Off-field discussion points from the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar

[Technics 1210]

Oh, you didn't have FIFA making a statement that awarding Russia the WC was a mistake unlike yesterday where SB stated awarding Qatar was a mistake.

Clear daylight Islamophobia.

 

[SalimBhai]

They do not complain when other countries with questionable human rights host events.

But, when a Muslim country like Qatar is hosting an event, they all go crazy.

This is hidden Islamophobia. Nothing else.

Yes they did complain.

 

[MenInG]

Germany midfielder Leon Goretzka has criticised the comments made by a Qatar World Cup ambassador about homosexuality saying they are "from a different millennium".

Former Qatar international Khalid Salman called homosexuality "damage in the mind".

He also said the LGBTQ+ people going to Qatar should "accept our rules".

Homosexuality is illegal in the World Cup host nation as it is considered immoral under Islamic Sharia law.

At Bayern Munich's 6-1 home win over Werden Bremen on Tuesday night, a banner was unveiled in protest against Salman's comments.

Speaking after the game, Bayern's Goretzka told German media: "It's very oppressive. This is an image of a man that comes from another millennium.

"It leaves you speechless that something like this can be said by a World Cup ambassador shortly before a World Cup."

Salman had told German broadcaster ZDF: "[Homosexuality] is haram. You know what haram [forbidden] means?

"I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind," he said before the interview was stopped by an accompanying official.

The German Football Association (DFB) president Bernd Neuendorf said he was "stunned" by the World Cup ambassador's comments.

"The statement discredits the entire LGBTIQ community and reveals an extremely problematic relationship with human rights," Neuendorf told German daily Bild.

"Fifa should seriously examine whether its ethics committee should deal with this."

Neuendorf also said he had spoken to former Aston Villa and Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, 40, who revealed he is gay in 2014.

"I spoke to Thomas Hitzlsperger on the phone today about this matter," he added. "We are unanimous in our assessment: the World Cup ambassador's lapse is completely out of the question and leaves us stunned."

Salman's comments were also condemned by Human Rights Watch and LGBTQ+ campaign group All Out.

There is concern about how LGBTQ+ people are treated in Qatar, where same-sex relationships and the promotion of same-sex relationships are criminalised, with punishments ranging from fines to the death sentence.

The host country's World Cup organisers have stated "everyone is welcome" and no-one will be discriminated against, but Qatar 2022 chief executive Nasser al Khater has said the government would not change its laws on homosexuality, requesting visitors "respect our culture".

Fifa recently wrote to competing nations asking them to "now focus on the football" instead of the competition's controversial build-up.

The letter, which was signed by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, was criticised by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and LGBTQ+ campaigners in England and Wales, while 10 European football associations - including those of England and Wales - said "human rights are universal and apply everywhere".

Peaceful protests have been planned by some players, while England's Harry Kane and nine other captains of European teams, including Germany, will be wearing 'One Love' armbands to promote diversity and inclusion.

England forward and Euro 2022 winner Beth Mead, who is openly gay, said it is "disappointing" the men's World Cup is being held in Qatar.

BBC

 

[Manunited18]

This was all very much behind the scenes; and I do not remember news channels covering this news, or even social media, or footballers calling for boycott or talking about wearing rainbow flags/bands.

France is not showing 2022 World Cup games in protest, did the same happen in 2018?

Exactly, behind the scenes. Now, daily bashing of Qatar on Radio stations, Media, its just non stop pure filth. Day by day the hypocrisy of the west is becoming more glaring.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I'm not a fan of the England football team.

But I hope they win this world cup.

It will be interesting to see the Qatar critics squrim in the media.

If England win this world cup and the fan trips to Qatar will live for eternity...and all of the issues regarding human rights and corruption will swiftly be forgotten.

 

[Firebat]

The double standards on caring about human rights are through the roof. Have they forgotten that the previous WC was in notorious human rights abusers Russia, who they themselves have portrayed as monsters? Perhaps they were too drunk to say anything.

Now that they're forced to be sober, they remember human rights is a thing.

The next WC is in USA, will teams and fans be campaigning to shut down Guantanamo Bay? To cease prison slavery from the 13th amendment? To stop killing Yemeni, Iraqi, Pakistani children etc? Somehow, I think not.

Spurs did pre-season in Israel, wonder why I wasn't seeing similar statements and campaigns from Harry Kane then?

Don't get me wrong though, what Qatari government have done especially with the migrant workers is pure, unadulterated evil.

 

[SalimBhai]

The double standards on caring about human rights are through the roof. Have they forgotten that the previous WC was in notorious human rights abusers Russia, who they themselves have portrayed as monsters? Perhaps they were too drunk to say anything.

Now that they're forced to be sober, they remember human rights is a thing.

The next WC is in USA, will teams and fans be campaigning to shut down Guantanamo Bay? To cease prison slavery from the 13th amendment? To stop killing Yemeni, Iraqi, Pakistani children etc? Somehow, I think not.

Spurs did pre-season in Israel, wonder why I wasn't seeing similar statements and campaigns from Harry Kane then?

Don't get me wrong though, what Qatari government have done especially with the migrant workers is pure, unadulterated evil.

There were protests against Russia also. Just like there should be against Qatar.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Going back to the OP, how should footballers treat the human rights abuses in Qatar?

The gay oppression is only one factor.

Qatar is a monarchy where the Emir is very powerful and there are limited elections.

Workers cannot change jobs without employer permission.

Amnesty International report that some workers had to falsely claim they were being paid in order to quality for passports.

Come on Robert, this is nothing compared to the henious war crimes the UK has committed over the last 20 years not to mention the proxy war in Ukraine and acts of terrorism inc blowing up a gas pipeline!

The Arabs and rest of the world outside or Europe and US laugh at these claims from such nations.

England need to calm down, think about actually trying to win a World Cup after 50+ years instead of trying hold the moral high ground when England has none.

 

[MenInG]

The Danish Football Association (DBU) said on Thursday that Fifa had rejected Denmark’s request to train at the World Cup in shirts with the words “human rights for all” on them.

The DBU said in 2021 that their two training kit sponsors would make way for messages critical of Qatar while also minimising the number of trips to the country to avoid commercial activities promoting the World Cup hosts’ events.

Work at Lusail stadium, which hosts the World Cup final.

Qatar has come under intense pressure over its treatment of foreign workers and restrictive social laws, leading many participating teams to raise concerns. The country has denied claims that workers were exploited.

“We have today got a message from Fifa that the training shirts our players were to train in, where it would say ‘human rights for all’ at the stomach [of the shirt], have been rejected due to technical reasons, which is regrettable,” Jakob Jensen, the DBU chief executive, told Ritzau news agency.

Fifa declined to comment. Its rules stipulate that any team equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images. “We believe the message ‘human rights for all’ is universal and not a political call, but something everyone can support,” Jensen said. Fifa wrote to World Cup teams this month urging them to focus on football in Qatar and not let the sport be dragged into ideological or political issues.

Hummel, the kit manufacturer, said in September it had toned down the details on Denmark’s World Cup jerseys and released a black kit as a protest against Qatar’s human rights record ahead of the tournament. Denmark play their first game of the World Cup against Tunisia in Group D on 22 November.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ghts-for-all-message-on-denmark-training-kits

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Simply untrue.

"They" did complain about Russia 2018 - about the shooting down of Malasia Flight 17, the invasion of Crimea, the stadium monkey chants, petitions by US Senators against LGBT oppression, attempts by FIFA's Sepp Blatter and UK Deputy PM Nick Clegg to get the tournament moved.

There was nowhere near the same outrage despite Russia actively annexing territories and engaging in wars for last 20 years including decimating Syria which they're replicating in Ukraine

 

[Robert]

There was nowhere near the same outrage despite Russia actively annexing territories and engaging in wars for last 20 years including decimating Syria which they're replicating in Ukraine

I’d say there was more outrage at Russia, as the UK DPM got involved.

 

[RexRex]

Stay at home.

But money usually (not always) wins.

Hmm .. that is easy for you to say because you're not sacrificing anything here, the players are. They lose money.

If say the British public really cared about the Qatar human rights issue, they would protest and lobby their government to cease all bilateral trade with that country. Particularly, they should ask their politicans to stop all oil imports from human rights violators like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But they won't do that because the price of gas will shoot through the roof and their standard of living will drop. That is not a sacrifice that the public will make.

Shifting the onus to a bunch of footballers is an easy thing to do but at the end of day, it comes off as arm-chair virtue-signalling with no real sacrifice. The Qatari sheikhs will just laught it off and go back to smoking their hookahs. Just my two cents, Rob.

 

[Robert]

Come on Robert, this is nothing compared to the henious war crimes the UK has committed over the last 20 years not to mention the proxy war in Ukraine and acts of terrorism inc blowing up a gas pipeline!

