testosterone fueled up to the max with alcohol.

 

[aussiespursguy]

I think this Ad sums it up well.
Yeah, Nah

 

[lis spur]

I might be in the minority - but I kind of like all the extra time added in the WC. No timewasting goes unnoticed. Makes it useless, and eventually it would change players behaviors.

To me it looks like the 'dead rat on a table' moment ,cack handed attempt to try and take the narrative away from the problems of this tournament

 

[aussiespursguy]

They might not but I think you’d find the women of the world might have more bollocks than the men and actually boycott it.

The majority of the worlds top women players are gay.
Trust me they will much prefer coming to Australia (World Cup 2023 with our Kiwi cousins) than amiddle east country,

 

[aussiespursguy]

That's not a fair reflection of what is happening. Qatar has naturalised players, sometimes cynically, but certainly not systematically.

Qatar is a small country with a strong economy, and like many small countries with large economies it relies on immigration. Only 300,000 people who live in Qatar are 'Qatari's' so about 2 million are not Qatari. That is, and always has been, reflected in there national team. If you want to see a European example look at Luxembourg.

In terms of Qatar quickly naturalising players there isn't much evidence to suggest that this was done in systematic level.

Of the players not born in Qatar you have:

Ro-Ro = was born in Portugal was absolutely naturalised for footballing purposes. Keep in mind Costa for Spain and Thiago Motta for Italy are recent examples of naturalized players.

Kheder - Born in Sudan, but has been living in Qatar since he was 16 at the youngest but probably was raised there. Unlikely it fits what is being suggested.

Al Rawi - Iraqi born. UAE made a massive song and dance about his eligibility. But was dismissed as baseless, and frankly I believe it was a whole load of sour grapes. He went to school in Qatar before joing a football academy. It is possible that he was specifically bought in for football purposes. Personally I see it unlikely, but you pick what you want.

Khoukhi - yes. Naturalised Algerian.

Waad - Iraqi born but, again, was raised in Qatar from his late teens at the latest onwards.

Ali Assadella - born in Barahin but lived in Qatar from 15 onwards.

Boudiaff - yes, naturalised french Algerian.

Alaaeldin - born in Egypt migrated to Qatar at 10. No way you can interpret this as something cynical.

Muntari- yes, naturalised Ghanaian.

Ali - born in Sudan. Another one UAE complained about. Reality is he has lived in Qatar since at least the age of 7, but most probably even before that. He also likely has a Qatari mother.

So what we have is 4 naturalised players. Then maybe another 4 you could argue about on the basis they were bought young but may have arrived to join the aspire academy. But even if that is true those are 4 players developed in Qatar. Mostly, though, this isn't a particularly remarkable number of foreign born players considering the context in which Qatar is in.

The main reason for Qatar quickly improving has actually got much more to do with incredible funding in youth development, and this was a long costly and difficult thing to do. It also has benefited from a rapid increase in its population. But Qatar has always over achieved in Asia relative to size, and has always done fairly well at youth levels. They finished 2nd in the youth world cup in the 80s but generally regularly qualifies to that competition, they also won the Asian games (functionally an U23 competition) in 2003.

Even with the recent developments it's worth noting past qatari teams have arguably been stronger. In the 90s they came within one game of qualifying for the world cup. Which would have been a phenomenal achievement.

I think with Qatar we need to separate narratives that are largely exaggerated (like this one, but also say the idea 60k workers have died, that women have no part in active social life) from those that are very much real (avoidable deaths, inhuman workers conditions which could borderline be considered a form of slavery, women defacto treated as male property in the eyes of the law) because without that separation you end up feeding into the narrative that Qatar is being victimised.

Far out.
Know who you are behind

 

[Marty]

The majority of the worlds top women players are gay.
Trust me they will much prefer coming to Australia (World Cup 2023 with our Kiwi cousins) than amiddle east country,

I don't think majority is correct, but there's definitely a larger proportion of openly gay female top footballers and athletes in general than in wider society.

 

[philll]

 

[idontgetit]

 

[Yid121]

Anyone seen the fifa documentary on Netflix? They're all disgusting but Blatter is just the worst.

 

[slartibartfast]

Not inconceivable at all. They're corrupt as fuck and more countries means more votes in their quest for power. Makes complete sense. What has football got to do with it?
Disgusting and wrong but not inconceivable.

 

[DanoCanuck]

Anyone seen the fifa documentary on Netflix? They're all disgusting but Blatter is just the worst.

It’s really well done and exposes the thievery and corruptness up and down the entire FIFA organization. It should be considered organized crime. Mafia even.

 

[tototoner]

 

[Gbspurs]

View attachment 119954

This is all interesting, however Juan Mata didn't play for Chelsea in 2010.

 

[EireYid]

This is all interesting, however Juan Mata didn't play for Chelsea in 2010.

I've just seen Sky running with this as well. You would think they'd know he wasn't there in 2010, all it takes is a quick google search.

 

[hughy]

I've just seen Sky running with this as well. You would think they'd know he wasn't there in 2010, all it takes is a quick google search.

When have Sky ever given a shit about facts?

 

[easley91]

When have Sky ever given a shit?

Fixed it for you.

 

[Gassin's finest]

I'll admit I haven't watched any of it, but is it too tinfoil hat to see Qatar owned PSG's two biggest stars in the final together?

 

[Tucker]

I'll admit I haven't watched any of it, but is it too tinfoil hat to see Qatar owned PSG's two biggest stars in the final together?

Have to say I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing. I’ve not watched any either, so I don’t know if there have been any dodgy decisions that have helped France and Argentina on their way.