Football (Soccer) Thread

[Gups]

With the amount of money flying around, it is ought to be. Or are Brits inherently more virtuous than UEFA/FIFA officials?

Judging by the government's corruption scandals, they might be more amateur but not inherently better.

British official don't hand out a huge cash prize like the World Cup.

But as this scandal shows they have power and oversight over immense amounts of money changing hands inside and between clubs.

This is a very strange position you are taking. That the enforcement of rules against a rich club shows that there is lost of money in English football (like we didn't know that already) and therefore demonstrates that there must be bribes elsewhere. By the same token  custodial sentences for white collar crime must demonstrate corruption in the criminal law system and fines for breaches of competition law show that regulators are corrupt etc.

[Jacob]

Tamas has that thing going that is common in people raised in corrupt societies - the belief that everywhere is as corrupt as where he comes from, only they're better at hiding it.

[celedhring]

Also, in the end the PL is managed by the member clubs. Trying to use bribes to obtain a competitive advantage against those same clubs would have short legs.

[Zoupa]

Tamas has that thing going that is common in people raised in corrupt societies - the belief that everywhere is as corrupt as where he comes from, only they're better at hiding it.

He does have a point, imho.

[Admiral Yi]

He does have a point, imho.

Different places have differing levels of corruption.

[Sheilbh]

He does have a point, imho.

Maybe but as Gups says it seems like people not being investigated is evidence of corruption and they've just paid enough to cover things up; rules being enforced/investigations is evidence of both the actual thing being investigated and corruption for not paying enough to cover it up.

It feels like with that approach everything is evidence of corruption.

[Jacob]

He does have a point, imho.

No. Everywhere is not as corrupt as Hungary.

[Admiral Yi]

But as this scandal shows they have power and oversight over immense amounts of money changing hands inside and between clubs.

How many documented cases of bribery can you think of in which a bribe was paid money in exchange for the privilege of giving away more money?

[The Larch]

Jakub Jankto, a 27 yo Czech international midfielder playing for Sparta Prague, has just come out as gay. I believe he's the first active, top level footballer to do so in Europe.

[Josquius]

Good for him.

I do hear Prague is pretty popular with gay folks from parts east.

[Syt]

Stolen from Reddit:

[The Larch]

Is the Brighton stadium in the middle of nowhere?

[Sheilbh]

Basically, yes.


It's an out of town stadium - but right next to the A road with a nearby train station so I think actually pretty well connected. I think it was built in the 90s/2000s when I think there was a bit of a trend for that sort of stadium development.

[HVC]

It's an out of town stadium - but right next to the A road with a nearby train station so I think actually pretty well connected. I think it was built in the 90s/2000s when I think there was a bit of a trend for that sort of stadium development.

Is there more city near there, or did you build a train station in the middle of nowhere to go with your stadium in the middle of nowhere

[The Larch]

It's also curious that the two next stadiums in terms of "isolation" are from two London clubs, Fulham and Brentford. I always assumed that London clubs were more "in the thick of it", so to speak.