Nobody knows who did that, so let’s not fall into conspiracy theories.

England need to calm down, think about actually trying to win a World Cup after 50+ years instead of trying hold the moral high ground when England has none.

We’re not all one hive mind like The Borg you know. We are individuals with different ideas. HM Gov has made no comment. ”England” isn’t criticising Qatar. Individual English players and commentators are. Would you be more accepting of the German skipper wearing a rainbow armband? Germany stopped invading people in 1945. Or the Danish skipper? They haven’t invaded anyone in a thousand years.

Everyone is flawed but that shouldn’t stop us trying to be better people and expecting decency in others.

 

[Robert]

Hmm .. that is easy for you to say because you're not sacrificing anything here, the players are. They lose money.

If say the British public really cared about the Qatar human rights issue, they would protest and lobby their government to cease all bilateral trade with that country. Particularly, they should ask their politicans to stop all oil imports from human rights violators like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. But they won't do that because the price of gas will shoot through the roof and their standard of living will drop. That is not a sacrifice that the public will make.

Shifting the onus to a bunch of footballers is an easy thing to do but at the end of day, it comes off as arm-chair virtue-signalling with no real sacrifice. The Qatari sheikhs will just laught it off and go back to smoking their hookahs. Just my two cents, Rob.

Some cricketers did it during the apartheid SA era. Mike Brearley wasn’t rich like footballers, but he said “I won’t play in a country where I can’t have a drink with Basil D’Oliveira”. Sir Viv Richards was given a blank cheque to play there. He refused.

 

[sweep_shot]

Some cricketers did it during the apartheid SA era. Mike Brearley wasn’t rich like footballers, but he said “I won’t play in a country where I can’t have a drink with Basil D’Oliveira”. Sir Viv Richards was given a blank cheque to play there. He refused.

Qatar has oil. What does South Africa have? Nobody is dependent on South Africa.

It was easy to boycott South Africa.

Anyway. I doubt anyone would boycott Qatar. Outside of West, LGBTQ issue is a non-issue.

 

[RexRex]

Some cricketers did it during the apartheid SA era. Mike Brearley wasn’t rich like footballers, but he said “I won’t play in a country where I can’t have a drink with Basil D’Oliveira”. Sir Viv Richards was given a blank cheque to play there. He refused.

And that was great but these gestures amounted to .. nothing.

What eventually brought down Apartheid was a worldwide effort to impose economic sanctions against South Africa. Which government today has spoken out against Qatar?

 

[Robert]

Qatar has oil. What does South Africa have? Nobody is dependent on South Africa.

It was easy to boycott South Africa.

Diamonds. Gold. Platinum. Though it doesn’t matter. Brearley, Richards and the rest took a moral stance.

 

[Robert]

And that was great but these gestures amounted to .. nothing.

What eventually brought down Apartheid was a worldwide effort to impose economic sanctions against South Africa. Which government today has spoken out against Qatar?

View attachment 117794

Sporting and cultural isolation affected SA too.

It’s not all about money. There is a moral dimension. That’s why some Western individuals object to the WC in Qatar.

 

[Technics 1210]

There was nowhere near the same outrage despite Russia actively annexing territories and engaging in wars for last 20 years including decimating Syria which they're replicating in Ukraine

Correct, all behind the scenes cos Europe was (and is) dependent on Russian Gas/Oil.

Europe/SJWs/Liberals know which side their bread is buttered on.

 

[Firebat]

World Cup 2022: Fernandes 'not happy at all' about circumstances in Qatar

Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes is "not happy at all" about the circumstances surrounding the forthcoming World Cup in Qatar.

Fifa has requested the 32 teams to "now focus on the football" and put politics to one side.

Qatar has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, human rights and treatment of migrant workers before the tournament.

Fernandes said the World Cup "should be done in a better way".

"We know the surroundings of the World Cup, what has been in the past few weeks, past few months, about the people that have died on the construction of the stadiums," the Manchester United midfielder told Sky Sports. "We are not happy about that at all."

In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 workers had died in Qatar since it was named the World Cup host nation, using data supplied by embassies in the Gulf country.

However, the Qatar government said the total was misleading, because any of those who died would had been living and working in the country for several years and could have died from old age or other natural causes.

It said official records show that between 2014 and 2020, there were 37 deaths among labourers at World Cup stadium construction sites, only three of which were "work-related".

The International Labour Organisation said the figures were underestimated because Qatar doesn't count deaths from heart attacks and respiratory failure as work-related - even though these can result from working in high temperatures.

"It's not exactly the time we want to be playing in the World Cup," Fernandes, 28, added. "I think for everyone, players and fans, it's not the best time. Kids will be at school, people will be working and the timings will not be the best for people to watch the games.

"We want football to be for everyone. Everyone has to be included and involved in a World Cup because a World Cup is the world. It's for everyone, it doesn't matter who. These kind of things I think should not happen at any time.

"But for a World Cup it's more than football, it's a party for fans, players, something that's a joy to watch, and should be done in a better way."

Fernandes' United team-mate, Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen, said he believes "change has to come from somewhere else" rather than players.

Denmark will wear "toned down" shirts for the World Cup to protest against hosts Qatar, with kit provider Hummel designing a third, all-black kit, to represent the "colour of mourning".

But Eriksen, also speaking after United's 2-1 win at Fulham on Sunday, added: "A lot has been written, there's a lot of focus on how it's happened and why it's in Qatar. I don't agree with how it's happened, but we're footballers and we play football."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63617598

 

[MenInG]

Dua Lipa has denied reports she will perform at the Fifa Men's World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar on Sunday.

The singer said she will "look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made" when it became host.

Qatar has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers.

Other acts including Robbie Williams and BTS's Jung Kook are set to perform.

In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid.

However, the Qatar government has said the total is misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects.

BBC

 

[James]

<b>Dua Lipa has denied reports she will perform at the Fifa Men's World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar on Sunday.

The singer said she will "look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made" when it became host.</b>

Qatar has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers.

Other acts including Robbie Williams and BTS's Jung Kook are set to perform.

In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid.

However, the Qatar government has said the total is misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects.

BBC

Lipa posted an Instagram story on Sunday, which read: "There is currently a lot of speculation that I will be performing at the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar.

"I will not be performing and nor have I ever been involved in any negotiation to perform.

"I will be cheering England on from afar... One love, Dua."

Lipa, born in London to Kosovar-Albanian parents, is not the first major name to make a point of not playing in Qatar.

Sir Rod Stewart recently revealed he turned down the opportunity.

"I was actually offered a lot of money, over $1m, to play there 15 months ago. I turned it down. It's not right to go," he told the Sunday Times.

"And the Iranians [football team] should be out [of the World Cup] too for supplying arms", he added, in reference to Iran's supply of explosive drones to Russia, which Iran has denied.

Russia was suspended from all competitions by Fifa and Uefa in February, after the country's invasion of Ukraine.

Other musical acts like US pop/rap group Black Eyed Peas and Colombian singer J Balvin, however, are also set to perform at events in Qatar during the tournament.

Comedian Joe Lycett, meanwhile, has issued an ultimatum to Qatar World Cup ambassador David Beckham.

Lycett has promised to donate £10,000 of his own money to charity, if Beckham ends his reported multimillion-pound deal with Qatar.

Homosexuality is illegal in the country, where same-sex relationships can be punishable by the death sentence.

If the former footballer refuses, then Lycett has threatened to shred the £10,000 - just before the World Cup opening ceremony.

Lycett says Beckham's "status as a gay icon" will also be shredded if he doesn't end his relationship with Qatar.

The BBC has contacted David Beckham for comment, and his management responded: "We aren't commenting at this time."

Beckham has been urged to speak out on the criminalisation of same-sex relations in Qatar.

Speaking to the BBC last year, a source close to the star said: "Of course David wanted to ensure that he was informed about the facts and any concerns that he might have for his gay friends, football supporters and fans.

"Some of the laws and beliefs in the region differ to his own but the Qataris have always said that everyone will be safe and welcome at the World Cup in 2022 and he believes that commitment is sincere and has seen evidence of proactive engagement with the international LBGTQ community by the World Cup organisers."

Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman made headlines last week after it emerged he had referred to homosexuality as "damage in the mind".

Human Rights Watch called the former Qatar international's comments "harmful and unacceptable".

Rasha Younes, LGBT rights senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "The failure of the Qatari government to counter this false information has a significant impact on the lives of LGBT residents of Qatar, ranging from fuelling discrimination and violence against them to justifying subjecting them to state-sponsored conversion practices."

Organisers have said no-one coming to watch the tournament will be discriminated against.

Beckham's former England and Manchester United teammate Gary Neville recently appeared as a guest presenter on the long-running BBC topical news quiz, Have I Got News For You, and was questioned by team captain Ian Hislop over his decision to travel to Qatar to commentate on the World Cup.

