One of the reasons I wanted to see an NIT WC tournament in the US last year, aside from the unusual number of big-name teams that failed to qualify, was that it could be used as a springboard for even teams that do qualify in 2022 to boycott the tournament and hold a competing event (except not really competing in terms of time, as it would be held in summer).
Well, if Michel Platini is getting detained over corruption questioning maybe they’ll rethink it when delegates start being i prisoner over their votes? https://www.apnews.com/9cc77b4aace24835b160b41168df02d3
If we started cancelling sporting events because they were won by bribery we would also have to cancel this years IAAF championships scheduled for Qatar and the 2020 Japanese Olympics. I'm not saying I disagree with that stance, but I consider it unlikley...
Well lets just cancel it on the actual verifiable slave labor, thats probably a good enough reason too.
I didn't know BigSoccer moderators could take the World Cup from Qatar or any other nation and give it to another?!
This Wednesday (07/17/19) is the draw for the Asian groups in the Second Round of their qualifiers, the CONMEBOL order of fixtures, and the inter-continental playoff rivals. The last one is quite interesting to us.
And The Atlantic publishes the response to this piece: Qatar Responds: Don’t Cancel the 2022 World Cup
That whole thing is just gaslighting. Of course they got it through bribery. They also got the IAAF championships through bribery. I can post the details if anybody is google deficient as I've followed it quite closely. They haven't been cleared. They are also not in any way committed to gender equality or worker rights. The whole thing is just as fanciful as magic floating clouds providing shade.
Qatar still failing to protect workers' rights, says Amnesty International https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49747688
While I don't think there will be a re-vote for 2022, there has been a little bit of movement regarding the awarding of the 2018 & 2022 World Cups: FIFA executives were offered millions to award World Cups to Russia, Qatar, prosecutors say https://t.co/OBjMiFZHmS By @TheWillHobson— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) April 6, 2020
Every 6 months or so I ask myself "whatever happened to that investigation?" And "when are they finally going to get to what happened with Russia and Quatar?"
Combine with the sorry state of US Soccer and my enthusiasm for international soccer is at an all time low. I'm sure that this was happening before Russia and Qatar, but to see more of the details, it's just disheartening.
I suspect that one of the game's dirty little secrets is that the players' enthusiasm for the international game / World Cup isn't what it was.
Agreed. Additionally, club soccer has expanded such as players from all around the world play against each other. I think that there was a certain level of excitement playing against named players in the past. Today, they may be a teammate or you already play against them at the club level.
May depend on the team. I've seen some teams such as Chile a few years ago look they'd run through a minefield for each other that I don't always see with club teams. I'd bet each player has a preference and few give their all to both but some do.