Is it insensitive? I dunno. I am making the point that if you cancel the World Cup then you are saying 6750 people (or whatever the death toll is) have died for literally no reason. Of course, dying to host a World Cup isn't in any way justifiable either. If you're going to boycott, you really need to boycott before people start dying, or at least very early on when you've realised how bad it is (as we knew very well literally years ago).
The Athletic published an article this morning that was basically asking if its 'right' that the World Cup should basically only ever be hosted by developed western nations, and therefore never again in Africa, never in the Middle East or the poorer parts of Asia (the majority of it is very poor). I'm not sure what the answer is, it would be nice if these other countries behaved like we do (even just from a loss of life for sporting events perspective), but that's a hard sell to them.This is worth a read.
Two points of note
1. They are accusing us of being racist because their human rights record is being put under the spotlight.
2. They are paying for 50 Dutch fans to go to the World Cup on the condition they report positively on all things Qatari
What a world eh
Qatar calling its critics racist opens a debate that may be worth having | Barney Ronay
Increasingly prevalent line may sound dubious, but talking it through sensitively could have unexpected benefitswww.theguardian.com
My guess is the the families of the 6500 who have died who come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal couldn't give a sh1t about the World Cup whether it goes on or not - but they wouldn't think that if it doesn't their sons' lives ending were in vain.
Probably. So why don't we cancel it now then, now we know the final death toll and we now things never improved and things never got better? Why don't all the fans refuse to watch, why don't all the players and managers pull out? We're all culpable in part to be honest, however small.
Looks like we disagree
Wow. Some of my mates are staying in those.
Thats fine. Unfortunately any conversation about a subject as complicated and delicate as this is going to result in someone saying something or perceiving something as insensitive/clumsy, exactly as has happened with Southgate. I don't think he should necessarily be chastised over it, he's not a world leader who should necessarily be better versed in this stuff. He's just waffling his way through a very tough question with, I'm sure, zero intent to offend.
Depressing on so many levels. Did they do a bulk order with China? This looks like one of the latters Covid internment camps
They might be lovely inside
But its like climate change, covid etc, we're all up for everyone else taking bigger action, but we know those who hold the cards won't and we are largely powerless to force their hands (unless we ALL do it). The fact is we all care, but collectively we don't care enough.
Think I'd argue they have died for no reason regardless. Did people need to die in order for Qatar to be able to host a world cup? No, they didn't.
You're right, they have died for no justifiable cause whatsoever. But will you watch the tournament in this knowledge? I'm guessing yes, as you did the Brazil and South Africa tournaments. The Qatari state won't act unless FIFA acts, FIFA won't act unless the FAs act, the FAs won't act unless the players/coaches act, they won't act unless the rest of the people act. Basically, we all care, but none of us are that willing to actually do anything about it.
Well less people died in those. Fair play to you though. Sadly, it needs many more people to follow your lead.
At £40 per night you couldn't expect much. Even the artists impression of the place didnt sell them well. They look just as bad with the fake grass.They might be lovely inside
I bet they're absolutely grim on an evening.
