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The Tyrants Buying Football

rez9000

Any point?
Feb 8, 2007
11,942
21,098
So, further to the discussion that started in the 'What our opponents fans are saying about us' thread regarding Man City, I thought I'd set something up here to avoid that thread from getting clogged with off-subject matter (and to try and contain what seems to be a major battle brewing sending the thread even further off-course).

So, in a nutshell: The Al-Nahyans are a bunch of scumbags. The Qataris who own PSG are a bunch of scumbags. Amnesty and HRW have both given very condemnatory analysis of both Qatar and the UAE over humans rights violations and the owners of the two clubs are actively subverting football with UEFA and FIFA seemingly powerless to stop them

Aaaaaand.... discuss!
 

NayimFTHL

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2017
102
499
The link was to Abramovich. Another one is gaydamak and Pompey. Many other dodgy owners of clubs.
 

-Afri-Coy-

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2012
5,838
18,570
reports today suggest QSI apparently getting ready to buy a championship team to compete with city one day. The rot will continue.
 

rez9000

Any point?
Feb 8, 2007
11,942
21,098
The link was to Abramovich. Another one is gaydamak and Pompey. Many other dodgy owners of clubs.
But your initial post was 'what about Israel?'.

I have my views on Israel, but they don't impinge on a discussion about football because Israel doesn't own any football clubs.

The reason we were discussing Man City in the other thread is because we just played them and the discussion had gone that way.

Forgive me for saying so, but your intervention had the hallmarks of someone with a specific gripe about Israel. All three of the owners you've cited happen to be Jewish / Israeli.

Again, we will all have views about Israel, but the key here is that neither Abramovich, Gaydamak, nor Michael Eisner have directly engaged in institutionalised atrocities like the owners of Man City and PSG have. The owners of those clubs are part of the governments of the countries they are from, both non-elected absolute monarchies at that.

That is the key problem here. Israel isn't trying to hide anything or sportswash criticism away and polish its reputation by buying trophies in faraway lands. In fact, I'd argue that Israel is quite open about what it does, be that viewed positively or negatively and in fact, knows how much blowback is likely to occur if they did attempt that.

Do you see the difference?
 
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NayimFTHL

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2017
102
499
Why is Abramovich not allowed back in the country? What are his links to Putin? FSB?
 

Spurs 1961

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
6,665
8,739
If you want to know about Abramovich then you will find that Matthew Syed has written quite a lot about him over the years
 

rez9000

Any point?
Feb 8, 2007
11,942
21,098
I think it important to say that I don't approve of what Abramovich does either at Chelsea. The difference is he's never been head of a government.

In contrast, Al-Nahyan is UAE's Deputy Prime Minister; Al-Thani is Qatar's Minister of State. Both are members of their respective country's royal families.
 
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RickyVilla

Well-Known Member
May 16, 2004
18,479
19,942
So Israel own a football club and so does Putin? May will be in on the act soon and buy West Ham.
 

rez9000

Any point?
Feb 8, 2007
11,942
21,098
Am I missing something?
I don't know if you saw the 'What our opponents fans are saying about us thread' but there was discussion about Man City and it was going very wildly off-topic. I decided to set this thread up to help avoid the other one from going off and also there was danger of it being locked as things were beginning to get heated.

This thread has its opening, but continues an aspect of it regarding human rights violations by regimes that don't actually own any football clubs.
 

Locotoro

Prince of Zamunda
Sep 2, 2004
9,326
13,915
I don't know if you saw the 'What our opponents fans are saying about us thread' but there was discussion about Man City and it was going very wildly off-topic. I decided to set this thread up to help avoid the other one from going off and also there was danger of it being locked as things were beginning to get heated.

This thread has its opening, but continues an aspect of it regarding human rights violations by regimes that don't actually own any football clubs.
Thanks for the clarification. I thought I somehow entered mid conversation, which turns out I did
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
Unfortunately there’s no way to stop it. ‘Fit and proper’ just means being minted, and most fans won’t boycott matches.
 

rez9000

Any point?
Feb 8, 2007
11,942
21,098
Unfortunately there’s no way to stop it. ‘Fit and proper’ just means being minted, and most fans won’t boycott matches.
If only we had a little of what they have in Germany, where fans from all over the league are engaged in anti-Leipzig activities.
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,147
If only we had a little of what they have in Germany, where fans from all over the league are engaged in anti-Leipzig activities.

As much as I can’t stand Liverpool fans, I did support their stance on ticket prices. In this day and age it should be possible for football fans across the country to mobilise against the FA. A few rounds of league matches with empty stands (‘make a stand - avoid the stands’) would get their attention. However, most are too partisan and/or disinterested to do that.

I certainly won’t be watching the next World Cup. It would be typical if England win the bloody thing (emphasis on ‘bloody’).
 

Tucker

Shitehawk
Jul 15, 2013
31,130
146,013
I honestly think City and their ilk are an text book example of everything that is wrong with football.

Not only the fact that they’re a sports washing sham club, or the fact they’re making a mockery of financial rules, or buying every trophy they can. But also they way they’re spreading there disease around the globe, buying up clubs and renaming them (xyz) City, sticking them in a sky blue kit and using them to essentially launder money into the main operation.

Sadly the genie is already out of the bottle. The FA should have stamped this kind of activity out when Abramovich bought Chelsea. How many dodgy billionaires have come into the game and bankrupted clubs since that was allowed to happen? Two or three at least? Portsmouth, QPR, Blackburn, City (the first time they were bought out by a dodgy guy Thaskin Shinawatra.) Fit and proper test my arse. Seems like you only need a pulse to pass that.

FIFA and UEFA also did nothing in the early days. And they don’t seem inclined to take any meaningful action
now either.

I’d love to see opposition fans start some kind of anti city protest at their games. All wear funeral attire and hold banners decrying the death of football, banners highlighting the atrocities of the oil slavers that own the club, the hypocrisy of the likes of Guardiola.

Like others have said, it just won’t happen, and I doubt the likes of sky, bt or the bbc would rock the boat by reporting too much on it.
 
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