I'm not exactly a football (soccer) fan. I like playing the sport for recreational purposes, but as soon as it gets competitive I check out (don't get me started about the offsite rule). Fans can have their sports and cheer all they want; I'm just doing something else.
Or rather: I would be trying, if the combination of "interested in US politics" and "has an active pulse" means that the commercial algorhythms conspire against me and push every sort of commercial advertisement my way. From the inevitable adds that inhabit my feed ("do you have a television to watch the match yet???") to the personal sphere (my CEO: "Belgium will be champion. And if not, I'll root for the Netherlands!"...yeah, the benefit of working in a multinational company
). And I'm glad I'm not our marketing campaign, as apparently herds of people go nuts over stupid trinkets if someone says it supports "their" team. Even if the marketing campaign is thought out by people not even in the same country. (okay: the example: we put out orange lego bricks as a free action for Dutch stores. And orange is...the Dutchies' thing when it comes to patriotism).
But anyway...the part "interested in US politics" is where the anticipation gets sour. In theory, the world cup is hosted by North America, with a set of matches taking place also in Canada and Mexico. But the bulk of them happens in the USA. And by the looks of it, it absolutely clashes with the strict immigration and foreign politics.
The preview was clear when Infantino (the FIFA mob boss) awarded Donald Trump a fabricated peace price, which was weird then and the textbook of embarrassing now. Then there were the logistics. A world cup is like the tomorrowland of sports, so...
What's that? Never heard of it? Erm...the superbowl for the world, that is. There are football fans, and there's a degree exponential to that. Some people go NUTS for the WK. Hold a world cup in hell, and a collective will start digging their personal tunnel to the center of the earth.
...or at least that's the absolute hardcore part. In any case: the whole idea is that if you host the world cup, people from all around the world will flock to your country, watch the football match, then drink and chant themselves unconscious...and then do it all again for the remaining matches, costs be damned.
Except that hotels in the stadium area warn that their estimates fell way below expectations. And the reason's not hard to find. I can't get a good quote from Donald Trump because even when Infantino tries to cheer him up or convince him that hospitality might be in his best interest, Trump has the looks of someone who doesn't share a friend's enthusiasm for a board game. I've seen Trump talk about a lot of things, but soccer's not one of them. Heck...he promotes that UFC fight on his lawn more than a worldwide venue that could put the US in a positive light for a change.
Instead, the immigration politics are as hardline as ever. Haitians aren't exactly keen on visiting a stadium to support their team if ICE casually mentions they'll be the ones guarding the stadium. A somalian refugee (the awarded best referee in Africa last year) got denied entry in the US. An Irakian player got stuck in customs for seven hours. Fans who paid hundreds of dollars for tickets find that it doesn't guarantee they'll be allowed to travel to the US.
And Iran...is among the matchups. Yeah...I can't blame Trump from not making statements on that one. But after apparent political willpower from Infantino, they're not disqualified. No, their matches aren't shifted to Mexico or Canada either. It just means that they can't stay in the US for anything but their matches. For anything else, they're transported by busses to Mexico.
Belgium's one of their first matches, and frankly: I fucking hope we lose. Or at the very least even the playing field and have our own team be transported by bus for hours prior as well. But that's just my wishful thinking, so it ain't happening.
But it gets weirder: it's not hard to see a clear pattern of racism in regards to who gets to enter in the US. It's not Sweden, Scotland or Belgium having issues. It's Senegal, Congo, Ivory coast. Infantino apparently became chairman of FIFA on the idea of inclusion. That "football is for everyone" and so one. I don't blame him for trying, but the US doesn't do inclusion. It's not a "for everyone" or a "land of the free" country. Heck, now that it's getting closer, they're doubling down on their stance. Just yesterday, I heard that they pressured EU states (not the EU itself, but their states) to copy their strict travel restrictions from African countries for fear of Ebola outbreak (and if not, we might restrict travel from YOUR countries). At least Belgium refused, adding that the burden of responsibility came due to the dialed back involvement of America in international health funds. But regardless of blame: a (threatening of a) travel restriction on the very verge of the world's largest sporting event? Every other country would bend backwards and roll out the red carpet because these fans don't just spend some money...they spend BIG money.
They're obviously not going to if they're not allowed in to begin with.