"My view always has been that you either highlight the issues and challenges in these countries and speak about them, or you don't say anything and you stay back home and don't go," said Neville. "I've always said we should challenge them."

To which Hislop replied: "There's another option - you stay at home and highlight the abuses.
"You don't have to go and take the Qataris' money. I'm not trying to be tiresome, but it is just not a very good defence."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63620686

 

[The_KING]

Dua Lipa has denied reports she will perform at the Fifa Men's World Cup opening ceremony in Qatar on Sunday.

The singer said she will "look forward to visiting Qatar when it has fulfilled all the human rights pledges it made" when it became host.

Qatar has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers.

Other acts including Robbie Williams and BTS's Jung Kook are set to perform.

In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid.

However, the Qatar government has said the total is misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects.

BBC

Dua Lipa is a horrible singer so good thing she reject the chance to perform at the Qatar world cup.

 

[Robert]

Reminds me of Steve Van Zandt’s “Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City”.

 

[Mamoon]

Dua Lipa has no issues performing in France, a country that has banned hijab. A clear violation of human rights and freedom.

Just another hypocrite. The Qatar World Cup is burning a lot of woke idiots like hot coal.

LGBQT are mad people. It is a disease - a mental sickness. It was classified as a mental sickness until 1973 when it was removed due to propaganda.

The usual defense that it is not limited to humans only is weak. Other animals can have mental diseases as well.

 

[Robert]

Dua Lipa has no issues performing in France, a country that has banned hijab. A clear violation of human rights and freedom.

Just another hypocrite. The Qatar World Cup is burning a lot of woke idiots like hot coal.

LGBQT are mad people. It is a disease - a mental sickness. It was classified as a mental sickness until 1973 when it was removed due to propaganda.

The usual defense that it is not limited to humans only is weak. Other animals can have mental diseases as well.

I think I will believe the weight of combined intellect of the American Psychiatric Association over the last fifty years instead of you.

I have many LGBT friends. They are all lovely, so kind and gentle. They would not hurt a fly.

 

[Mamoon]

I think I will believe the weight of combined intellect of the American Psychiatric Association over the last fifty years instead of you.

I have many LGBT friends. They are all lovely, so kind and gentle. They would not hurt a fly.

80 years of combined APA intellect declared homosexuality a mental disorder. LGBT people are polite and well-mannered, at least most of them.

However, not all mental disorders lead to aggressive and violent behavior. LGBT folks are nice people but they have a delusional, a disorder.

They need help not facilitation. This is the problem with western woke culture - they encourage and facilitate abnormal behavior and lifestyle choices under the guise of personal freedom. This is how you promote delusion and insanity.

And of course, this personal freedom only applies to western people. For example, sexual orientation is a part of French personal freedom but wearing a hijab is not.

 

[Robert]

Well, for hundreds of years we believed the world is flat, and the Phlogiston theory too.

Normal and abnormal are defined by culture. If nobody is getting hurt, then the state should leave people alone. If they are a threat to themselves or others, the state should intervene.

Hijab is not banned in France. Face covering is. That would still appear to be a violation of Liberté however. In trying to make some Muslim women free of patriarchal oppression they are constraining some others.

 

[Mamoon]

Well, for hundreds of years we believed the world is flat, and the Phlogiston theory too.

Normal and abnormal are defined by culture. If nobody is getting hurt, then the state should leave people alone. If they are a threat to themselves or others, the state should intervene.

Hijab is not banned in France. Face covering is. That would still appear to be a violation of Liberté however. In trying to make some Muslim women free of patriarchal oppression they are constraining some others.

Sexual orientation is part of the natural order. Animals mate to reproduce. They reproduce to protect their species from extinction. It is the natural order, the way of the world.

Homosexuals are disturbing this order. If everyone becomes a homosexual and chooses this lifestyle, Homo Sapiens will become extinct in a 100 years. There will be no one left to wave the LGBQT flags and promote this madness.

The vast majority of people in any society and culture will be heterosexual because that is normal. Homosexuality is abnormal.

Not every woman wears a hijab and covers her face because of patriarchal oppression. Some do by choice without being told by their husband, brother, father or son. Therefore, the state should not intervene and let these women make their own choice.

The weird concept of liberty in the west, i.e. getting naked, is not something that would be accepted by the Muslims living in the west.

 

[Azzurri]

Mamoon is spot on here. Its simply a mental sickness, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Robert]

Sexual orientation is part of the natural order. Animals mate to reproduce. They reproduce to protect their species from extinction. It is the natural order, the way of the world.

Homosexuals are disturbing this order. If everyone becomes a homosexual and chooses this lifestyle, Homo Sapiens will become extinct in a 100 years. There will be no one left to wave the LGBQT flags and promote this madness.

The vast majority of people in any society and culture will be heterosexual because that is normal. Homosexuality is abnormal.

Not every woman wears a hijab and covers her face because of patriarchal oppression. Some do by choice without being told by their husband, brother, father or son. Therefore, the state should not intervene and let these women make their own choice.

The weird concept of liberty in the west, i.e. getting naked, is not something that would be accepted by the Muslims living in the west.

Animals also engage in homosexuality, to improve group cooperation and cohesion, and reduce violence. This has been observed in hundreds of species. I would argue that homosexuality is an evolutionary adaptation which protects troops, pods, tribes and other extended family groups, allowing the breeders a better chance to reach reproductive age.

Homosexuality works in this regard. It has been around since the before the beginning of our species, but a mere 4000 years ago the Abrahamic religions banned it, because patriarchy is all about men competing with and trying to dominate instead of cooperating.

I agree that face coverings should not be banned as that is illiberal.

 

[Robert]

Mamoon is spot on here. Its simply a mental sickness, nothing more, nothing less.

I say homophobia is the mental sickness. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Technics 1210]

Liberalism is quick to hide behind nature as a justification for abhorrent and unnatural choices made by humans, such as Homosexuality and LGBT, but when it comes to rape, murder, and racism - all prevalent in nature - nature goes out the window.

Imagine if a rapist said they rape because it can be observed on nature therefore it is justified? Same goes for a murderer.

Plus an observation does not prove intent of reason. If 2 male goldfish are observed to be swimming together, playing together, doesn't mean the fish are gay!

Plus there is the risk of fatal diseases. There is empirical, statistical, concrete evidence that homosexuals/LGBT are responsible for the spread of fatal diseases. EVERY FATAL sexually transmitted disease starts with homosexuality.

Homosexuality/LGBT should be banned, should be illegal, because such lifestyle are choices which can have fatal consequences for the rest of the normal human race.

Good on Qatar on sticking to their beliefs, and if Liberals don't like it, then don't watch the WC, don't play in the WC, and stop accepting money from ME countries, and above all, stop being daylight fascist hypocrites.

 

[Technics 1210]

Mamoon is spot on here. Its simply a mental sickness, nothing more, nothing less.

Liberalism is a mental sickness and a threat to human society, plain and simple. The downward trajectory of the West in the last 20 years is proof of this.

No laws, no principles, no discipline - just a free for all 'liberal' society where the is no difference between a man or a woman, and no respect for the natural order of the universe, which is why we humans are on Earth in the first place.

 

[shaz619]

Not a fan of human rights abuses in Qatar but the west taking the moral high ground is quiet hilarious, no different to anointing NATO as heroes.

It’s a big problem with the white homo sapien and their selective outrage

 

[the Great Khan]

Firstly I think we can all discuss this issue without the obscene comments. I have many colleagues who lgbtq and perfectly normal. One is mother to a new Muslim revert so I always refrain from making judgments about people's private lives.

Secondly at the same time I'm appalled at the hypocrisy by the west when it comes to Qatar. So the west cries when Moeen Ali wears some gaza wrist bands but want to do the same in Qatar with rainbow ones. Let's not forget it was the west that outlawed homosexuality in law explicitly. Contrary to popular belief Islam may outlaw homosexuality but it lumps it in with all sexual misconduct hetero or homo..but let's not digress..

Europe and its allies are hypocrites. You committed crimes galore..enslaved stripped then rights or millions and now cry about migrant workers? If you care so much about them why not offer them free visas and jobs I your countries? Thought not. As for the downtrodden plz. The US should have been banned from all sporting events when it invaded Iraq..was it? Of course not..

So please stop the moralising the rest of the world doesn't care..

 

[Kroll]

I'm sick to death of all this vitriol being directed towards Qatar.

Hypocrisy anyone?

They've had twelve years to stop it if they feel so disgusted by it. But are now jumping around with days to go. I have nothing against LGBTQ+ as people are free to run their as they please.

Public displays of affection are not part of Qatar's and the Arab world's culture but it has been highly stressed that everyone is welcome. Qatar will turn a blind eye to behaviours that they normally would not tolerate.

