World Cup, Russia, 2018

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/russia2018/

 

A World Cup in Russia...what a dreadful idea. It will be like the Nazi Olympics of '36, only with broken doors and exploding toilets.

 

brrr...any stadium east of Moscow and St Petersburg is gulag area...

On plus side, at least no Vladivostok.

 

And temperature wise it will be a complete contrast to Fifa World Cup 2022 from Qatar.

You thought that Russia was a weird choice?!!

 

On paper Russia isn't a weird choice (they had held it in Ukraine, after all). Big country, lots of football, long tradition of it.

But given what's going on there now, it is.

All the best

Andreas

 

I hope it won't look like this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkUwxB5qD1g

 

It’s my suspicion that a lot of people look upon the EU a little like they have looked upon FIFA, and to slightly steal a slogan from football, “actually it’s a bit more important than that.”

I’d vote in a flash to leave FIFA though. If that way we don’t have to go to the 2018 Russian world cup…

Sepp Blatter: Russia 2018 World Cup 'agreed before vote'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34657900

http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/news/y=2016/m=3/news=fifa-welcomes-german-football-association-report-2768500.html

“FIFA welcomes the report by the German Football Association (DFB) on its investigation into Germany’s bid for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. FIFA will review the report carefully and factor the findings into its ongoing internal investigation of this matter.
FIFA shared information with the DFB to assist with its investigation and, in turn, received information from the DFB that is helpful to FIFA’s own investigation. However, many questions still remain to be answered. FIFA’s investigation has been hampered by the fact that key witnesses were not willing to answer questions or provide documents.
FIFA maintains its victim status in all investigations and continues to cooperate with the Swiss and German authorities, who are in the best position to obtain all of the information necessary to understanding the facts of this matter.”

Doing the maths, it's been 10 years since 2006... so i can't wait until 2028 for the "investigation into Russia’s bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™" to actually get somewhere...

Here's hoping though that "they" can work a bit quicker than that....

 

If FIFA had any integrity it would scrap any agreements for world cups and re-run the entire exercise again.

Just think of the money companies producing brown paper envelops would make.

Brian

 

He's always ahead of the game.

 

Any toilets exploded yet?

 

good heavens above so I blooming well did

 

The Passing of the Year(S)
Robert W. Service, 1874 - 1958
My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,
My den is all a cosy glow;
And snug before the fire I sit,
And wait to feel the old year go.
I dedicate to solemn thought
Amid my too-unthinking days,
This sober moment, sadly fraught
With much of blame, with little praise.

Old Year! upon the Stage of Time
You stand to bow your last adieu;
A moment, and the prompter’s chime
Will ring the curtain down on you.
Your mien is sad, your step is slow;
You falter as a Sage in pain;
Yet turn, Old Year, before you go,
And face your audience again.

That sphinx-like face, remote, austere,
Let us all read, whate’er the cost:
O Maiden! why that bitter tear?
Is it for dear one you have lost?
Is it for fond illusion gone?
For trusted lover proved untrue?
O sweet girl-face, so sad, so wan
What hath the Old Year meant to you?

And you, O neighbour on my right
So sleek, so prosperously clad!
What see you in that aged wight
That makes your smile so gay and glad?
What opportunity unmissed?
What golden gain, what pride of place?
What splendid hope? O Optimist!
What read you in that withered face?

And You, deep shrinking in the gloom,
What find you in that filmy gaze?
What menace of a tragic doom?
What dark, condemning yesterdays?
What urge to crime, what evil done?
What cold, confronting shape of fear?
O haggard, haunted, hidden One
What see you in the dying year?

And so from face to face I flit,
The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
Old weary year! it’s time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that’s true,
For we’ve been comrades, you and I --
I thank God for each day of you;
There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!

 

I'll preface by saying I don't know anything about European football.
I just stopped to watch a bit of Columbia vs Poland.

What advantage does a player get by throwing himself on the ground and balling up in a fetal position after another player touches him? Do they get a free kick or something? It is legal to sometimes bump into another player, right?

I know they are very fit and are not just being babies. I just don't understand why they do it.

These guys are worse actors than American basketball players, but at least basketball players get free throws after being fouled. We call it 'flopping'.

 

yes Dave they do fall over a bit

I would add there is European football and British football

 

Isn't British football full of Europeans?

 

fixed it for ya.

 

Well Australia got a "nearly" against France and a draw with Denmark so were not embarrassed.

 

oh dear usually happens to England