GRcade

vWelcome to the GRcade FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 thread!




The Good
- It's the WORLD CUP - the sights, the sounds, the stadiums, the fans, the sticker albums, the kits, the wall-to-wall matches
- All your favourite teams and players, competing for the ultimate prize in football, a shot at immortality, a chance to become gods!
- It's bringing the beautiful game to a new corner of the world, opening up a conservative nation to the majesty of international mingling, bringing fans and teams from all over the world into one melting pot, experiencing different cultures and the glory of an international tournament
- It might even be coming home (but probably won't)
- Shining a light on the issues (see below) might just bring about some positive change in the host nation for workers and minorities

The Bad
- It's being played smack bang in the middle of the club season, forcing all of world football to warp their domestic and continental calendars to fit it in
- As such, it's being played across November and December, so there's no chance (for most of us) of enjoying a BBQ whilst watching the big games
- There's probably not going to be enough accommodation for all of the travelling fans
- Even in their winter, Qatar is an oven. It's going to be hot
- The tournament was very obviously awarded to Qatar through massive corruption
- Qatar has no footballing history or tradition and was an... odd choice as a host nation. They've never even qualified for a World Cup before
- Alcohol, that best friend of football, is very hard to come by in the dry Gulf state, so good luck with that
- Italy, one of the most storied World Cup nations, didn't qualify
- Harry Maguire is probably going to play every game for England

The Ugly
- Qatar is a very conservative Islamic country, and as such has heavy restrictions on civil liberties and freedom of expression/press etc - no good
- Numbers vary, but there have been an estimated 6,500 migrant worker deaths during the construction of the stadiums and associated infrastructure
- Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, and they generally have a very medieval approach to all things LGBT
- Further to this, Qatar's World Cup Ambassador very recently described homosexuality as "damage in the mind"
- Women's rights in Qatar are pretty restricted (even by most Muslim countries standards)
- Even Sepp Blatter, that old knobhead, has said that Qatar getting the vote to host was a mistake

(Courtesy of Lotus) Here's a list of sponsors and partners if anyone wants to boycott or generally gooseberry fool on them:



Tifo's World Cup Explained video series:




So where do you stand on the World Cup - will you be watching, or not? Vote in the poll so I can let FIFA know

______________________________________________________________________________

Who's competing?



The Important Dates/Times

Opening Ceremony - Sunday 20 November, 5pm
World Cup Final - Sunday 18 December, 3pm

When are Wales and England playing?

England vs Iran - Mon 21 November, 1pm
Wales vs USA - Mon 21 November, 7pm
England vs USA - Fri 25 November, 7pm
Wales vs Iran - Fri 25 November, 10am
Wales vs England - Tue 29 November, 7pm

When are Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland playing?




Disclaimer - I really wasn't sure if I should make this thread, given the controversy surrounding the tournament. Emotions are running high and I want to be sensitive to that. But the World Cup is happening in Qatar whether we like it or not, so what's the point in pretending it isn't a thing? And y'know... it's the World Cup! We only get this once every 4 years, it's my son's first one (that he might actually remember) and I just want to enjoy the sport I love with him. I dunno, it's very conflicting. I won't be buying any of the sponsor products and won't be visiting Qatar anytime soon. I used to live in Qatar as a child and have very fond memories of my time there, but I'm not blind to the issues in the country today and find it all pretty depressing. It shouldn't be being rewarded with this amazing tournament and it's a disgrace that it's still hosting it after everything that's come out since the award. But hopefully some good can come of it, shining a light on the issues is the only way they can be addressed, fingers crossed the ruling family get the hint and stop being bastards. It's also a(nother) shameful chapter in the sleazy history of FIFA and football and one we'll hopefully all look back on and think "boy, I'm sure glad England won the World Cup again, but what a shame it happened in Qatar." So yeah, sorry to those of you who might be offended that this thread even exists, and please don't take it as me in any way condoning or minimising the issues that have been swirling about. Thanks, Preezy x

Great first post. It's obviously absolute bullshit, but I will be watching- probably every game.

Competitive tournament football comes around so rarely it's hard to fight the urge to watch at least some of the matches. I'll probably skip most of the group matches, apart from some standout ones like Spain-Germany, etc, then get into the knockout matches a bit more.

I'm not sure how much of a World Cup feel the matches will have though.

I welcome our sensitive Preezy overlord.

My shoot-the-shit uncomplicated response is: I doubt any of us want this tournament to be taking place when or where it is, nor do we approve of the likely means of how it came to be, or the many losses and tragedies that have occurred in the build-up.

That said, none of us had a hand in this and it is going ahead with or without us. Whilst it is absolutely fine to feel conflicted about it, nobody should feel that they have to deny themselves the fun of a football tournament that only takes place every four years. Whatever your choice, to watch or not, it doesn't make you any better or worse a person than the next.

Question for Preezy: really interesting to learn you used to live in Qatar - when and what ages were you there and what can you recall of how general life was at that time?

Great post, Preezy.
To add to the controversy, Iran have recently killed hundreds of women’s rights protestors. Real question over whether they should be allowed to play.

Drumstick wrote:Question for Preezy: really interesting to learn you used to live in Qatar - when and what ages were you there and what can you recall of how general life was at that time?