Qataris and and their culture have been called all sorts from cavemen to barbaric people with medieval ideologies and beliefs. Oh really? Let me remind everyone, one of Britain's famed mathematicians and crucial part of the team that worked on the codebreaking centre during WW11 was prosecuted for homosexuality only a few decades ago. Alan Turing subsequently committed suicide with the shame.

Gays and Lesbians were still openly discriminated against at the turn of the last century, merely twenty years ago. Now all of a sudden, the Qataris are the bad guys.

All this virtue signalling and superiority complex really boils my beans.

 

[MenInG]

Conditions in ME (GCC) for Asian labourers are not good

However, this has been the case for a very long time.

Only when it effects football is it being highlighted.

Why was this not an issue before?

 

[KingKhanWC]

Joe Lycett is threatening to shred £10,000 if David Beckham remains an ambassador for Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Birmingham comedian took to Twitter to give the "gay icon" and former England football captain the ultimatum after he had signed a reported £10 million deal with Qatar.

If Beckham withdraws as an ambassador for the FIFA World Cup, the 34-year-old will donate £10,000 to charities supporting Queer people in football - £1,000 for every £1 million Beckham is being paid.

However, if the ex-Manchester United star remains as a brand ambassador for the World Cup, Lycett will shred the money on a livestream, just before the opening ceremony on Sunday night.

It is illegal to shred, destroy or deface money in the UK, however, Lycett said he will come off "more lightly" than if he were to be gay in Doha.


In the video, that has over two million views, he said: "This is a message to David Beckham.

"I consider you, along with Kim Woodburn and Monty Don, to be a gay icon."

Beckham was the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude and to speak openly about his gay fans.

Lycett continued: "And you married a spice girl, which is the gayest thing a human being can do.

"But now it's 2022 and you've reportedly signed a £10 million deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the FIFA World Cup.

"Qatar was voted one of the worst places in the world to be gay. Homosexuality is illegal, punishable by imprisonment and if you're Muslim, possibly even death."

He continued: "You've always talked about the power of football as a force for good, which suggests to me that you've never seen West Brom.

"But generally I agree. So with that in mind, I'm giving you a choice.

"If you end your relationship with Qatar, I'll donate this 10 grand of my own money,' he said, sliding the cash in front of him. "That's a grand for every million you're reportedly getting, to charities that support Queer people in football.

"However if you do not, at midday next Sunday I will throw this money into a shredder, just before the opening ceremony of the World Cup, and stream it live on a website I've registered called benderslikebeckham.com.

"Not just the money, but your status as a gay icon will be shredded.

"You'll be forcing me to commit a crime.

"The choice is yours. I look forward to hearing from you."

https://www.itv.com/news/central/20...d-beckham-keeps-10m-world-cup-ambassador-deal

I have no idea who this chap is but does he really think David Beckham will care if he throws away £10k?

Beckham is an ATG footballer, the man was a genius with his passing. Its really poor for someone to attack him for being a World Cup Ambassador for Qatar. Becks to his credit has always tried to unite people but some dont understand this.

 

[James]

So it all starts on Sunday afternoon… there are some legitimate concerns about the tournament, but I’ll be watching.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Conditions in ME (GCC) for Asian labourers are not good

However, this has been the case for a very long time.

Only when it effects football is it being highlighted.

Why was this not an issue before?

Sadly bro western governments inc British are using the worlds greatest sporting event to further their own propaganda. Qatar was begged to provide LNG to Europe but they stated they dont have enough, since they have been attacked.

England team dont care enough to boycott so all their fans should stop criticising and enjoy the greatest sporting tournament .

 

[KingKhanWC]

So it all starts on Sunday afternoon… there are some legitimate concerns about the tournament, but I’ll be watching.

There is a lady in my office who told me she will not be watching because of workers rights. I asked her what her issues were specifically but she couldn't state this. I told her, this is her choice but we will be airing every World Cup match on a TV in the office. It will be interesting to see if she watches or closes her eyes.

We live in a time where sport should unite us regardless of our differences. If you still use Sport to spread hate or divide, you are not a real sports fan imo

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Dua Lipa has no issues performing in France, a country that has banned hijab. A clear violation of human rights and freedom.

Just another hypocrite. The Qatar World Cup is burning a lot of woke idiots like hot coal.

LGBQT are mad people. It is a disease - a mental sickness. It was classified as a mental sickness until 1973 when it was removed due to propaganda.

The usual defense that it is not limited to humans only is weak. Other animals can have mental diseases as well.

Agree the West will die within a few centuries due to this LGBTQ insanity. Gone way too far.

 

[MenInG]

Sadly bro western governments inc British are using the worlds greatest sporting event to further their own propaganda. Qatar was begged to provide LNG to Europe but they stated they dont have enough, since they have been attacked.

England team dont care enough to boycott so all their fans should stop criticising and enjoy the greatest sporting tournament .

The Emirates Stadium, Newcastle owned by Saudis etc...

 

[MenInG]

Qatar’s World Cup will be the first on Arab soil but despite excitement in the Middle East, the fervor is not universal in a region usually united by its passion for football.

Although the November 20-December 18 tournament is geographically close for many Arab fans, high costs are a problem as a cocktail of crises and economic woes plague much of the Middle East and North Africa.

“Accommodation and transport costs are exorbitant,” said Makram Abed, who runs a 40,000-strong Facebook fan page for Tunisia’s national side, one of the four Arab teams qualified along with Qatar, Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

Qatar “could have offered preferential prices” to fans in the region, Abed told AFP, although Qatar says it has subsidized the cost of accommodation available on its official portal.

Abed was one of several fans contacted by AFP in a straw poll of supporters across the region, whose population is more than 400 million.

World Cups have traditionally attracted more affluent supporters than weekly club football, whose fanbase is often working-class, football historian Paul Dietschy told AFP.

The World Cup in Qatar “reinforces” the universal trend of a growing gap between the rich and the poor, Dietschy said.

Even in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has the Arab world’s largest economy and shares a land border with Qatar, fans said the costs were prohibitive.

“You have to take out a loan to attend the three (group) matches,” said 25-year-old Saudi student Mouhannad, who asked not to be identified by his full name.

Subsidized flights

According to FIFA, Qatar has topped the list of countries for World Cup ticket purchases, which neared three million.

Gulf neighbors the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are also among the top 10 ticket-buyers.

In fact, Saudi Arabia has made more accommodation bookings than any other country, according to the Qatar organizing committee.

Egypt, considered an Arab football hotspot, did not qualify but some there still plan to travel, including Amr Mamdouh who is looking forward to his Gulf visit.

“Flights to Qatar cost half as much” as those to Russia which hosted the 2018 World Cup, he said.

Thousands of Arab expatriates living in the Gulf will also board the daily airlift of more than 160 shuttle flights laid on between Qatar and its neighbors.

They include Fadi Bustros, a Lebanese living in Dubai, who will take the one-hour flight to Doha and return the same day.

But Bustros fears a “real World Cup atmosphere” may be lacking, given controversies around Qatar’s hosting and the unprecedented scheduling in winter rather than summer, when many fans prefer to travel.

In Morocco, authorities have announced subsidized flights to Qatar, but they still cost around $760. For Yassin, a 34-year-old Moroccan who attended the 2018 World Cup, the discount is not incentive enough.

“A World Cup is synonymous with a beautiful atmosphere, human encounters, carelessness, celebration,” he said.

“Qatar does not meet this criteria.”

‘Soft power’

Yassin bought tickets to watch Morocco but then cancelled his trip because of “restrictive” rules in conservative Qatar, where entertainment options and access to alcohol remain limited.

Fellow Moroccan Wassim Riane, who also went to the World Cup in Russia, said he too will skip the trip to Qatar, “a country without a football history or a culture of celebration”.

Football landed in the Arabian peninsula in the 1970s, with the influx of oil companies and expatriate workers – much later than the rest of the Middle East, which was subject to French and British colonial rule.

In Egypt, the first football clubs were created after World War I.

According to Dietschy, football fandom follows two trends in the Arab world.

In countries such as Morocco, Iraq, Syria, and Algeria, “football is popular and attracts crowds” in stadiums, said Dietschy.

But in other countries, including Qatar, football is “more of a show that is watched on television” as well as a tool of “soft power”.

AFP

 

[James]

<b>Virgin Atlantic has said its gender-neutral uniform policy does not apply to the crew on board the England team's flight to the World Cup in Qatar.</b>

The airline announced a "fluid approach" to uniforms in September that it said allowed staff to choose their attire "no matter their gender".

But a spokeswoman told BBC News the crew for Tuesday's flight to Doha would not be able to choose their uniform.

Virgin said a plane displaying an LGBT icon would be used for the journey.

