Hurrah!!
Footballs not coming home.
After the total fiasco of the Olympics and the fact we Londoners are having to foot some of the bill, I for one am glad the World Cup is not coming here.
Hurrah!!
Footballs not coming home.
After the total fiasco of the Olympics and the fact we Londoners are having to foot some of the bill, I for one am glad the World Cup is not coming here.
So am I. Quite why sport has to take over everything I don't know. They cancel scheduled tv programmes, talk endlessly on the news about it, whether we've won, why we haven't won and what we should have done better. Sorry I'm all for keeping fit etc. but I don't want to have it take over my life.
Stands back and awaits verbal missiles.........;)
I agree OB and Serenwen. My hubby watches sports endlessly - I retreat here!
Look at my face....does it look bothered????
Sorry to be a party pooper but I really couldn't be less intrested in us not getting the world cup. I'm sure it's very important for some reason though.....
hurrah!!
Footballs not coming home.
Been singing that version! 😀
well like you all I am most relieved its not coming here. I don't think countries really estimate the cost of hosting such events...take for example the Olympics what will that really cost to host....and for countries like Qatar that after they have had the World Cup that they will take down the stadiums and put them up in Third World Countries.....what's this doing to the environment (the same if its as hot out there that will have to have air conditioning. (I am sure I heard that on the tv today)..another environment issue).....and just think we already have problems with football crowds....relieved that we won't be holding the football world cups for a long time at least!
Sticking my neck out here in a very balanced discussion 😀 and a gender balanced discussion at that. 😀 (Yes, I do realise it's an anti-sport, female perspective!)
There's a whole other thread that could be had (not here :)) on the incredible corruption of FIFA, and how this corruption has manifested in this decision once again. But it's all over the news for the interested (Blatter's attack on England just before the first vote, Putin seeming to "know" he'd won it) so is there much to debate?
Gary Lineker seemed utterly bemused at the experiences he's been through in recent days. I got the feeling that he's such a nice guy, he couldn't bring himself to say that he'd seen corruption and politics first-hand, right in his face.
Anyway ...
well like you all I am most relieved its not coming here. I don't think countries really estimate the cost of hosting such events...
With income from visitors and a vast tourist boost, I've heard the UK would have made hundreds of millions of pounds profit. Profit and some job-creation was assured. The profit would have gone to the nation in general, even easing the present burden a little on all of us. And you have an improved infrastructure of stadiums and transport links which you keep afterwards.
It's a non-subject now as it won't be happening, but:
and just think we already have problems with football crowds!
Not much.
And the last World Cup was held in South Africa which by repute, true but un-PC statistics, and from friends I have there, is an extremely violent country (murder and robbery far beyond our levels) yet it all passed off excellently there.
But I realise of course the direction of this thread. 🙂 And in eight years from now husbands will still be watching it on TV 😀 and you'll be able to go to an alternate (PC) screen to post. :rolleyes:
V 🙂
While I'm not that bothered whether we hold the World Cup or not (having already seen it in this country) I do question the ethics behind the FIFA decision - which will be discussed ad infinitum in the media. There certainly seems to be have been some underhand dealings going on.
However, having said that, we should be grateful that we have the Olympics coming soon and that must surely be a bigger stage that the WC.
One thing is great: I don't have to read the papers online; I get all the news here on HP!
But as a footy fan and a tourist guide, I am totally gutted that we won't get the 2018 WC (even though I will be well in my dotage by then!) Ah well....
xxx
However, having said that, we should be grateful that we have the Olympics coming soon and that must surely be a bigger stage than the WC.
You know what, Sue? I can't vouch for this being correct - it's just something "I heard" or read in the media, I remember, some years back. And when I heard it, it seemed to make sense given the almost global popularity of football. It was along the lines that, despite the Olympics encapsulating so many sports, there are more people globally interested in World Cups, and who watch it on TV, and possibly more money (revenue) involved in WCs than in Olympics. Again, I just heard it, but it seemed to make sense.
(I'm one who could virtually start a thread like this on the Olympics, in which very few events - and some are a bit bizarre when you really think "How did this become a sport?" :confused: - interest me. I didn't even know the winter ones were happening.)
But intuitively it seems right to me: though it's only one sport, betcha the WC is bigger than the Olympics combined?
V
Oh - the World Cup is actually in India!
The media made a mistake! The World Cup is actually to be held elsewhere! I quote:
And the host of the World Cup XVI is?
Albania 6 pts
Venezuela 14 pts
Yemen 16,5 pts
Hungary 19 ptsAnd so the winner is drum roll
India by a hair with 19,5 points.
Once again a very close battle between all countries! A total of 274,302 votes were casted by the community this time around. We look forward to seeing and participating in all the activities planned by the Indian community.
