I’m sure it’s all above board and perfectly legal.
Nothing to see here. 
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I was looking at tge FIFA ticket prices. They are extortionate prices. This is so wrong.
Now, i saw on the news. They will be checking every tourist’s docial media for the last 5 years. This is so totalitarian.
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Have you seen the kick-off times? Scotland have one at 02:00 and the other two at 23:00. One of those is against Morocco, who will have the kickoff time at midnight.
What is the point of having more teams in the finals if the smaller nations are going to be offered insane kick-off times. This was better when it was in Japan and Korea. I’m sure it was better the last time it was in the USA, or Mexico for that matter.
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@RedWhippet
Do you mean 2:00 am US time or 2:00 am GMT time? That cannot be right surely🤔?
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It’s 2:00 am BST (Scotland) 03:00 for me in Germany. I will probably record it and watch it first thing in the morning, presumably after doing a Likely Lads thing to avoid the result.
The game against Morocco kicks off at 23:00, so will end at 01:00. (Edit: Morocco is on the same time zone in the summer).
I can remember when the World Cup was in Argentina, I was allowed to stay up later to watch the Scotland games. I think they finished around 21:30. Can you imagine kids now being able to stay up and watch between 23:00 and 01:00, or even 02:00 to 04:00?
I think it’s pretty evident that the competition will be skewed towards the favoured nations. World Cup, my arse.
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The thing is, i feel like boycotting the World Cup, then I think of our home nations team players and want to support and cheer them as a fan. It is not their fault. They have no say in it.
It is the hierachy in the FIFA organisation who are corrupt and there is nobody above them or strong enough who can take them down.They are just like a sophisticated Football Mafia.
Unless… all the players of their respective countries teams go on strike and no fans turning up. You can’t have a World Cup without both.
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The fans in Scotland are complaining that the pubs will be shut :0)
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The pubs shut when people go home. 
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The whole thing is a mafia scam.
Ignore it.
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I feel torn. I hate everything “around” the WC, including FIFA honcho’s, the obscene submission to Trump and the money grift.
At the same time, we have the best team we have ever had. And I am going to watch those mathes and see how far we can possibly go. I love International Football, such as the Euroes and World Cups. Always have since I was a very little kid.
It’s a great shame how it is steadily getting more corrupt,the setting of the cups though.
But I am going to watch a lot of football. Hopefully the US gets 0 points, so Trump cannot use it as propaganda.
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Three grand for the cheapest Final ticket. lol
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Same here, and it has always struck me as being a pure form of football because the players selected are on the basis of their nationality rather than the wealth.
I have a bad feeling that games are going to be rigged in this world cup (although I think that has happened before).
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I love watching the smaller tiny nations who are in the World Cup for the first time. It is a first for them and their enthusiastic fans to be in the World Cup and be seen by billion people on the planet.
All the fans from different parts of the world mingling together with their flags dancing together.
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Yet so many Americans are responding by blithely saying “supply and demand, innit. If people will pay it why not charge that much?” Which gives you great insight into why American sports fan culture is so comparatively shit.
Pablo Torre did a good piece a few months back where he, Zoran, and Lina Khan discuss the ticket prices and how they compare to 94. It’s outrageous
There is an Americanism in this as well. You think about an emerging side in football like Klopp’s dortmund and they quite quickly become a darling that everyone wants to watch when possible to get to know who these up and coming new players are. In the US the equivalent team is met with derision, and if they were to reach the equivalent of the semi finals the almost universal opinion would be that it would be best if they lose so we can have the Kobe vs LeBron final everyone wants to see. It is a perspective on sports fandom that treats it more as a comforting TV show than what we as football fans recognize as sports with what makes it so compelling a past time.
And then to that point, see Ronaldo somehow getting his 2 game world cup ban over turned, because its Ronaldo and the world cup and the fans want to see him. And the when Portugal are struggling in the group stage and need a win in the last game to make it through the next round, the dodgy reffing will be met with “well, its better for the tournament to have Ronaldo make it through to the next round.”
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FFS. I hate it enough for some TV stations (NBC and affiliates, I am looking at you) show commercials while fans are singing YNWA before the kick-off, now they are thinking of squeezing commercials during drink breaks?!
Anyways, it doesn’t matter to me, I am going to avoid watching this WC (water closet?) as much as possible.
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Yep, a terrible bit about the coverage here. A big game has just ended and you want to see the footage of the players reacting down on the pitch and they immediately cut to the same Heineken commercial they have already showed 32 times during this broadcast.
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Cheerleaders aside, a distinct lack of atmosphere at the games me thinks
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Yeah, I just put in for the draw to see the Oranje play their second group match in Houston. There were 3 tiers of tickets: 1st tier $800+, 2nd $400+, and 3rd $200+. I put in for tier 2, with the caveat that I could get tier 3 seats if tier 2 were not available.
Not gonna lie, that’s a lot of money, when you factor in travel costs, but we’ve got family in the Houston area, and seeing the Dutch in a WC match is a bucket list item for me.
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I am a night owl and even that 4am kick off is beyond me
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