There has been criticism of human rights in Qatar and its treatment of LGBT people ahead of the World Cup.

Qatar has said all fans will be welcomed to the tournament "without discrimination".

Explaining why the gender-neutral uniform policy did not apply to Tuesday's flight, Virgin Atlantic said it was being rolled out in countries "more accepting of non-binary identities".

"Initially the UK, US and Israel are the territories where the uniform policy is being rolled out for our people, as those countries are more accepting of non-binary identities allowing more self-expression," it said.

Virgin explained that it considers safety and risk in destinations "on a case by case basis to ensure the safety and security of our people and customers at all times".

The airline, which does not usually operate to Qatar, did not set out this caveat in a press release announcing the new uniform policy in September.

A plane displaying an LGBT icon was selected for the six-hour charter flight from Birmingham airport to the Qatari capital, the airline said.

The A350 plane, named "Rain Bow" and carrying the image of a man holding a union flag wearing shoes with a rainbow motif on its fuselage, flew Gareth Southgate's team to Doha.

The Football Association (FA) said that, while it did not choose the plane, it was more than happy to fly on it.

It is illegal to be homosexual in Qatar, and same-sex relationships can be punishable by death.

Footballers, including England captain Harry Kane, have taken a stand in support of the LGBT community in recent months.

Kane has said he intends to wear his One Love rainbow captain armband during World Cup matches, even if it is not approved for use by the football's global governing body, Fifa, which runs the World Cup.

An FA spokesperson said: "We show our support for inclusion in many ways, including wearing the One Love Armband during the tournament".

Earlier this year, LGBT organisations engaging with Fifa said "progress has been slow" in ensuring the safety of LGBT fans - and that reassurances from Qatar had "not been adequate".

In response, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly advised LGBT fans show "a little bit of flex and compromise" if they travel to the tournament.

Mr Cleverly, who will travel to Qatar, said fans travelling from England and Wales should be "respectful of the host nation".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman later said LGBT fans should not be expected to "compromise who they are" if they visit Qatar for the World Cup.

Some politicians, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, said they would not attend the tournament due to Qatar's human rights record.

Wales's First Minister, Labour's Mark Drakeford, is expected to attend.

The England team are expected to land in Qatar at around 20:00 local time and arrive at their team base at about 21:00 GMT.

The UK government's World Cup travel advice sets out the legal status of homosexuality in Qatar and the assurances given by its authorities.

The first match of the tournament will be between Qatar and Ecuador on 20 November. England's first game is against Iran on 21 November.

Announcing the gender-neutral uniform policy in September, Virgin Atlantic said staff, including crew, pilots, and ground teams, could choose to wear a uniform including either a trousers or a skirt.

It described the policy as one element of a campaign to allow LGBT staff and passengers to express themselves, including through optional pronoun badges for all staff and those travelling with the airline.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63635191

 

[Yossarian]

Whilst I disagree with the world cup being held in Qatar, for purely football reasons, I think it's sheer hypocrisy by those nations bleating about LGBTQ+XYZ£$% laws. Every country has it's own rules, it's own customs, it's own culture. Including the Western countries.

Each has rules and laws that are abhorrent to other countries. for example, in many countries prostitution is perfectly legal. But not so in many other countries, including many Western countries. Or worse, in some countries (eg Germany) as well as in some U.S,. states, bestiality is still legal.
And yet everyone harps on about LGBT laws in Muslim countries.

You want to go to Qatar? Well just follow the local laws!! Every country expects the same from foreign visitors.

 

[MenInG]

Qatar has transformed its infrastructure in the run up to the World Cup, which starts on Sunday. Five million people from South Asia have been employed on building projects, including from Nepal - where families have told the BBC safety failures led to the death of their loved ones.

In the early hours of 10 November, Qatar airlines flight QR 644 touched down at Nepal's Kathmandu airport.

Among the cargo unloaded from the plane was a large white wooden box. "Human Remains of late Umesh Kumar Yadav, 32 years male, Nepali" was written on the outside.

In Golbazar, 250km (155 miles) south-east of Kathmandu, his father ties up his buffalo outside his brick house. He lives in one of the poorest districts of one of the poorest nations in the world, where opportunity is scarce.

When his son Umesh was offered the chance to go and work in Qatar, one of the world's richest countries, Laxman Yadav sold some buffalo to pay $1,500 (£1,250) to an employment agent who promised to arrange a job.

It's common for agents to visit impoverished areas not just in Nepal, but in Bangladesh and India, offering young men a lucrative job overseas, in exchange for large sums of money to secure them a visa.

The workers are often passed from contract to contract, making it hard for the families to know where their relatives are working, and for whom.

A two-hour drive away in the district of Dhanusha is Krishna Mandal's house. His father Sitesh left to work in Qatar four years ago.

Sometimes Sitesh sent his son selfies while at work. "He told me he worked on water tanks, but didn't tell us too much about what he was doing," says Krishna.

Sitesh was due to return for a visit on 12 October. But just days before, Krishna got a phone call telling him his father had been killed in an accident.

A family friend said Sitesh was been working on sewage pipes, seven feet below ground in the capital Doha, when a heavy mound of earth fell onto him. His death certificate said he suffered "multiple blunt injuries due to solid object impact".

Krishna says he hasn't received a single phone call from his father's employer, or an offer of compensation. The BBC contacted the company Sitesh worked for to get a comment, but they didn't respond.

From Golbazar, Laxman didn't know too much about his son's life in Qatar - he does not own a smartphone and couldn't follow the daily updates Umesh used to post on TikTok.

In his videos, he could be seen dancing in front of Qatar's glitzy skyline or in his dorm-style accommodation with other migrant workers.

Umesh also shared clips of him at work on construction sites - smiling from on top of a ladder, or even - in true TikTok fashion - lifting heavy concrete blocks as a challenge.

On 26 October, Umesh posted a video of himself dancing at night in front of some skyscrapers running adverts for the upcoming World Cup.

It was the last post he'd ever make.

Umesh's cousin, also called Laxman, and also working in Qatar, got a call on 27 October to say he had died. He went with others to the construction site to find out how.

"They told us Umesh was taking the scaffold lift up, when it touched something and broke, and he fell down," he said.

"They should have taken care of safety at the workplace," Laxman says. "They should have checked everything and only then allowed people to work."

The BBC has been in touch with the construction company Umesh worked for - they strenuously deny a lapse in safety caused his death.

"The accident occurred as a result of his negligence and recklessness," their statement said. "The worker who died was very careless on the site and was notified many times to abide by the safety conditions like the rest of his colleagues, but to no avail."

Since World Cup construction began in Qatar, reports have emerged of the difficult conditions for and deaths of migrant workers.

Qatar's government says it is committed to "ensuring the health, safety and dignity of all workers employed on our projects". It told the BBC it has improved health and safety regulations.

But new figures given to the BBC by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre show that in the past year there have been close to 140 cases of violations of workers' rights, with around half relating to health and safety issues.

They believe the true figure might be higher, partly due to fear of reprisal.

The BBC has seen more than a dozen death certificates of workers from across South Asia over a six-year period. Many cite the cause of death as "multiple blunt injuries". Families say they still want answers.

While Umesh's coffin made its way from the airport to Golbazar, his father Laxman and dozens of other villagers prepared for his last rites - collecting piles of wood and hay to start the fire.

In Nepal it is tradition for the eldest son to light the pyre. Laxman held Umesh's son, 13-month-old Sushant, easing a stick into the baby's tiny hand so he could start the fire.

"He used to support us. We have loans to pay, and his young children to support," Umesh's mother Sumitra said, her face wet with tears. "He was my hero."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63628537

 

[MenInG]

DOHA: Facing a storm of European criticism before the start of the World Cup, Qatar on Tuesday stepped up its diplomatic and media riposte which has included threatening “legal” action to defend its name.

Five days from the opening game, Qatar’s chief World Cup organiser said attacks on the Gulf state had been launched because it “competed as equals and snatched” the World Cup from rival bidders. A senior member of the Qatar Football Association called European critics “the enemy”.

In an interview, Qatar’s Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri said “racism” was behind the onslaught on his country’s record. “They don’t want to allow a small country, an Arab country, an Islamic country, to organise the World Cup,” he said.

Facing criticism of its treatment of foreign workers and rights for women and the LGBTQ community, the wealthy Gulf state has long used the case that everyone is “welcome” at the World Cup and said opponents were acting in bad faith.

Official says Doha exploring legal options to ensure those responsible for defaming country are held to account

The tone has changed in recent weeks, highlighted by comments by the emir, Sheikh Tamim Hamad Al Thani, who told the national legislature on Oct 25 that Qatar had faced an “unprecedented and growing campaign” that smacked of “double standards”.