To all the countries who threw their hat into the ring, thank you for your great work and dedication. To the others, maybe next season we will have the pleasure of seeing what you are capable of!
🙂 This is actually news from the world's largest online managerial football game, Hattrick ( www.hattrick.org ) which began in the late 1990s among a few Swedish friends, but for years now has included almost a million participants from every country on earth. (It's quite a great community apart from the game: I'm in touch with goodness-knows how many nations, including a very active bunch of folk in Kuwait.)
Anyway, Hattrick also holds a World Cup, with real managers being elected for each nation, who then search their nation's RL players (managers) for the best virtual or non-RL players to create a squad. Then there's a real (real-virtual) tournament over weeks. And no, England's never won. 🙁
I like the idea that almost a million could have voted, and 274,302 did, rather than FIFA's suspect 22. And so far as I know, not an illicit dollar changed hands ...
V
However, having said that, we should be grateful that we have the Olympics coming soon and that must surely be a bigger stage that the WC.
I very much disagree. The enormous sums of money to be squandered on the Olympics, at a time when we are facing massive cuts in public services, is outrageous. I would not mind if this amount of money had been spent on providing sports facilities in every town and city in the country, because that would benefit the people as a whole, who are on average woefully unfit- and BTW the physical unfitness and inactivity of the average Brit undoubtedly contributes to their notoriously miserable mental state, as well as greatly increasing the need for health care.
Instead these Olympic facilities will only benefit a tiny minority of elite athletes, especially as they will be so concentrated in London.
I have no interest in football as from what my footie-loving mates tell me it is all a racket, run for money with no consideration for the fans. However I am quite pleased that they are having it in Qatar, since this means presumably that some fans will discover that it is possible to watch footie without getting drunk (I'm assuming that alcohol is not available there??). As for Russia- good luck to them! I have great respect for the Russian people, and sports participation in Russia is BTW much higher than in Britain.
One final comment- it would be nice if our team could try to learn our national anthem before the next World Cup- I know many footballers are a bit thick but four years should be long enough surely?
So am I. Quite why sport has to take over everything I don't know. They cancel scheduled tv programmes, talk endlessly on the news about it, whether we've won, why we haven't won and what we should have done better. Sorry I'm all for keeping fit etc. but I don't want to have it take over my life.
Stands back and awaits verbal missiles.........;)
I agree, there is a huge misconception that all British men live and breathe football.
A poll around few family and friends
Husband - not interested
son - not interested
son-in-law - not interested
late father - moderately interested
late father-in-law - not interested
ex husband - not interested
1 friend - very interested
1 friend - very interested
4 friends - not interested
2 brother-in-laws - not interested
Not interested 11
mod interested 1
very interested 2
I rest my case.
I don't get why you wouldn't want a major sporting event in this country.
Job opportunities, the legacy it leaves, opportunities to get kids into sport and healthier living....... the list of positives is endless.
The government reckoned it would be worth £3billion to the UK and the legacy is priceless. Who knows there may have been a few opportunities for therapists as well.
We have the infrastructure, the stadiums and the expertise to put it on tomorrow. Very little in comparison to the Olympics needs to be spent as we have everything we need already.
That's the reason why Cameron, Prince William and Beckham worked round the clock in Zurich...it is a major blow and we all lose out.
Thanks Philbo for posting this - exactly what I was thinking. It would've created revenue and prosperity, employment, income from tourism, a badly needed feel good factor etc.
I'm not that interested in sport either (but hey, maybe it isn't all about ME ;)) but it's the bigger picture that counts here. There's a very moot point being made about 'not wanting to watch football'- wherever the world cup takes place, TV, radio schedules will accommodate it & the media goes into overdirve, so it will still take over for a while. So what? It happens every four years, so it's not too much of a burden surely? And there are other things to do in the summer than watching TV
And ditto for the Olympics - I pass the olympic site each day on my way to work, and it's great to see the progress there. Stratford and the surrounds was an area badly in need of something to regenerate it, and at long last East London (we're not talking Canary Wharf here ;)) got a look in.
Any development like this has huge impacts on the economic development, prosperity and wellbeing of an area. The development of this area has also meant increased transport links with Eurostar to begin running from Stratford soon and Crossrail too (if the gov't has the sense to make good on the financial commitment needed).
Although I'm personally not a fan of shopping either, there is a huge whitefields shopping centre being developed too -(and as there's going to be a John Lewis - well, what more could anyone need?) so more employment, revenue, local prosperity. Can't go wrong in my opinion, and in the absence of any other kind of publicly funded construction or development (housing, hospitals) we badly need initiatives this.
Yes, it is London centric, but London is our capital city. If you have a concern about sports development and facilities to take part, particularly for younger people, why not lobby your MP about the withdrawal of school sports funding?
El