Horrifying. Imagine being there with your kids
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Itâs part of the reason why I can barely stand England. I can just about remember all the ticker tape from the 1978 World Cup, then Spain 1982, and since then, much more clearly. Fond memories over the years, and some big moments, but mostly heartbreak as an English man.
I grew up really looking forward to international football as it was the pinnacle. Now it isnât. And then coupled with that, you have all these morons who support the national team. I feel no affinity with them whatsoever.
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England squad announced today. There are more players who came up through the Chelsea system but now play for someone else (Guehi, Gallagher, Abraham) than there are actual Chelsea players. It was reported that Tomori was really close to getting a call up as well. I donât know whether that is a credit to the chelsea system or an indictment of it.
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Without Roman there, it is easy to imagine that might all change now if their youth system continues to be as successful as it has been in producing young talent.
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Itâs interesting that weâre starting to see some comments on this now. For all the shit he gets, Kane made a relatively thoughtful comment about it earlier in the week as well. The players are in a position they shouldnt have been put in and I dont know the right way for them to act. I know there have been a lot of calls for players to withdraw, but the tournament will go on without them. I do wonder whether thoughtful commentary like this will do more in the long run than pulling out.
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I understand that itâs not really possible to withdraw but I donât really care what all the players (not just the England players) say now.
What matters is what they do and say during the tournament. T-Shirt protests during warm up and when the national anthems being played at every game. Because thatâs when the whole word is watching.
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Why is it not possible to withdraw? Serious questionâŚ
Because teams like Italy will gobble up any vacant space.
And?
Morals and ethics of the nation withdrawing will move towards a cleaner sport and FIFA will be compromised and so damaged that a global rethink on football will be required.
And if England, France, Germany, Brazil pull out a lot of nations will decide not to replace them.
Its all well and good clapping for Ukraine, or taking a kneeâŚboth very worthy in their own right. Its all well and good giggling at Chelsea and the fall of RomanâŚbut this is a serious human rights issue that is being swept under the carpet.
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The probnlem is if England pull out, Germany, France and Brazil will not look at it as a massive loss, except that their fans wonât risk being attacked by pissed up brits
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But not just England should pull out.
All of the major nations should do likewise.
You mean that all the major nations should pull out.
And England.
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If a larger nation were to pull out it would be good IMO. It will make headlines, and thatâs not a bad thing and perhaps then the focus would switch to the likes of Newcastle for example. Maybe a few others might look at themselves, but I suspect not. Sadly, though, like many things todays news is quickly forgotten.
Another unfortunate twist would be, would we expect a nation like Wales to pull out? They have a chance of qualifying and that is a feat in itself for us. Massive and ballsy decision to deny the players and Welsh fans the opportunity of seeing Wales in World Cup. Might be a once in a generation thing. Morally though, Iâd have to say itâs the right one.
FIFA was so compromised recently that people got jail time, people got fired and banned for life, some fined millions, and huge sponsors didnât even blink, FIFA ended up farting roses while, everyone knows itâs rancid inside. It would take 5 or 6 big teams to break awayâŚ.oh wait, I forgot, about 8 of the biggest teams in history tried to do that to UEFA, the fans really supported that.
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Ah fuck it you are 100% right. Let everyone do what they want, who gives a fuck.
My point is that there is a serious chance for sport, football to make a REAL stand against human rights abusesâŚ
But fair enough, I am not arguing it, fuck that.
I think essentially all people agree with you. As for corporations, they will say and do whatever is needed to make a profit, and will then preach ethics on whomever doesnât make them profit or enough profit (e.g. NBA/China, any clothing manufacturer/China). As far as politicians go (essentially the voice of the people), everyone knows they say whatever is needed in order to get a vote, which is why they tweak things depending on who they are pandering to (assuming we not talking extremes).
At the end of the day, FIFA will just say âlook how morally superior we are, no Russia at the World Cup, so of course we would do something if Qatar was THAT badâ. What would it take? I guess major sponsors to pull out, which would take major, major boycotting of their products.
The major teams should a) boycott Qatar but then b) play each other in a parallel competition.
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