Three days later, the German ambassador to Doha was summoned over comments made by his country’s interior minister casting doubt on whether Qatar should host the World Cup.

Qatar’s media has spoken of a “systematic conspiracy” by European rivals.

The Al Sharq newspaper slammed “the arrogance” of some European countries.

On a recent European tour, Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said in media interviews that there was “a lot of hypocrisy in these attacks”.

“They are being peddled by a very small number of people, in 10 countries at most, who are not at all representative of the rest of the world,” he told Le Monde without naming those involved.

‘Enemy is a blessing’

Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani, a member of the Qatar Football Association executive, told Al Sharq in an interview published on Tuesday: “For me, the presence of the enemy is a blessing and not a curse, because this may push you to do your work in the best possible way.”

After a recent British media report on the hacking of opponents of Qatar’s World Cup hosting, a government official warned: “Qatar will not stand by when confronted by such baseless allegations, and all our legal options at our disposal are being explored to ensure those responsible are held to account.”

The bitterness expressed in some newspaper editorials is starting to be seen in comments by some officials.

Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of Qatar’s organising committee, told Al Jazeera television that the Gulf state’s unnamed opponents were jealous of its hosting.

“The campaigns are due to the fact that Qatar is an Arab country that was able to compete as equals and snatch the hosting of the tournament.”

He said the attacks were based on “the stereotyped image of the Arab world, which is one of the reasons we fought to host the World Cup, to change the stereotyped idea about Arabs”.

A European diplomat in Doha said the Qatar government had reached “the end of the line with the criticism”. “They blame us even though very little is coming from governments,” added the diplomat.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2022

 

[MenInG]

Incessant anti Qatari propaganda is too much now.

The same news organizations will be reporting daily on the matches too.

==

Gay Qataris have been promised safety from physical torture in exchange for helping the authorities to track down other LGBTQ+ people in the country, a prominent Qatari doctor and gay rights campaigner has told the Guardian.

Dr Nasser Mohamed, who lives in the US but retains contact with hundreds of gay Qataris, said that some secret networks had been compromised after arrests by Qatar’s preventive security department.

“A lot [of gay Qataris] don’t know about each other,” Mohamed said. “And it’s safer that way because when the law enforcement finds one person, they actively try to find their entire network. But some of the people who were captured and physically abused were then recruited as agents.

“Now there are agents in the gay community that were promised safety from physical torture in exchange for working for the preventive security department and helping them find groups of LGBTQ+ people.”

Mohamed told the Guardian that foreign gay fans in Qatar would not be persecuted while at the World Cup finals tournament. However, he warned that local LGBTQ+ supporters faced a very different reality. “What is it like to be an LGBT Qatari? You live in fear, you live in the shadows, you’re actively persecuted. You’re subjected to state-sponsored physical and mental abuse. It’s dangerous to be an LGBT person in Qatar.”

Last month Human Rights Watch reported that Qatar’s preventive security department forces had arbitrarily arrested lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and subjected them to ill‑treatment in detention. HRW also documented six cases of severe and repeated beatings and five cases of sexual harassment in police custody between 2019 and 2022.

Rasha Younes, a senior researcher with HRW, told the Guardian that some cases were more striking than most. “There was one story of a transgender woman who was detained in solitary confinement for two months underground, lost her job as a result of being detained and was not able to give notice to her employer that she was gone,” she said. “They shaved her 17-inch long hair in detention, severely beat her until she bled, and denied her medical care.”

Guardian

 

[Technics 1210]

Virgin scraps gender-neutral uniforms for England team flight to Qatar

Virgin Atlantic has suspended a policy allowing staff to wear gender neutral uniforms on the flight taking England to the World Cup in Qatar.

The policy, announced in September, allows staff the option of wearing whichever of the airline’s distinctive uniforms best “expresses how they identify or present themselves”.

But the airline said it was being suspended for the flight following a “risk assessment”, which considered “laws and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and expressions of identity”.

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/virgin-scraps-gender-neutral-uniforms-094319752.html

Qatar 1 - West 0

 

[KingKhanWC]

^ Money will always talk the loudest in the end.

Europe is becoming broke compared to rising economies in the middle east and Asia. Doha is also a major travel hub connecting flights. When I visited, the airport was something Ive never seen before, incredible to say the least. Heathrow looks a bomb site in comparison.

Its not Qatars fault, Europe is begging for gas. Qatar cannot give any more than stated, it has contracts with other nations but this isnt good enough. Perhaps instead of ranting about LBGT or workers right, the same people should demand their governments make peace with Russia, so their economies can start to grow again.

 

[MenInG]

Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal has again questioned the decision to award the World Cup to Qatar, although he has praised the organisation and facilities in the Gulf state.

He believes Qatar is too small to host such a big tournament and does not have enough football heritage.

Van Gaal has previously labelled the decision to host the World Cup in the Arab nation as "ridiculous".

"You have to play in football countries," he said.

The 71-year-old van Gaal added: "The aim of Fifa was, at that time, to develop countries and therefore we play here.

"But football countries have more experience with everything and you can also stimulate other countries in another way, the right way."

The Dutchman revealed some of his friends and family have had problems trying to book accommodation for the tournament, which begins on Sunday.

Qatar has a population of fewer than three million people and the eight World Cup stadiums are only spread over an area the size of West Yorkshire.

"This is also a small country. My family and friends have a lot of difficulties to find a place," said former Manchester United boss van Gaal.

"But the organisation and the pitches and everything, the facilities, are very good."

The Netherlands are preparing for their first World Cup for eight years after failing to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Van Gaal, who is in his third spell as boss, led the team to third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and believes they are good enough to lift the trophy this time around - even if other sides have more talented individuals.

"I believe we don't have the best players on earth in our team, but I believe in team building and in tactics," he added.

"I believe we can go far, but we also need luck, that is also important. Because of that and because I believe in imagination we could be the world champion at the end of the tournament."

 

[MenInG]

Something positive from Qatar

==

It is 7:00 am in Dubai and as the sun peeks above high-rises, it reveals an animated scene below: about 200 people, mostly men, wielding bats and taped-up tennis balls in a weekly festival of street cricket.

About a dozen informal games are in progress in a carpark near the city's financial district, as metro trains glide across a bridge overhead and police watch from a parked SUV, wary of players bringing alcohol or otherwise misbehaving.

Every weekend, such games are played on spare patches of ground across the Gulf region, which is home to millions of migrant workers and expatriates from cricket-loving South Asia.

And even as the Gulf, namely Qatar, gears up to host the first football World Cup on Arab soil, another tournament dominated conversation among the players in Dubai: cricket's Twenty20 World Cup, which was unfolding in Australia.

Faisal, a 35-year-old Pakistani who drives for a living, followed the tournament so avidly that he nearly crashed during India's tense win over Pakistan in October.

"I was almost in an accident -- I was watching my phone, the India-Pakistan game," he said. "We really love cricket."

There's no question which is the prime sport among the Gulf's migrant workers, whose treatment has been in the spotlight in the build-up to the Qatar World Cup.

Street cricket can often be seen in Dubai, much more commonly than football.

That's a result of the huge numbers of South Asians in the region, including an estimated 3.5 million Indians in the United Arab Emirates.

Making up about a third of residents, they dwarf the native population of around one million.

"We keep watching scores while playing cricket," said Indian expat Dinesh Balani, 49. "While working, while in the bathroom or anywhere, we follow cricket."

- 'Our own bosses' -

As the November morning heats up, more players arrive, clutching paper cups of karak tea, a Gulf speciality, and bags of bats and plastic wickets as they spill out of cars.

A children's game is in progress in one corner of the carpark, while in another, an all-women's team undergo a coaching session.

Tennis balls wrapped in tape -- to make them less bouncy, which better replicates leather cricket balls for bowling and batting -- hurtle across the tarmac, bumping off kerbs and rolling under parked cars.

Balani, who works in real estate, said he has played street cricket in Dubai since 1995. He runs a team, the D-Boys, with 30 players on the roster.

He said for many workers, often with boring or stressful jobs, cricket is an important outlet.

"A lot of us are between white and blue-collar workers," Balani said.

"So they have to go through a lot of things in the week. They listen to a lot of things from bosses and managers," he added.

"But this is the one place where we vent out. Nobody is there to boss us. We are our own bosses."

Amreen Vadsaria, 22, who was raised in New Zealand and is playing with the women's team, says India's Virat Kohli is her favourite player. She cannot name any footballers.

"I grew up outside of India, and I never really had an interest in cricket. But I think (playing street cricket) has made me want to follow cricket more," she said.

"And because it's such a big thing in my country in India, I think it's brought me closer to my culture."

- 'Family get-together' -

The players and their games have an itinerant history, moving from place to place as Dubai's breakneck development turns their makeshift cricket grounds into tower blocks and malls.

