FIFA have always been corrupt as fack and this Saudi deal is no exception to that, no doubts there to my mind. Just saying perspective is sometimes needed and sometimes a narrative can only be seen from the outside looking in. Sometimes narratives can be based on facts, but still be narratives, and those are the best narratives.

comment by Robbing Hoody - keepy up arbiter. Don’t talk to me unless you can do ten (U6374)
posted 14 seconds ago
comment by Michael Edwards FC 2.0 loading…{Proud owner of the 5 000 000th comment} (U2720)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Robbing Hoody - keepy up arbiter. Don’t talk to me unless you can do ten (U6374)
posted 32 seconds ago
I’m just dealing in known facts, but if you’re saying Saudi have won it by bribing the officials in a corrupt process then fair enough.
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And the facts is Australia pulled out their bid, therefore Saudi won by default
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Yeah, apparently they felt the fast tracked process meant a bid wasn’t really possible. Some are saying tye whole thing was engineered to make sure Saudi Arabia, with close links to FIFA and Infantino, got a free hit.

It’s just about development anyway, hopefully we see a similar bump in attendances as we did in Qatar.
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I thought we were dealing in facts here

It’s a fact some are saying that, yes.

USA 94 total attendance was 3.5m, more than the population of all of Qatar, averaging over 60k per match.

I'm all for the mental gymnastics, I do it all the time.

But like I said, everyone knows FIFA is corrupt af...the problem is people picking and choosing when they want to call them out on it.

If anything we should be losing our shiiit at that monstrosity that is the 2030 world cup because wtf is that

I can’t only speak for myself but I started to question it when they awarded it to a country 50 miles wide, with average attendances of less than 4000, that had to be held in December because that’s the only time you can play football there.

I mean it’s fine, and was a good tournament, but if you’re going to sit there and say it’s about development (as some have) then I’m rightly going to laugh my ass off at them.

comment by Michael Edwards FC 2.0 loading…{Proud owner of the 5 000 000th comment} (U2720)
posted 5 minutes ago
I'm all for the mental gymnastics, I do it all the time.

But like I said, everyone knows FIFA is corrupt af...the problem is people picking and choosing when they want to call them out on it.
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Are people picking and choosing?

You could argue that certain people are being less critical because of the cultures of the countries involved. Or am I not allowed to say that?

comment by Robbing Hoody - keepy up arbiter. Don’t talk to me unless you can do ten (U6374)
posted 3 minutes ago
I can’t only speak for myself but I started to question it when they awarded it to a country 50 miles wide, with average attendances of less than 4000, that had to be held in December because that’s the only time you can play football there.

I mean it’s fine, and was a good tournament, but if you’re going to sit there and say it’s about development (as some have) then I’m rightly going to laugh my ass off at them.
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It's definitely not about develop, agreed there. Even if there's some development, it will be an automatic side effect or by-product of them actual hosting the world cup, it won't be by design.

comment by Terminator1 (U1863)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by Michael Edwards FC 2.0 loading…{Proud owner of the 5 000 000th comment} (U2720)
posted 5 minutes ago
I'm all for the mental gymnastics, I do it all the time.

But like I said, everyone knows FIFA is corrupt af...the problem is people picking and choosing when they want to call them out on it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are people picking and choosing?

You could argue that certain people are being less critical because of the cultures of the countries involved. Or am I not allowed to say that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Or perhaps possibly more rational and reasonable.

comment by Terminator1 (U1863)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Michael Edwards FC 2.0 loading…{Proud owner of the 5 000 000th comment} (U2720)
posted 5 minutes ago
I'm all for the mental gymnastics, I do it all the time.

But like I said, everyone knows FIFA is corrupt af...the problem is people picking and choosing when they want to call them out on it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are people picking and choosing?

You could argue that certain people are being less critical because of the cultures of the countries involved. Or am I not allowed to say that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can say whatever you want.

People were losing their shiiit about South Africa. The football was terrible but man what a moment in South Africa. Party for an entire month. Hardly any issues.

Qatar was decent by many reports. Same with Russia in 2018

USA is a good example of development actually.

They literally created (or recreated I guess) the MLS purely because of winning that bid. It’s given the game there a huge boost and make it into a pretty successful league.

When Qatar won it, I heard they were creating stadiums with some mad air conditioning, that could then be dismantled and sent to Africa or something.

I was all behind that. What actually happened is they had to move it to December and kill about 60,000 people to get it built.

I think it’s disingenuous to call it ‘sandy’ with Qatar but I suspect a lot of the ire from English fans is that we have seen such an impact, some would say corruption and disruption, in our game (and wider across many sports) from the Middle East that people aren’t exactly receptive.

We’ve not even touched on sports washing.

Anyway, I think it was fvck all to do with development.

Samey* not sandy

It’s all about the money, nothing more nothing less.

