I haven’t watched the world cup yet. Some people that I know have watched a lot and some will not be watching at all. I guess that is how it is in the UK , we tend to be pretty tolerant of other people’s views even if they are not your own.
So I will be cheering on England tonight but it won’t be the same and if they win it will feel like an empty victory.
Has the attempt at sportswashing worked? I would put it down as a complete failure actually.
Sports presenters roundly criticising the Qatar setup to an extent that I was surprised. They were right but I did not expect them to actually come out and say it.
There was the one love armband incident , well FIFA threatening to make the games pointless if they were worn by the players did manage to get the maximum impact possible.
The Iranian players protest , such a brave thing for them to do.
Wales supporters rainbow bucket hat protest. Confiscating woolly hats from supporters ? I mean , seriously?
The German players protest was absolutely fantastic, I think all the teams should adopt that protest.
So why. does it matter?
Human rights violations , treatment of migrant workers including allegations of slavery and death, discrimiation against women, LGBTQ+ issues. Qatar could not have made these more a front page issue if they had tried.
Usually during a world cup people have flags hanging from their windows , flags on their cars , bunting and flags in Gyms and clubs. None of that this year. We will support our team but it is very toned down because of the background. We support the football but not Qatar.
So they are not taking my football away from me because they have totally failed in their objectives.
Come on Engerland !