So...my rather long-winded opinion on a matter I started by saying I didn't care much about. What's your take?
Or rather: I would be trying, if the combination of "interested in US politics" and "has an active pulse" means that the commercial algorhythms conspire against me and push every sort of commercial advertisement my way. From the inevitable adds that inhabit my feed ("do you have a television to watch the match yet???") to the personal sphere (my CEO: "Belgium will be champion. And if not, I'll root for the Netherlands!"...yeah, the benefit of working in a multinational company
). And I'm glad I'm not our marketing campaign, as apparently herds of people go nuts over stupid trinkets if someone says it supports "their" team. Even if the marketing campaign is thought out by people not even in the same country. (okay: the example: we put out orange lego bricks as a free action for Dutch stores. And orange is...the Dutchies' thing when it comes to patriotism).But anyway...the part "interested in US politics" is where the anticipation gets sour. In theory, the world cup is hosted by North America, with a set of matches taking place also in Canada and Mexico. But the bulk of them happens in the USA. And by the looks of it, it absolutely clashes with the strict immigration and foreign politics.
The preview was clear when Infantino (the FIFA mob boss) awarded Donald Trump a fabricated peace price, which was weird then and the textbook of embarrassing now. Then there were the logistics. A world cup is like the tomorrowland of sports, so...
What's that? Never heard of it? Erm...the superbowl for the world, that is. There are football fans, and there's a degree exponential to that. Some people go NUTS for the WK. Hold a world cup in hell, and a collective will start digging their personal tunnel to the center of the earth.
...or at least that's the absolute hardcore part. In any case: the whole idea is that if you host the world cup, people from all around the world will flock to your country, watch the football match, then drink and chant themselves unconscious...and then do it all again for the remaining matches, costs be damned.
Except that hotels in the stadium area warn that their estimates fell way below expectations. And the reason's not hard to find. I can't get a good quote from Donald Trump because even when Infantino tries to cheer him up or convince him that hospitality might be in his best interest, Trump has the looks of someone who doesn't share a friend's enthusiasm for a board game. I've seen Trump talk about a lot of things, but soccer's not one of them. Heck...he promotes that UFC fight on his lawn more than a worldwide venue that could put the US in a positive light for a change.
Instead, the immigration politics are as hardline as ever. Haitians aren't exactly keen on visiting a stadium to support their team if ICE casually mentions they'll be the ones guarding the stadium. A somalian refugee (the awarded best referee in Africa last year) got denied entry in the US. An Irakian player got stuck in customs for seven hours. Fans who paid hundreds of dollars for tickets find that it doesn't guarantee they'll be allowed to travel to the US.
And Iran...is among the matchups. Yeah...I can't blame Trump from not making statements on that one. But after apparent political willpower from Infantino, they're not disqualified. No, their matches aren't shifted to Mexico or Canada either. It just means that they can't stay in the US for anything but their matches. For anything else, they're transported by busses to Mexico.
Belgium's one of their first matches, and frankly: I fucking hope we lose. Or at the very least even the playing field and have our own team be transported by bus for hours prior as well. But that's just my wishful thinking, so it ain't happening.
But it gets weirder: it's not hard to see a clear pattern of racism in regards to who gets to enter in the US. It's not Sweden, Scotland or Belgium having issues. It's Senegal, Congo, Ivory coast. Infantino apparently became chairman of FIFA on the idea of inclusion. That "football is for everyone" and so one. I don't blame him for trying, but the US doesn't do inclusion. It's not a "for everyone" or a "land of the free" country. Heck, now that it's getting closer, they're doubling down on their stance. Just yesterday, I heard that they pressured EU states (not the EU itself, but their states) to copy their strict travel restrictions from African countries for fear of Ebola outbreak (and if not, we might restrict travel from YOUR countries). At least Belgium refused, adding that the burden of responsibility came due to the dialed back involvement of America in international health funds. But regardless of blame: a (threatening of a) travel restriction on the very verge of the world's largest sporting event? Every other country would bend backwards and roll out the red carpet because these fans don't just spend some money...they spend BIG money.
They're obviously not going to if they're not allowed in to begin with.
So...my rather long-winded opinion on a matter I started by saying I didn't care much about. What's your take?
