Qatar World Cup

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858605#Comment_119858605

What's your point? That there are loads of people who couldn't give two shíts about the wellbeing of their fellow humans provided they get a nice holiday?

Who knew! 🙄

I will never fly on those airlines. But I am only one person.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860724#Comment_119860724

You get a begging letter every time you read anything on the Guardian. They're one of the few media outlets these days not owned by a government or billionaire. They can't afford not to cover the world cup. Others have real choices and the power to be a real force for beneficial change in the world but are too busy chasing after their next billion and/or are simply evil malevolent cúnts (I'm looking at you Rupert Murdoch).

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856717#Comment_119856717

Does anyone realize that many of the players at the world cup come from cultures just like that of Qatar when it comes to LGBTQIA+ etc rights ?

And that they themselves may not really care for that minority the way many in the west claim they care for it.

So expecting players to take a stand is very naive.

This is it, half the countries in the WC are 'western', but half are not. And even at that, the attitudes of players/ fans from some of those western countries might not be the most enlightened

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860970#Comment_119860970

Poland, Croatia and Serbia to name just three.

rogber

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860845#Comment_119860845

I'm a regular guardian reader but it's still hypocrisy, revenue over principles. Pleading "but we've no choice" doesn't get them off the hook

Hoboo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857320#Comment_119857320

That woke post is embarrassing, typed on an electronic device whose components were built from raw materials mined by child slaves in Africa.

thefallingman

i'm looking forward to the football

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860845#Comment_119860845

Seriously???

ArmaniJeanss

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861280#Comment_119861280

I really don't see your issue with it. The Guardian is a newspaper and the World Cup (squad selection, team previews, fixtures, results, reports, tables) is fundamentally news - therefore they should report on it.

To me it's akin to the Guardian not approving of say Johnson or Trump, but we'd still expect them to do full coverage of their election campaigns and victories.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861795#Comment_119861795

In the case of Johnson or Trump, the Guardian would just do lots of articles about how terrible they are.

Maybe that's how they should cover this - "Today the homophobic Brazil beat the misogynistic Germans 3-1. Germany's goal was due to climate change." Strike that - that is probably how they will cover it.

Sleepy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861472#Comment_119861472

I'd find the use of the word "woke" far more embarrassing tbh. We're not on twitter

You're not wrong about the sourcing of raw materials for our electronics and I'd certainly be all for changes that reduced the environmental and human costs of sourcing them, refining them and assembling the devices. It'd make such things more expensive of course but since my laptop is nearly a decade old and I'm not the sort to change my mobile every other year, that would be a fairly easy cost to bear.

The big difference between such things as I'd see it, however, is that electronic devices are a necessity for my employment (and that of most in the Western world). A holiday to support one's national football team (or even to watch the teams of other nations who are better at football than us as is the case for this tournament) is an unnecessary indulgence.

As I said in a previous post: in our post-globalisation world it's next to impossible to live a life that does no harm to the lives of other humans. It isn't all that difficult, however, to try and minimise the harm you do.

smurfjed

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860845#Comment_119860845

Has the Guardian ever published the real number of people who died whilst actually building these stadiums, or are they still stuck on the number of 6500 who died in the country over the last 12 years ? To me this is pure click bait.

What I can't understand is brands that attach their names to it. Mind boggling.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861880#Comment_119861880

to the world cup ?, the biggest watched sporting event on the planet, it's not really mind boggling if you think about it. People will try be all woke but really, privately most football fans don't care we just want to watch football.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861904#Comment_119861904

Would put off a lot of football and non-football fans alike of buying a hyundai for example.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861911#Comment_119861911

your clutching at straws there imo, again it's the most watched sporting event on the planet, any brand would be delighted to be involved with the huge amount of eyes watching. Politics should be left out of sports, go and enjoy and obide by the local laws. Seems simple enough to me.

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119844168#Comment_119844168

Ah ya let he who is without sin cast the first stone hey

rogber

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861795#Comment_119861795

Their coverage of Trump and Johnson is relentlessly critical, in the same way their focus on say trans issues is relentlessly pro. Their coverage of the WC is 5 percent critical, 95 percent "just focus on the football".

However I also live in the real world and wouldn't actually expect them to boycott it, it's not how newspapers survive

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862075#Comment_119862075

Politics is never going to be left out of sports, that’s just wishful thinking at best. Sporting events like the World Cup are a vehicle to highlight social issues like the things being discussed here - they can reach a global audience, making people even more aware of these issues so that while it may well be unlikely current global leaders will do anything, the next generation might.

