Bravo, FIFA, bravo.......

[smurphy]

I know many of you arent interested in football( or soccer if you have an indigenous game which you refer to as "football") but today the world cups in 2018 and 2022 were given to Russia and Qatar respectively. Russia being chosen over England and joint bids by Spain/Portugal and Holland/Belgium. Qatar being chosen over the good ol US of A, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Now in the past few weeks( and years, but more so now) FIFA and its executive members have been proven to be pretty much.... VERY, VERY corrupt. But FIFA just ignored these allegations( which were proven) and went ahead with a voting process which was pretty much fixed.

So the 2 countries with the best stadia and infastructure (England and the US if you were wondering) were passed over for a country with basically a dictator (Putin), which impinged on the sovereignty of Georgia no more than 2 years ago and has generally some of the most racist football fans in the world. And Qatar has a human rights record more alike to Iran than any western country. I mean the 2022 world cup is going to be a barrel of laughs, with no beer( being a muslim country), where women have next to no rights, all these other factors as well as the fact the football is going to be sh*t because the players will all have fainted within ten minutes having to play in 45 degree plus temperatures.

So my question is.... can someone recommend me a new sport? I am sick of FIFA and their shenanigans.

[RagnaToad]

I can relate to that, man. Personally I wasn't for the idea of having the world cup in Belgium/Holland, because it would simply cost Belgium so much money.

And the FIFA has more than once proven to be a stubborn organisation. But still, Champions League and Europa League remain worth watching.

[Unknown Entity]

I blame "call me Dave" Cameron.

Anywho, I don't care. It might have been nice, but we have the Olympics in 2012, so if the world ends, we hosted the final Olympic games, and there'll be no World Cup.

Disclaimer: The world isn't going to end.

Another sport? Tennis? If you're a lot more mature than most and can get over the "sex noises", it's a pretty good game.

[Alpha]

I'm not exactly sure why human rights is relevant for hosting rights.

I mean, I can get the whole 'FIFA shouldn't be supporting them' attitude, but... FIFA isn't the UN or anything. It's a football association. They are concerned with the game of football. When they start becoming some pseudo-human rights organisation, I wonder what the actual human rights organisations will do. The Amnesty International Football World Cup?

Good on them for giving Qatar and Russia a turn. I don't think Qatar is as bad as you suggest, though Putin is blatantly a dictator.

[smurphy]

What happens if Israel qualifies for 2022 is my biggest concern, considering Qatar doesnt officially recognise the state of Israel. Or what if one of the many blatant homosexual fans wants to travel to a country where it is forbidden essentially. Human rights is an issue because there are many who may go who may find themselves ostracised when they wouldnt have been if any of the alternatives were chosen.

As well as that the population is only around 1.5 million, the majority being migrant workers. And of the twelve stadia, none have even broken ground in construction never mind even hosted a game before. And Qatar doesnt even have any history in the world cup never having qualified.

All I am saying is something about this whole deal stinks. Really bad.