Soccer thread (2014/15)

[Natsinpwc]

Anybody watch "Men in Blazers"?

I've seen bits and pieces; they take so fast and with that accent hard for my to get what they are saying.  reminds me of when I had to watch Monty Python episodes three or four times before I caught everything

[mitlen]

I've seen bits and pieces; they take so fast and with that accent hard for my to get what they are saying.  reminds me of when I had to watch Monty Python episodes three or four times before I caught everything

I was in the Lakes District of England at an inn.    Two retired Manchester bobbies were at the bar.    The wives were in town shopping.   The more I drank the less I understood.     

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

This all-Madrid CL quarterfinal is pretty intense - still 0-0 in the second half of the second leg.

[HalfSmokes]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32895048

good old fifa

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Sepp Blatter should be sharing a cell in The Hague with The Butcher of Burundi.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32895048

good old fifa

Washington warned us of getting entangled in foreign alliances.

[skippy1999]

 I don't really follow soccer but does this mean that they may take the World Cup away from Qatar in 2022 and give it to the US??

[HalfSmokes]

I don't really follow soccer but does this mean that they may take the World Cup away from Qatar in 2022 and give it to the US??

not a chance the US gets it- Russia is already screaming that this is a plot by the US to steal 2018 from them- I can't imagine FIFA moving it to the US following the US government arresting a bunch of foreign nationals for bribery related to other countries (that's somehow our business because 'merica)- part of me hopes that FIFA will use the political influence clauses to ban the US from international play (usually it's used to ban countries where governments try to influence their football associations)

[skippy1999]

not a chance the US gets it- Russia is already screaming that this is a plot by the US to steal 2018 from them- I can't imagine FIFA moving it to the US following the US government arresting a bunch of foreign nationals for bribery related to other countries (that's somehow our business because 'merica)- part of me hopes that FIFA will use the political influence clauses to ban the US from international play (usually it's used to ban countries where governments try to influence their football associations)

Oh ok, like I said I don't follow and just saw headlines and didn't realize it was essentially just the US going after them, jeez that'll just endear us even more to the rest of the world. Although if they are dirty and selling their souls to whoever will pay most well then they deserve to be busted, haven't tons of workers been killed in Qatar just to get their precious soccer stadiums built?   

[HalfSmokes]

it's not just the US http://www.bbc.com/news/world-32906684 It seems like most of the developed world is cheering us on, but the majority of the vote (and Blatter's base of support) isn't with Europe/the US

[Dave B]

Can't some rich guys just put on their own tournament. Just have to come up with 500 mil in prize money. I think that is doable. Do it in 2022 and see who would rather go to LA than the surface of the sun

[Dave B]

Anybody watch "Men in Blazers"?

Seen it a little. It's funny

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

So basically an insurgent World Cup...kind of like the Goodwill Games. Apple could easily do this, just have the final at Stanford Stadium. It wouldn't do away entirely with the slave labour problem, but there would at least be beer without flogging.

Can't some rich guys just put on their own tournament. Just have to come up with 500 mil in prize money. I think that is doable. Do it in 2022 and see who would rather go to LA than the surface of the sun

[HalfSmokes]

this should bother people more than the bribery

[mitlen]

(Image removed from quote.) this should bother people more than the bribery

Betting man says, "None of 'em are Qataris."

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Betting man says, "None of 'em are Qataris."

Didn't Duane Allman play the slide Qatar?  Or was that Qlapton? 

[OldChelsea]

Betting man says, "None of 'em are Qataris."

The vast majority aren't even from the Arab Gulf countries generally. Most are from South Asia or the Far East - India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and others. Check out the websites of the Arab 'Big Three' airlines (Emirates/Etihad/Qatar) and see how many flights they offer between Doha/Dubai/Abu Dhabi and the countries I named - that's a core business for them.

[mitlen]

The vast majority aren't even from the Arab Gulf countries generally. Most are from South Asia or the Far East - India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and others.

Exactly

[HalfSmokes]

personally, I can't wait to see companies scramble to disassociate themselves with world cup 2022 as publicity increases when it draws near



probably isn't what coke has in mind for their sponsorship

[tomterp]

not a chance the US gets it- Russia is already screaming that this is a plot by the US to steal 2018 from them- I can't imagine FIFA moving it to the US following the US government arresting a bunch of foreign nationals for bribery related to other countries (that's somehow our business because 'merica)- part of me hopes that FIFA will use the political influence clauses to ban the US from international play (usually it's used to ban countries where governments try to influence their football associations)

It's our business if US companies, or any companies that want to do business in the US, violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  And at least one of the arrested people is an American.

Aside from those whose officially sponsored bribery schemes are about to be made public, most of Europe promptly jumped on the bandwagon of acclaiming it's time for change at FIFA.  Everyone knows the institution is corrupt to the core, and even companies have to be tired of being subject to the shakedown anytime they want to associate with FIFA events. 

[HalfSmokes]

It's our business if US companies, or any companies that want to do business in the US, violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  And at least one of the arrested people is an American.

Aside from those whose officially sponsored bribery schemes are about to be made public, most of Europe promptly jumped on the bandwagon of acclaiming it's time for change at FIFA.  Everyone knows the institution is corrupt to the core, and even companies have to be tired of being subject to the shakedown anytime they want to associate with FIFA events. 

that's fine, but how again is brazil or south africa bribing a nigerian official to host the world cup our business other than 'merica? To put it another way, how would the US feel if Ivory Coast issued arrest warrants for american citizens related to the bidding for the salt lake olympics?

[tomterp]

that's fine, but how again is brazil or south africa bribing a nigerian official to host the world cup our business other than 'merica? To put it another way, how would the US feel if Ivory Coast issued arrest warrants for american citizens related to the bidding for the salt lake olympics?

I don't understand the legal theory under which we had them arrested, but note that the Swiss police must have thought we had grounds to do so.  And while I don't doubt there were questionable dealings in getting the Olympics to Salt Lake, I would bet you they are orders of magnitude greater in scale for the World Cup. 

And these guys are going to sing like canaries when they get here and see the evidence compiled against them.     

[JCA-CrystalCity]

my understanding from the reporting is that some of the bribes were arranged or passed in the US.  Also, Nike / Brazil might be one of the bribes.

Biggest FIFA money I think comes from Bud (which I guess is no longer a US company), McDonalds, and Coke.

[blue911]

my understanding from the reporting is that some of the bribes were arranged or passed in the US.  Also, Nike / Brazil might be one of the bribes.

Biggest FIFA money I think comes from Bud (which I guess is no longer a US company), McDonalds, and Coke.

Even with Maradona out of the sport?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Even with Maradona out of the sport?

different kind of Coke.