As for the idea of brands wanting to associate themselves with events like the World Cup - if advertising didn’t prove as successful as it does, they wouldn’t do it. Hyundai may be a heap of shyte, but their sales will go up as a result of brand awareness by being associated with an event like the World Cup.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862113#Comment_119862113

haha ok if you say so jack, honestly, i find your post naive at best but each to their own, Personally i can't wait for the football and will turn off any woke socialist crap that get's spoken about, it's about the sport for me. Oh and Hyundai will sell more than ever during and after the world cup.

TipsyMcStagge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861486#Comment_119861486

Me too I fancy Spain to go far. As for it being an outrage that a dodgy country was given the world cup look up who hosted the 1934 and 1978 World Cups for a start.

thefallingman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862196#Comment_119862196

Brazil could go far aswell, i don't fancy engerland

Sleepy

And soccer fans wonder why they tend to be stereotyped as simple minded lager louts 🙄

Calling those who object to human rights abuses "Woke" and crying for "politics should be left out of sports" are two arses of the same cheek that translate to "I couldn't give a **** if others suffer once I get to watch football but I'm too cowardly to admit it" imo.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862181#Comment_119862181

What’s naive about it? You’re the person who thinks politics should be left out of sports. They can’t be separated from each other. It’s naive to think that just because you’re not interested, you represent anyone else. Reality obviously suggests otherwise.

I do agree with you though that it’s unlikely to put anyone off any particular brand, whether it’s Hyundai or anyone else. Advertising annoys people too who are only interested in the football, but advertisers and sponsors aren’t interested in the football. Just like people who use events like the World Cup to promote their political views. It would be naive to think they’re not going to do it just because you or I aren’t interested in the politics of sports.

BattleCorp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119860671#Comment_119860671

if you choose to go and live and work in an oppressive regime then you are for all intents and purposes, supporting it. its pretty clear cut. fair enough people do it for money.

This argument is a pile of sh1te. Going to a sh1thole country to work doesn't mean that you support the Government there nor does it means that you support their policies. It means that you want to earn money so you go there to work and earn money. It's not support, it's just about the money. It's as simple as that.

Christ, if you were to expand your idea, does using an electric car mean that you support child slavery with kids from the age of 7 upwards mining cobalt in the Congo? Does heating your house with gas that comes from Qatar or some other Middle East sh1thole mean that you support chopping the heads off criminals? Does buying anything made in China mean that you support their regime and you are happy with their level of pollution? By the way, the correct answer to all of the above is no.

TipsyMcStagge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862218#Comment_119862218

Nah England will go QF's at best their defence is far too weak rubbish like Conor Coady being called up to the squad says it all for me.

martingriff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862223#Comment_119862223

I agree with you somewhat are you brave enough to admit where your phone/computer was made resources were mined. Are you brave enough to admit your happy to watch Amazon Prime shows while how they treat there workers

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862261#Comment_119862261

I applaud anyone who’s brave enough to admit they actually pay for Amazon Prime tbh 😬

Sleepy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862245#Comment_119862245

So close but you're deluding yourself if you think we're not all guilty of supporting the Chinese regime by buying stuff that's made there.

You're right that for those who choose to live and work in shithole oppressive regimes it's all about the money. They can delude themselves that their actions aren't contributing to the success of the regime oppressing those in their host country if they like but at the end of the day, that's all they're doing: deluding themselves because they don't want to face up to the fact that they've prioritised their desire to take advantage of a low tax economy to line their pockets above the wellbeing of the people in their host country.

And why do I feel the right to judge those who do it? Because they've expressly made the decision to go there and ignore the conditions of the people living there.

I know there's probably been some dodgy behaviour somewhere in supply chain that's created the Samsung phone I have. There's no better choice available to me though unless I can live without a mobile phone (and at least by buying something from a South Korean company rather than a Chinese one there's a chance there's been less harm done in it's production than that of say a Huawei). Irish people choosing to go work in the UAE or Qatar have better choices available to them, sure it involves taking a lower wage somewhere else but it also means doing less harm by your actions.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119862374#Comment_119862374

So close but you're deluding yourself if you think we're not all guilty of supporting the Chinese regime by buying stuff that's made there.

Your attempt at collective guilt is based upon the idea that anyone agrees you have the authority to make that sort of determination that anyone is guilty of any wrongdoing. Otherwise your claim that anyone who doesn’t share your views is delusional, kinda speaks for itself.