China, Russia, Qatar, etc.

Money.

Lots and lots of money.

Qatar spent $220 billion on World Cup prep.

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Seems to me the point of the international events is unite the world. There's no effort to unite if only the "good guys" can participate.

Qatar bribed FIFA officials, which is the only reason that the world cup is to be played there.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

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vision63
Seems to me the point of the international events is unite the world. There's no effort to unite if only the "good guys" can participate.

Good point.

Money / sportswashing.

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FIFA is reputed to be about the most corrupt sports organization there is. It's been a few years, but the United States brought a large criminal prosecution back in 2013 which seems mostly to have been against Western Hemisphere officials:

[www.justice.gov]

But it's likely that a lot of palm greasing has been going on over the years.

The idea of moving the World Cup to the winter in order to accommodate the brutally hot climate of this country is one thing. The fact that it engages in the closest thing to slave labor is another. And now, no alcohol in the beer.

I suspect that the alcohol ban will be the precipitating factor in FIFA reform if there is going to be any at all. A little thing like the deaths of a few thousand imported workers in the construction projects doesn't seem to be enough to move the games somewhere else. We could hold them in Los Angeles given two weeks notice, with a little overflow to Mexico and Canada.

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Ca Bob
And now, no alcohol in the beer

Was there ever alcohol in Budweiser?
for that matter, was there ever beer in Budweiser?

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

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davester
Qatar bribed FIFA officials, which is the only reason that the world cup is to be played there.

Not just officials, they were literally paying spectators to come to Qatar to show public support for the venue choice. They were until last week when they pulled the rug out under fan participants by reneging on a per diem $ allowance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2022 10:47AM by RgrF.

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Tiangou
Money.

Lots and lots of money.

Qatar spent $220 billion on World Cup prep.

How much will they gain from all this?

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gadje

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Tiangou
Money.

Lots and lots of money.

Qatar spent $220 billion on World Cup prep.

How much will they gain from all this?

Just for the prestige alone; they can afford it.

"The economy of Qatar is one of the richest in the world based on GDP per capita, ranking generally among the top ten richest countries on world rankings..."

"GDP per capita rank: 6th (PPP, 2021)"

"Population below poverty line: 0%"

"Unemployment: Steady 0.6% (2017 est.)"