The only good thing I can think of is the Saudi time zone when watching in the UK. Essentially footy all day.

comment by Mamba - I filter right back (U1282)
posted 15 minutes ago
comment by Terminator1 (U1863)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by Michael Edwards FC 2.0 loading…{Proud owner of the 5 000 000th comment} (U2720)
posted 5 minutes ago
I'm all for the mental gymnastics, I do it all the time.

But like I said, everyone knows FIFA is corrupt af...the problem is people picking and choosing when they want to call them out on it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are people picking and choosing?

You could argue that certain people are being less critical because of the cultures of the countries involved. Or am I not allowed to say that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Or perhaps possibly more rational and reasonable.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Definitely not that

USA was definitely about developing the game there and it succeeded, as much as it could do anyway, when you consider what it’s up against there.

comment by Pranky 23/24 LFC Draft Champ (U22336)
posted 26 minutes ago
It’s all about the money, nothing more nothing less.

The only good thing I can think of is the Saudi time zone when watching in the UK. Essentially footy all day.
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If it were about money surely they make more money from countries with already established infrastructure, better marketing potential and bigger stadiums since the money they make comes from selling marketing rights, TV rights, tickets etc.

So if it's not about money, what is it about?

In fact these countries end up spending billions on their infrastructure. They make some of this back of course which means by having world cups in these countries FIFA has essentially forced these countries to improve their infrastructure. The short term benefits are low but long term this can only be good for the sport in these countries.

Yeah in 2056 Qatar can expect attendances pushing 8000.

comment by TheresOnlyOne7-0Reds (U1721)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by Pranky 23/24 LFC Draft Champ (U22336)
posted 26 minutes ago
It’s all about the money, nothing more nothing less.

The only good thing I can think of is the Saudi time zone when watching in the UK. Essentially footy all day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If it were about money surely they make more money from countries with already established infrastructure, better marketing potential and bigger stadiums since the money they make comes from selling marketing rights, TV rights, tickets etc.

So if it's not about money, what is it about?
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In Saudi’s case probably vanity and a flexing of muscle.

Honestly TOOR, it’s so naive to think World Cup allocations are about development these days. US 94 and Japan / Korea in 2022 were good examples of this and I totally get the logic in taking the tournament to relatively untapped markets, using the event as a tool to promote football in regions where it needed a serious push. But those days are long gone.

Qatar's world cup bid highlighted what the process has become which is nothing more than rewarding the highest bidder. A country the size of Yorkshire, had no footballing pedigree, questionable infrastructure, and temperatures so extreme the tournament had to be shifted to winter fvcking up the rest of the football calendar. But with billions in lobbying and FIFA officials lining their pockets, that didn’t matter. Russia 2018 had its own share of corruption scandals (and only 3 years later invaded Ukraine by the way), and now Saudi Arabia 2034 is shaping up as another case of sportswashing, where vast sums of money outweigh concerns over sustainability, fairness, or human rights. This is a country that beheads its citizens with a sword ffs.

Even South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014, where you could argue about development, have been criticised for leaving behind white elephant stadiums and limited benefits to local communities. What we’re seeing now is a pattern where the global growth of football is just a convenient excuse for FIFA to cash in on the riches of oil states and political heavyweights.

comment by TheresOnlyOne7-0Reds (U1721)
posted 29 minutes ago
comment by Pranky 23/24 LFC Draft Champ (U22336)
posted 26 minutes ago
It’s all about the money, nothing more nothing less.

The only good thing I can think of is the Saudi time zone when watching in the UK. Essentially footy all day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If it were about money surely they make more money from countries with already established infrastructure, better marketing potential and bigger stadiums since the money they make comes from selling marketing rights, TV rights, tickets etc.

So if it's not about money, what is it about?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From FIFI’s perspective. All they care about is getting paid and Saudi have the deepest pockets.

comment by Robbing Hoody - keepy up arbiter. Don’t talk to me unless you can do ten (U6374)
posted 28 minutes ago
Yeah in 2056 Qatar can expect attendances pushing 8000.
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Now that’s a legacy 😆

comment by Pranky 23/24 LFC Draft Champ (U22336)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by TheresOnlyOne7-0Reds (U1721)
posted 29 minutes ago
comment by Pranky 23/24 LFC Draft Champ (U22336)
posted 26 minutes ago
It’s all about the money, nothing more nothing less.

The only good thing I can think of is the Saudi time zone when watching in the UK. Essentially footy all day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If it were about money surely they make more money from countries with already established infrastructure, better marketing potential and bigger stadiums since the money they make comes from selling marketing rights, TV rights, tickets etc.

So if it's not about money, what is it about?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From FIFI’s perspective. All they care about is getting paid and Saudi have the deepest pockets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They don't sell the world cup to countries. They make money from the actual world cup itself, no matter which country it is. The most money would be made from the countries with the most marketing potential, best TV times for a worldwide audience and ticket sales, meaning the bigger the stadium the better.

Next up on TOOR's agenda.. trying to convince us that the tooth fairy and easter bunny are both real.