Joe Lycett - Qatar/Beckham debate

Forcing drinking to be part of the culture for sports goes against the spirit of an international tournament. i am sure the Saudi Arabian team doesn't have drinking as part of the culture. If serving alcohol is a prerequisite to hosting a tournament then its kind of intolerant don't you think? It goes against the spirit of the game.

(btw i disagree with the last minute switcharoo i have no idea why they did that)
24 of the competing nations have fans that drink alcohol. Fan parks and stadiums would have been acceptable.

Besides, confining fans to drinking in one small area is not the great idea the Qatari’s best idea, they’ll soon see why.
 
Like it or not, drinking is part of the football culture and has been since the birth of football.
Mate, you know how old fashioned that perspective is these days. At least 2 generations outdated, if not more.


Football is a sport that is enjoyed by the majority sobre.
 
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There's lots of "I'm a Westerner with zero idea what it's like to live in an Islamic country but they should change their ways to allow my Western ways when I'm there" type posts in here. It's their country, their rules and absolutely zero you, as a westerner, can say/think/do will change their country one single millimetre, ever.

Recognising that fact and still disliking it makes you an adult, but disagreeing that fact shows an immaturity towards what the world is really like vs what you want it to be in your own mind.

If you don't like that fact, don't go there, it's so very simple :)
 
There's lots of "I'm a Westerner with zero idea what it's like to live in an Islamic country but they should change their ways to allow my Western ways when I'm there" type posts in here. It's their country, their rules and absolutely zero you, as a westerner, can say/think/do will change their country one single millimetre, ever.

Recognising that fact and still disliking it makes you an adult, but disagreeing that fact shows an immaturity towards what the world is really like vs what you want it to be in your own mind.

If you don't like that fact, don't go there, it's so very simple :)

Well i think the debate is a little more than that, its now football must go with alcohol therefore the world cup must never be in a muslim country because beer.
 
There's lots of "I'm a Westerner with zero idea what it's like to live in an Islamic country but they should change their ways to allow my Western ways when I'm there" type posts in here. It's their country, their rules and absolutely zero you, as a westerner, can say/think/do will change their country one single millimetre, ever.

Recognising that fact and still disliking it makes you an adult, but disagreeing that fact shows an immaturity towards what the world is really like vs what you want it to be in your own mind.

If you don't like that fact, don't go there, it's so very simple :)

That goes for any country, don't come here if pubs, clubs and the odd cinema screening offend your sensibilities.
 
Mate, you know how old fashioned that perspective is these days. At least 2 generations outdated, if not more.


Football is a sport that is enjoyed by the majority sobre.
I didn’t say anything about being drunk. You can enjoy a beer without getting drunk.

Literally every football fan I’ve know likes a drink or two before, during or after a game.
 
Yes true, but I also believe that the fact that alcohol is for sale is irrelevant. It's an international tournament and each country will have its own customs which the tournament should abide by all in the spirit of it being in a different country.
If qatar banned alcohol and usa permitted alcohol, why should that swing it, otherwise we just end up with the same group of countries.
The issue isn't that Qatar doesn't normally permit alcohol. The issue is that Qatar agreed to the sale of alcohol to get the world cup. FIFA even had a public sponsor selling alcohol in the stadiums (Budweiser). People spent presumably a lot of money on tickets for a particular experience. While football is the main experience they are going for, part of that for some people is more than just football. It's going away with a bunch of mates, watching football and drinking while doing so. If I was one of those people then I would be rightly damn annoyed at this. They are not getting what they paid for and what was expected.

As I said, I have no issue whatsoever with a country such as Qatar choosing not to allow alcohol. It's their country and their choice. But announce it early. To ban it after people have bought tickets, booked hotels, paid for flights and taken time off work is disgraceful because it changes the experience those people get.
 
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The issue isn't that Qatar doesn't normally permit alcohol. The issue is that Qatar agreed to the sale of alcohol to get the world cup. FIFA even had a public sponsor selling alcohol in the stadiums (Budweiser). People spent presumably a lot of money on tickets for a particular experience. While football is the main experience they are going for, part of that for some people is more than just football. It's going away with a bunch of mates, watching football and drinking while doing so. If I was one of those people then I would be rightly damn annoyed at this. They are not getting what they paid for and what was expected.

As I said, I have no issue whatsoever with a country such as Qatar choosing not to allow alcohol. It's their country and their choice. But announce it early. To ban it after people have bought tickets, booked hotels, paid for flights and taken time off work is disgraceful because it changes the experience those people get.
They basically lied, cheated and bribed to get the World Cup.

Does a nation like that really deserve respect?
 
The issue isn't that Qatar doesn't normally permit alcohol. The issue is that Qatar agreed to the sale of alcohol to get the world cup. FIFA even had a public sponsor selling alcohol in the stadiums (Budweiser). People spent presumably a lot of money on tickets for a particular experience. While football is the main experience they are going for, part of that for some people is more than just football. It's going away with a bunch of mates, watching football and drinking while doing so. If I was one of those people then I would be rightly damn annoyed at this. They are not getting what they paid for and what was expected.

As I said, I have no issue whatsoever with a country such as Qatar choosing not to allow alcohol. It's their country and their choice. But announce it early. To ban it after people have bought tickets, booked hotels, paid for flights and taken time off work is disgraceful because it changes the experience those people get.
Yes I agree and I mentioned it earler.
 
who's worse the person giving the bribes or taking the bribes.
Both, I’m not excusing FIFA either, but they can only take bribes when it is offered to them. If Qatar had morals, they would have played by the rules like every other applicant.

Its not just Qatar. I firmly believe that Russia bribed FIFA too, but a discussion on their morals and respect is utterly pointless.

No coincidence that the emir and Putin have been buddying up lately.
 
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Both, I’m not excusing FIFA either, but they can only take bribes when it is offered to them. If Qatar had morals, they would have played by the rules like every other applicant.

Its not just Qatar. I firmly believe that Russia bribed FIFA too, but a discussion on their morals and respect is utterly pointless.

No coincidence that the emir and Putin have been buddying up lately.
I suspect a lot of those era bids were competing on the basis of who offers the biggest bung, rather than Qatar and Russia being odd ones out by offering bribes.
 
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