Meanwhile, the UAE has become a fixture in professional cricket, hosting Pakistan's home games for a decade after a 2009 attack on Sri Lanka's team in Lahore.

India's glitzy IPL Twenty20 competition shifted to the UAE for two years during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the oil-rich country also hosted last year's Twenty20 World Cup, along with several Asian Cups.

While the UAE's South Asian population ensures a ready-made fan-base for big tournaments, weekly cricket also acts as a glue for the community, according to Balani.

"This is what we have done from the age of five. We started playing and never stopped since then," he said.

"It is part and parcel of our life... we became friends in cricket and then our families became friends and then our kids became friends and so on and so forth," Balani added.

"So this is not only cricket, this is also like a family get-together for us," he said.

https://sports.yahoo.com/qatar-world-cup-looms-street-045138770.html

 

[Mamoon]

People can bark all they want, but the reality is that no one comes close to the gulf states in terms of organization and provide security.

During the World Cup you won’t see any crime, any pollution, people littering the streets. The every day lives of the citizens will not be disrupted either.

It will be one of the best organized World Cups you will ever see.

 

[sweep_shot]

During the World Cup you won’t see any crime, any pollution, people littering the streets. The every day lives of the citizens will not be disrupted either.

Gulf states are very effective in dealing with criminals and lawbreakers. Effective strictness.

 

[Technics 1210]

People can bark all they want, but the reality is that no one comes close to the gulf states in terms of organization and provide security.

During the World Cup you won’t see any crime, any pollution, people littering the streets. The every day lives of the citizens will not be disrupted either.

It will be one of the best organized World Cups you will ever see.

Agree. This world cup will be one of the best IMO.

Even the Russia Word Cup was brilliant.

I have a few friends who have discarded the human rights nonsense and are in Qatar for the very reason it will be one of the safest, structured, and organised World Cups ever.

 

[MenInG]

Challo - all happy I guess.

 

[Technics 1210]

Challo - all happy I guess.

I don’t see any rainbow flags?

 

[ex-q-zit]

World Cup 2022: Conor Coady says it is not 'too much' to ask to speak about non-football issues

England defender Conor Coady does not think it is "too much" to expect the side's players to speak about non-football issues.

The 2022 World Cup starts in Qatar on Sunday but the build-up has been dominated by concerns about the hosts.

Qatar has been criticised for its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record and treatment of migrant workers.

"We're not politicians," said 29-year-old centre-back Coady.

"We'll never be politicians in terms of the way we look at things but, in terms of what the squad has done over the last few years and how much they've helped people, that comes with the territory.

"You look at Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling and the amount they've done off the pitch in helping people. It comes with being an England player because the lads are so open to speaking to the media and trying to help people as much as possible. It's great credit to them in terms of how they've gone about it. I don't think it's too much.

"I won't sit here and say the boys know everything because I don't think we do but what we will do is try and help as much as we can. Over the last few years the boys have done an incredible job of it."

He added: "First and foremost we are here to win games but if there is anything on top of that, as I say, we have a mature group."

In February 2021, the Guardian said 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since it won its World Cup bid in 2010.

However, the Qatar government has said the total is misleading, because not all the deaths recorded were of people working on World Cup-related projects.

A recent report by Human Rights Watch said members of Qatar's LGBTQ+ community were detained and physically abused by the country's security services, while a Qatar World Cup ambassador was criticised for saying homosexuality was "damage in the mind".

Qatar's World Cup organisers say that "everyone is welcome" to visit the country to watch the football, and that no-one will be discriminated against.

Peaceful protests have been planned by some players, while England's Harry Kane and eight other captains of European teams will be wearing 'One Love' armbands to promote diversity and inclusion.

Asked if the players would be taking the knee before games, Coady said: "At the minute, it is not something we have spoken about."

An England spokesperson said the players would discuss whether to take a knee before their World Cup opener against Iran on Monday.

England met migrant workers in Qatar as part of their schedule on Thursday and Coady, who has 10 international caps, said prior to the meeting: "It's a chance to speak to them and for us to open up to them a bit and see how the last few months have been.

"[We are] going in with an open mind to chat to them as much as we can. The boys are really looking forward to it."

On the issues in Qatar, he added: "From our own point of view, we've spoken about it as a team. We have come together and had a chat about it in meetings.

"We have said the same thing - we really believe that football is for absolutely everybody. That is what we believe as a team, as people and as players ourselves. That's what we want to focus on.

"We have come to a country where we will respect rules, and respect everything that goes on in this country.

"We're all here for one thing, and that's to play football, but in terms of what we believe as a team and as players is football is for all, everyone to be included in our great sport."

England go into the World Cup on the back of six games without a win.

Their recent run included three defeats and three draws and resulted in relegation from their Nations League group.

"It's not affected confidence," said Coady, who was part of the England squad at Euro 2020 but did not play.

"We didn't get to where we wanted but we know where we want to go now."

BBC

 

[the Great Khan]

Suddenly right wing brits care about migrant workers..thisnis beyond hilarious..frankly I've stopped following their news about the tournament and follow other non racist sources..

 

[sweep_shot]

Challo - all happy I guess.

Who is FIFA to assure what's allowed or what's not allowed in Qatar? Funny.

Public affection is inappropriate. It should be outlawed for both straight and gay people (which I think it is in Qatar).

 

[KingKhanWC]

England players need to concentrate on their football, its a pretty average squad. No doubt if they are knocked out early ,the British media will cry about human rights as a deflection.

As for LGBT most in England are against this lifestyle for themselves or their families but cant speak out in this senstive woke culture. Qatar, Muslim nations, Orthodox Christians nations will always speak out being against their morals.

Why not have an open debate if LGBT is good for society and if it should be shoved into everyones life?

 

[the Great Khan]

England players need to concentrate on their football, its a pretty average squad. No doubt if they are knocked out early ,the British media will cry about human rights as a deflection.

As for LGBT most in England are against this lifestyle for themselves or their families but cant speak out in this senstive woke culture. Qatar, Muslim nations, Orthodox Christians nations will always speak out being against their morals.

Why not have an open debate if LGBT is good for society and if it should be shoved into everyones life?

I'm so tired of the bbc. All they have done is moan ever since England lost to Qatar. A bunch of racist islamaphobes.

I mean the English of all nations gave no right to moralise. I mean they suddenly care about migrant workers now. Well do they think about it when they are oartying in dubai?

The rank hypocrisy. Frankly give me back my 46 trillion. Or stay quiet is how I see it.

 

[Technics 1210]

England players need to concentrate on their football, its a pretty average squad. No doubt if they are knocked out early ,the British media will cry about human rights as a deflection.

As for LGBT most in England are against this lifestyle for themselves or their families but cant speak out in this senstive woke culture. Qatar, Muslim nations, Orthodox Christians nations will always speak out being against their morals.

Why not have an open debate if LGBT is good for society and if it should be shoved into everyones life?

There's no debate because freedom of thought, expression, and democracy do not exist in the West as claimed by the Western liberals.

Democracy is accepted if and only the democratic result fits the agenda. Freedom of thought and expression are accepted if conforming to an agenda, if not, its cancel culture time.

The majority, religious and non religious, do not accept LGBT, this is a fact, but said people live in fear, in the West, of speaking out their opinions.

The West is in effect pseudo Nazism, and I put the blame solely on Liberalism.

If football players have a problem with Qatar and its values, then leave, but they dare not. Playing to the fascist and racist galleries of liberalism.

If there was a proper debate, liberals would lose, they know it, which is why they hide behind animals as a defence.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I'm so tired of the bbc. All they have done is moan ever since England lost to Qatar. A bunch of racist islamaphobes.

I mean the English of all nations gave no right to moralise. I mean they suddenly care about migrant workers now. Well do they think about it when they are oartying in dubai?

The rank hypocrisy. Frankly give me back my 46 trillion. Or stay quiet is how I see it.

As I wrote earlier the likes of Harry Kane were in tears when Man City(Abu Dhabi) failed in their attempt to sign him. He was happy to take the money then.

Ask 70 million Brits if they will take money from Arab nations, 99% will.

All British media is acting as if they hold moral superiority over the world.

I wouldnt worry to much about it, as its pretty hilarious if not tedious to see/hear modern western civilisation teaching morals to others. When its the most immoral civilisation in history.

 

[Technics 1210]

As I wrote earlier the likes of Harry Kane were in tears when Man City(Abu Dhabi) failed in their attempt to sign him. He was happy to take the money then.

Ask 70 million Brits if they will take money from Arab nations, 99% will.

All British media is acting as if they hold moral superiority over the world.

I wouldnt worry to much about it, as its pretty hilarious if not tedious to see/hear modern western civilisation teaching morals to others. When its the most immoral civilisation in history.

