2022 FIFA كأس العالم (WORLD CUP 2022)

[odessasteps]

Sadio Mane possibly latest person out (for Senegal). 

[RIPPA]

Looks like the biggest snub is Zack Steffan. Ricardo Pepi not making is probably 2nd

Of course - the biggest disaster is including Tim Ream

[RIPPA]

 

[odessasteps]

NBC spending a segment promoting the Spanish WC coverage on Telemundo is pretty funny. 

[SirFozzie]

Tubi will have 4k streaming of world cup games approximately 30 minutes after games end

 

https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/tubi-to-make-world-cup-game-reruns-available-in-4k-20221114-WST-408266.html#Echobox=1668452908-1

[Dolfan in NYC]

The Iranian team is having a bit of a crisis right now as government officials are pressuring the team to drop star striker Azmoun and several other players who were sympathetic to the female-led protests that have been going on for a few months now. 

[odessasteps]

And government interference into a country's FA is supposed to be a sanctioned offense. 

[Pete]

[RIPPA]

 

[ReiseReise]

I'm going to be the smug asshole to say "I'm out of this one..." No, all kidding aside, nobody take this as me getting on the high horse. 

It was a seesaw battle from the get go for me, but the last few years have been such a shitshow in football, final deathblow was a Qatarian World Cup emissary calling homosexual people "damaged" in an interview. There is no honest intention to change imo. 

I wish all of you a good tournament and hope your respective teams perform to your delight. 

[odessasteps]

John McManus, who is making the rounds on football podcasts, was on Second Captains today and presented a much more nuanced picture of Qatar than you get on most shows. Maybe because he is an anthropologist and not a journalist. The discussion about how rapid Qatari culture has evolved over such a short period of time was stuff I really didn't know. 

[RIPPA]

And... FIFA has just banned all alcohol sales

Though the real kicker is FIFA going "You can still buy Bud Zero!"

[hammerva]

I don't know if this should be here or documentary thread but the 4 part series FIFA Uncovered on Netflix is really good for people who is looking for an explanation of the shit storm that FIFA has been for a very long time.   I am sure that for hardcore fans none of this information is new.   

[cubbymark]

And the crazy ultras from across the world aren't in Qatar yet. It might get real ugly for the Qatari security forces trying to the sober ultras at bay.

[odessasteps]

Infantino’s speech has to be seen to be believed. 

[RIPPA]

 

[lostinube]

So for the airing of this year's World Cup in Japan, as per tradition they split the airing of the Japan games between three broadcasters (they also split events for the Olympics). Some mixture of NHK channels will air the other games but not everyone has access to those channels. Streaming service Abema TV will be airing all 64 games free. I hear it is possible to watch the streams if one has certain letters of the alphabet available to them. Abema TV is majority owned by CyberAgent,  which owns CyberFight which owns DDT Pro and NOAH.

[odessasteps]

Benzema now out. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

Hey, so Qatar isn't very good you guys...

[cubbymark]

FIFA must have heard the corruption claims surrounding Qatar and awarded Ecuador a pretty soft penalty for their first goal. 

[odessasteps]

Some folks are saying FIFA has banned the "one love" Captains armbands. 

[Happ Hazzard]

I preferred it when the opening game featured the holders, not the hosts. I guess they changed it when they got rid of automatic qualification for the holders.

[The Natural]

Fuck off FIFA. Fuck off Qatar.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Iran isn't having a great day on the pitch 

[odessasteps]

At least they stopped the shutout