Thanks dude, I was born in December 1985 and lived in Qatar between 1987 and 1994 (I think, might have come back early 1995) and honestly it was great. Being a kid I just wasn't aware of the oppressive stuff as we were never really exposed to it (other than seeing women in full-body burkhas) but obviously was aware that we were living in a country with a very different way of life to what my parents had brought us from in sunny Wigan. My mum worked for the British Embassy so we often got to go to diplomatic events, and when the Gulf War was building up we got to visit the US airbase and go on all the battleships and aircraft carriers and gooseberry fool like that.

Whenever I hear someone "works at a British embassy" I instantly assume they're a double-0 agent.

Netherlands have this in the bag.

I'm not sure why they're even bothering to play the tournament.

Shadow wrote:Whenever I hear someone "works at a British embassy" I instantly assume they're a double-0 agent.

I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation

I have yet to decide whether I will boycott all the games or will still watch the England and Wales games.

I really want to boycott, I feel it's the morally correct thing to do and I'd be a hypocritical coward if I didn't, but on the other hand I really like the World Cup.

But I will be boycotting the sponsors.

#nocokeworldcup

Preezy wrote:

Shadow wrote:Whenever I hear someone "works at a British embassy" I instantly assume they're a double-0 agent.

I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation

How's the Valkyrie?
What wasit like working with Judi Dench?

Preezy

I'll be watching but I will take every opportunity to tell whoever will listen what a bunch of fascist banana splits the Qatari government are.

As our first World Cup in 64 years there was never any real chance of me not watching it. I never really considered going to Qatar though, and I think it's likely I would have gone to any other World Cup we could have qualified for.

Mmm. It's a shame that the tournament's being held in a backwards hellhole, and I really wish that some teams or players had taken the decision to boycott it, but that was probably always very unlikely, and it shouldn't really fall on the teams or players to do that - FIFA should be ensuring that all host countries pass certain criteria, and basic humans rights should be one of those that isn't even in question. I hope the tournament goes well and smoothly for the fans and players, but hope Qatar come out of it having spent a fortune and it being a PR disaster for them, along with the spotlight being shone on how scummy they are. Ultimately whether I watch or not won't make any difference, as money's already been exchanged, and thousands of people have already died. That last point alone makes me really think about whether I can stomach watching it, but I imagine I'll end up tuning into at least the England matches, if I don't die of boredom during them. I don't actually know what times the games are going to be on, and whether I'll actually be able to watch them or not though.

Here's a list of sponsors and partners if anyone wants to boycott or generally gooseberry fool on them:

I considered boycotting Russia 2018, but I caved. I'll never make that mistake again.

The whole thing is an utter disgrace.

I will not be watching a single second.

Lotus wrote:I don't actually know what times the games are going to be on, and whether I'll actually be able to watch them or not though.

England and Wales match times are in the OP

And thanks for the sponsor list, I shall add that to the OP!

Looking forward to it, though it's doubtful i will ever be able to complete my sticker album.

Shadow wrote:Great post, Preezy.
To add to the controversy, Iran have recently killed hundreds of women’s rights protestors. Real question over whether they should be allowed to play.

Yeah it's funny how that line of thinking isn't really even getting a mention in the media - Qatar are rightly being criticised but at least they're not murdering protesting women in the street

Hopefully the Iranian team gets booed in every match they play and the criticism becomes louder around their games, it's almost a shame they'll probably only pay 3 times.

Great post Preezy!

I'm looking forward to it and aiming to try and watch almost every game. Just sucks that it's being hosted in such a shitty country.

Lotus wrote:Mmm. It's a shame that the tournament's being held in a backwards hellhole, and I really wish that some teams or players had taken the decision to boycott it, but that was probably always very unlikely, and it shouldn't really fall on the teams or players to do that - FIFA should be ensuring that all host countries pass certain criteria, and basic humans rights should be one of those that isn't even in question. I hope the tournament goes well and smoothly for the fans and players, but hope Qatar come out of it having spent a fortune and it being a PR disaster for them, along with the spotlight being shone on how scummy they are. Ultimately whether I watch or not won't make any difference, as money's already been exchanged, and thousands of people have already died. That last point alone makes me really think about whether I can stomach watching it, but I imagine I'll end up tuning into at least the England matches, if I don't die of boredom during them. I don't actually know what times the games are going to be on, and whether I'll actually be able to watch them or not though.

Here's a list of sponsors and partners if anyone wants to boycott or generally gooseberry fool on them:

FIFA Partners
Adidas
The Coca-Cola Company
Wanda Group
Hyundai Motors
Kia
Qatar Airways
QatarEnergy
VISA
Xero
Algorand
Calm

2022 FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors
Budweiser
BYJU’S
Crypto.com
Hisense
McDonald’s
China Mengniu Dairy Company
Vivo
Roblox
Hublot
The Look Company
Algorand
Frito-Lay / PepsiCo (Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Ruffles, Sabritas, Quaker and Gamesa).

Oh boo, didn't realise I'd have to do Pepsi and Coke. I guess it's Vimto and Sparkling Water time. The rest is fairly easy.

Edit: Forgot that I originally came to post this I didn't think the Leopards would eat my face story;

twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1592147541524885504