You have to remember this. The UK had been waging war for over 3 centuries across the globe. When war arrived at their doorstep - WW1/2 - all of a sudden British troops 'sacrificed' their lives to protect democracy and freedom, but these values were all but lost when the British embarked on bloodshed around the globe.

Point being, indigenous West, are generally insecure, which is why they have neither morals nor shame when proudly living a life of hypocrisy.

 

[Third_Umpire]

Mullahs don’t want to talk about Qatar’s human rights abuses, even if the victims are primarily Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians.

 

[Firebat]

Piers Morgan on the "rank hypocrisy" of the debate.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AwTaNr5DsfA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[KingKhanWC]

Mullahs don’t want to talk about Qatar’s human rights abuses, even if the victims are primarily Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians.

Who are these people?

And why do you feel the west has any credibility to lecture others on human rights?

 

[KingKhanWC]

Piers Morgan on the "rank hypocrisy" of the debate.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AwTaNr5DsfA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dont usually agree with this man but he ripped her a new one. However stating facts you will never lose a debate.

Almost all WESTERNERS will go to the Middle East if it helps their pockets, gay rights will be forgotten.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Qatar lights up building with Palestinian flag and reads Gaza in our Hearts.

A reminder of human rights abuses supported by the hypocrite west.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Qatar lights up a building with Palestine flag and a banner reading "Gaza is in our hearts," ahead of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldCup2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldCup2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/y6ds5Fek7q">pic.twitter.com/y6ds5Fek7q</a></p>— PO.Team &#55356;&#56821;&#55356;&#56824; (@PO_2023) <a href="https://twitter.com/PO_2023/status/1593240019623288835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[SalimBhai]

Dont usually agree with this man but he ripped her a new one. However stating facts you will never lose a debate.

Almost all WESTERNERS will go to the Middle East if it helps their pockets, gay rights will be forgotten.

He is spot on. And I usually never agree with him

 

[The_KING]

Piers Morgan on the "rank hypocrisy" of the debate.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AwTaNr5DsfA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Don’t like the way Piers conducts himself, but he is spot on here.

 

[MenInG]

Less than a week ago, World Cup organizers had to tell major FIFA sponsor Budweiser that their alcohol tents needed to be moved to less visible areas. On Thursday, just three days before the games begin in Qatar, The Times reported that beer will "likely" be banned from all eight stadiums at the request of the Qatari royal family.

Alcohol is not technically banned in Qatar, but it is very tightly regulated. If Budweiser can't have any visibility during games, FIFA could be breaching their multimillion dollar contract with Budweiser -- a company that has had a relationship with FIFA since 1985.

Before the latest restrictions, beer was expected to be sold at stadiums at around $14 each, and there was going to be a limit of four drinks per order to try to limit binge drinking, as previously reported by The Guardian. Qatar has a zero tolerance policy for drinking in public and being drunk in public.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...complete-beer-ban-at-stadiums-per-report/amp/

 

[the Great Khan]

Westerners crying because they can't get drunk lol..maybe they will find out you don't need alcohol to have fun..

 

[MenInG]

Less than a week ago, World Cup organizers had to tell major FIFA sponsor Budweiser that their alcohol tents needed to be moved to less visible areas. On Thursday, just three days before the games begin in Qatar, The Times reported that beer will "likely" be banned from all eight stadiums at the request of the Qatari royal family.

Alcohol is not technically banned in Qatar, but it is very tightly regulated. If Budweiser can't have any visibility during games, FIFA could be breaching their multimillion dollar contract with Budweiser -- a company that has had a relationship with FIFA since 1985.

Before the latest restrictions, beer was expected to be sold at stadiums at around $14 each, and there was going to be a limit of four drinks per order to try to limit binge drinking, as previously reported by The Guardian. Qatar has a zero tolerance policy for drinking in public and being drunk in public.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...complete-beer-ban-at-stadiums-per-report/amp/

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well, this is awkward...</p>— Budweiser (@Budweiser) <a href="https://twitter.com/Budweiser/status/1593555466856054784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Do these 'fans' go to support their team or go for drinking?

England fans in particular have a bad reputation for getting drunk and fighting at every major tournament, then crying in the media.

It's safer for Qatar to limit alcohol than to risk the bad press which will occur when England fans riot.

 

[Technics 1210]

Social Media in meltdown mode since the news!

Without doubt this WC will be the most family friendly World Cup.

Hooligans and drunkards - you have been warned!

 

[MenInG]

The World Cup could hand Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani his crowning achievement on the global stage or a fiasco to be relished by Arab adversaries who resent Qatar for backing outlawed Islamist movements and for punching above its weight.

The 42-year-old ruler hopes a smooth tournament will cement Qatar as a legitimate global player, display strength to regional rivals and placate conservatives at home who have bristled at international criticism of their country.

"A successful World Cup for Qatar would be seen as a culmination of Tamim's rule and a confirmation that he has not only fulfilled his father's vision but can now start new visions and projects of his own," said Allen Fromherz, author of "Qatar: A Modern History".

The 2022 World Cup has been dogged by controversy since Qatar was announced as the first Middle East nation, and Gulf absolute monarchy, to host it.

Organisers strongly denied allegations of bribes to secure the rights and pushed back on criticism over human rights abuses and social restrictions. Holding the event in late autumn instead of summer due to the desert climate also drew ire.

Tamim, who assumed power in 2013 after his father abdicated, has hit back against the critics, denouncing what he described as "ferocious" slander and double-standards, and pointed to Qatar's labour reforms and welcome of all walks of life to the event, testing the tolerance of conservative Sunni Muslim Qataris.

Now all eyes are on the smallest nation to host the event in what will be the most expensive World Cup in history, organised at a cost of $220 billion - almost 20 times what Russia spent in 2018.

Doha is unrecognisable from when Qatar won the bid 12 years ago. New highways, a metro, stadiums, new airport and ports, and hundreds of buildings, hotels and restaurants await some 1.2 million visitors, a construction spree authorities say was planned regardless of the event that accelerated the pace.

"Tamim was quite central in the entire time leading up to the World Cup ... by trying to put Qatar in a place where they had as little enemies as possible and as many friends as possible," said Cinzia Bianco, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"He has done a lot to show that Qatar is a country in progress, a modern country and has been the face of all the development", she said.

Tamim has also championed a "consensus-based policy" to accrue soft power and international prestige - important assets for a small country in a volatile region, she said.

WEB OF FRIENDSHIPS

Tamim's first big test after becoming leader came in 2017 when Saudi Arabia and its allies boycotted Qatar for backing Islamists they deem a threat, giving a platform to their dissidents and befriending Iran and Turkey.

Qatari officials say the country came close to being invaded when neighbour Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed the embargo for 3-1/2 years until Riyadh, under U.S. pressure and in a bid to rehabilitate its own image, announced an end to the dispute.

Tamim moved fast to limit the damage during the blockade by finding alternate trade routes and partners and, like his father before him, using a complex web of friendships nurtured by Qatar's gas riches to garner support.

Ultimately, Tamim exploited the crisis to strengthen his base at home, deepen ties with the West and deploy his nation's gas wealth to overhaul Doha in time for the World Cup.

Qatar's maverick regional policies have enraged its Gulf and Arab neighbours.

It backed alternative sides to those of its neighbours in "Arab Spring" divides from Egypt to Libya.

While housing the largest U.S. military base in the region, Qatar has also been home to myriad non-state actors seen as anti-Western, including Afghanistan's Taliban and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as well as Muslim Brotherhood members.

Many in the region have long seen the output of Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera as inflammatory.

POSSIBLE PITFALLS

But Qatar has built credit with the West by emerging as a diplomatic broker over Afghanistan, an occasional facilitator on Iran, an ally for European leaders facing an energy supply crunch and a big investor in America and Europe.

He wants to ensure Qatar remains internationally relevant by also becoming a sports powerhouse.

"We cannot afford to push countries like Qatar away from us," said a European diplomat in Qatar, remarking on criticism in Europe of Qatar's hosting of the World Cup.

But a successful World Cup is far from guaranteed.

James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore, said pitfalls loom including the handling of activists in a country that normally does not brook dissent, possible fan rowdiness and culturally sensitive issues such as possible displays of same-sex affection.

Controlling crowds will be another challenge, with memories raw of recent stampede disasters in Indonesia and South Korea. Another big worry is the risk of cyberattacks.

Dorsey said Qatar could use a successful World Cup as a springboard to reform.

"Ultimately, to fully benefit from the tournament's reputational value, Qatar will, post-World Cup, have to push forward with social, economic, and political reform, even if activist attention moves on," Dorsey wrote.

For now, Soccer fans around the world as well as Qatar's friends and rivals are waiting for the tournament to begin on Sunday.

"This is the first ever World Cup in the region. Who knows when it will happen again? This is a big, big deal," said Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Centre at Qatar University.

Reuters