GENERAL World Cup Thread

Maybe he shouldn't be travelling on a diplomatic passport, unless he is also a diplomat travelling on state business.

What are the issues so far?

1. Iran can only day trip to US
2. Iranian officials not allowed in at all
3. Somalian ref not allowed in
4. Iraqi player stopped (did he get in?)
5. Swiss player was delayed
6. Haitian players blocked from entering LA

I dont believe mentioning this makes me a lefty loon

Tbf Embolo's delay was due to an existing criminal conviction so that is what delayed his visa.

I dont think that one is necesarily a US clusterfùck problem and more an Embolo himself problem.

Maybe the US could act like a functioning country and not a corrupt incompetent racist mess. And FIFA likewise could do what they are supposed to do instead of likewise focusing on money money money.

If FIFA was a private company, they would have been bankrupt under Swiss law in the 2000s.
They had to secure themselves against future World Cup revenues.
That meant they could no longer provide significant contributions to help the host countries and made it a much less attractive prospect for host countries, unless they are oil rich or already have infrastructure.

The money for all those brown envelopes and junkets has to come from somewhere.
This is why we see them chasing World Cups in Qatar, Russia. This is why US cities are charging so much for stuff related to World Cup as FIFA isn't picking up the bills.
South Africa and Brazil both racked up massive debts which would deter other such countries from trying to host.

England won't get a World Cup while IFAB exists in its current form.

Its obviously not right that it comes down to England being bad at politics but sadly that's how it is. Even within UEFA they had to bring countries with them to win the bid despite having more than enough stadiums.

Yeah, Infantino has turned the World Cup into a farce. Diluting the quality of the football with far too many teams and rubbish like advertisement breaks and making the fans an afterthought with insane pricing.

It’s clear he doesn’t care about football one iota outside of its ability to generate money. Rules can be broken if there’s a potential to charge more - the obvious example is Ronaldo getting his ban quashed. And if the organiser feels happy to ignore it’s own rules in the pursuit of profit, it becomes really hard to get invested in as there’s an element of WWE about it.

I would say Infantinos wet dream would be an Argentina v Portugal final, and if he could get away with encouraging the referees to be favourable against those teams then he would absolutely do it.

I never thought there could be someone worse than Blatter, but I guess it's just rotten to the core.

Wouldn't be surprised if the next European World Cup after 2030 is in England (hence Britain & Ireland as they seem to like cohosting these days)

He had a valid visa but just because he was from Somalia he was barred, they just gave him the diplomatic passport to show he was a respected official.

A government adviser in Mogadishu told AFP earlier Monday that Artan had a valid visa for the US.

“Omar Artan is among Africa’s most respected referees and deserves the support of the entire football community,” Ciise Aden Abshir, a senior adviser to Somalia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports and a former national team captain, said.

Abshir said Artan flew back to Istanbul after being refused entry in Miami.

“Denying him entry to the United States and preventing him from officiating scheduled matches harms not only him personally but also undermines football’s commitment to fairness, merit and the spirit of fair play,” Abshir added.

One of Trump's corrupt acts dwarfs whatever Somalia is alleged to have done. Of course you turn a blind eye to that too as long.

It wasn't a randomer though was it. It has already been explained to you you have the facts of the case wrong, but still double down on defending racism.

The ban on Somalians is racist. But of course no matter how racist or corrupt the US are in their dealings with World Cup officials, fans, players… they will have defenders here.

So yeah maybe people could stop giving the US a free pass on their racism and FIFA a free pass for ignoring everything the World Cup is supposed to be about in their quest for brown envelopes.

This is what happens when you give the World Cup to a corrupt country that doesn't need to sports wash.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that a Somali national arrived at Miami International Airport from Istanbul on Saturday and was deemed inadmissible due to vetting concerns.

The agency did not elaborate on those concerns, but said the referee underwent routine additional inspection before being denied entry.

Trump's World Cup

This is 100% how I feel.

It might have been wise to hold this in Canada.