Football (Soccer) Thread

[Liep]

I just hope they do not bid for Super Bowl LIII.

New England Patriots @ Qatar Oilers

[Jacob]

Yeah, I think I'll be giving the Qatar World Cup a miss. I mean, we'll see when the time comes, but right now it's leaving a pretty bad taste.

The handball thing was pretty obnoxious too.

[Josquius]

Friends and colleagues who spent time in the region are not surprised, btw. They say it's pretty standard practice to lure workers/servants from India/Nepal over to there, confiscate their passports and then basically treat them as serfs or slaves. They said other projects have worse conditions, but the FIFA WC is drawing more attention.

I was speaking to a pretty high ranking guy at my company, he used to run operations in the Gulf.  He also happens to be Indian.
And....yes. Even he, walking around in a suit, was really treat like shit. They don't like Asians at all.

[The Larch]

Friends and colleagues who spent time in the region are not surprised, btw. They say it's pretty standard practice to lure workers/servants from India/Nepal over to there, confiscate their passports and then basically treat them as serfs or slaves. They said other projects have worse conditions, but the FIFA WC is drawing more attention.

I was speaking to a pretty high ranking guy at my company, he used to run operations in the Gulf.  He also happens to be Indian.
And....yes. Even he, walking around in a suit, was really treat like shit. They don't like Asians at all.

I hate to be that guy, but I must point out that they're Asians themselves.

[Josquius]

Friends and colleagues who spent time in the region are not surprised, btw. They say it's pretty standard practice to lure workers/servants from India/Nepal over to there, confiscate their passports and then basically treat them as serfs or slaves. They said other projects have worse conditions, but the FIFA WC is drawing more attention.

I was speaking to a pretty high ranking guy at my company, he used to run operations in the Gulf.  He also happens to be Indian.
And....yes. Even he, walking around in a suit, was really treat like shit. They don't like Asians at all.

I hate to be that guy, but I must point out that they're Asians themselves.

They're Ay-rabs.
Iranians are usually counted in the Asian umbrella but not the Arabs. :p

[Jacob]

I hate to be that guy, but I must point out that they're Asians themselves.

They probably don't use UK terminology when discussing race and nationality, or when exhibiting racism.

[Valmy]

I continue to be tripped up by the idea that Asians /= people who live in Asia.  It just seems so logical that it would be so.

[The Larch]

Friends and colleagues who spent time in the region are not surprised, btw. They say it's pretty standard practice to lure workers/servants from India/Nepal over to there, confiscate their passports and then basically treat them as serfs or slaves. They said other projects have worse conditions, but the FIFA WC is drawing more attention.

I was speaking to a pretty high ranking guy at my company, he used to run operations in the Gulf.  He also happens to be Indian.
And....yes. Even he, walking around in a suit, was really treat like shit. They don't like Asians at all.

I hate to be that guy, but I must point out that they're Asians themselves.

They're Ay-rabs.
Iranians are usually counted in the Asian umbrella but not the Arabs. :p

The Arabian peninsula is in Asia in any way you slice it.

[Josquius]

There's Asian then there's Asian.
To the Americans suggesting an Indian is an Asian would be madness.


I do wonder what this winter WC would mean in England. There is an everpresent underbubbling talking about a winter break

[Valmy]

To the Americans suggesting an Indian is an Asian would be madness.

Which Americans are we talking about here?  Because the official definition very much includes Indians.

[Liep]

To the Americans suggesting an Indian is an Asian would be madness.

Which Americans are we talking about here?  Because the official definition very much includes Indians.

The one where you think not of an Indian when someone says "He's Asian".

[Valmy]

The one where you think not of an Indian when someone says "He's Asian".

I do.  In fact when I went to SeaWorld San Antonio last may and reported back to Languish about how surprised I was to see such a huge number of Asians there, they were largely Sub-Continent types.

But granted I do not speak for all Americans.  But I do note that the Federal government considers them Asian-Americans.

[Syt]

I do wonder what this winter WC would mean in England. There is an everpresent underbubbling talking about a winter break

Well, 25 days before the world cup, the teams must release their players for the tournament. So that means end of October there'll be a two month break. Which will probably mean the season will have to start earlier or end later (which will suck for leagues in Mediterranean countries who will play in summer heat). The Premier League Christmas schedule will likely be non-existent.

In the U.S. Fox has already secured the broadcast rights for 2026, without bidding process. Possibly a compensation for having the 2022 world cup clash with the NFL season.

In countries where winter sports on TV is popular, this will probably mean that there'll be less coverage (and sponsoring) of those events. Open air screens as are customary in big cities in Europe during Euro or World Cup will likely draw much fewer people, if organizers will bother to set them up at all (they might do it for the novelty of it).

EDIT: that said, I think that all these things can be worked around and there'll be solutions. The bigger issue for me is that FIFA gave it to Qatar in the first place under dubious circumstances and runs roughshod over all concerns/criticism.

[Liep]

The one where you think not of an Indian when someone says "He's Asian".

I do.  In fact when I went to SeaWorld San Antonio last may and reported back to Languish about how surprised I was to see such a huge number of Asians there, they were largely Sub-Continent types.

But granted I do not speak for all Americans.  But I do note that the Federal government considers them Asian-Americans.

Well I speak for all Danes when I say that "Asiat" does not cover Indians, even if it may technically.

[Valmy]

Possibly a compensation for having the 2022 world cup clash with the NFL season.

LOL I did not even think about this.  Well there goes any mainstream interest in the World Cup in the US in 2022.