The game is in...Qatar?

[MrCoffee]

In the summer? 120 degree summer?

They talked up the air conditioning...I hope it works.

[hughee99]

1. You know what makes the 120 degree heat more bearable? No beer. n/t

:sarcasm:

[TZ]

2. So if you are an hot arab country

with alcohol laws, you shouldn't be allowed to host an international event. Got it. But hot African country that has an scientific moron president (HIV doesn't cause AIDS) and where "corrective rape" is acceptible and has ethnic issues is OKAY to host the world cup.
Frankly, I'm not sure if Qatar is qualified or not, but I am ALARMED but the amount of anti-islamic posts I'm seeing on a so called "progressive" board, because from what I know, Qatar is no better or worse than South Africa. Except of course alcohol is not allowed. Which is the most important part, I suppose...:sarcasm:

[MrCoffee]

3. It was winter in SA during the World Cup...which is almost worse

I just don't understand the whole scorching heat angle. That was always the huge drawback to their bid. Who knows what Qatar may be like socially/politically in 12 years, if winning the bid will help speed reform, great...but we can be pretty sure what they will be like climatologically. HOT.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Soccer is a winter game, just like American football or rugby

Some countries suspend play in mid-winter when pitches are completely frozen, but it's meant to be played in cool or cold temperatures. There is no problem at all holding the finals in the southern hemisphere winter.

[MrCoffee]

14. I meant almost worse for me personally...I can't stand the cold

I should have been more clear.

[hughee99]

4. Anti-islamic post?

Beer and sports go together. If they have the World Cup in Utah and there's no beer, I'd feel exactly the same way. I felt exactly the same about the winter Olympics in Utah a few years ago.

And while it's not THE most important part, if you're going to take a 2 week vacation and travel halfway around the world for a sporting event, you'd like to be able to have a few drinks. I don't think I'm alone in believing this isn't "anti-islamic", but pro-beer.

[MrCoffee]

5. It's football...no beer is a completely legitimate complaint

I didn't read anything anti-Islamic in your post.

[Upton]

6. Qatar said in their bid they will allow alcohol

for the World Cup.

[hughee99]

7. Sweet.

If they're going to have booze and air conditioning, that addresses the two big issues I had.

[KamaAina]

13. Of course, there still won't be any beer

only Budweiser, which is the official beer* sponsor of the World Cup.

[HuckleB]

22. Ah, so alcohol can always be had... for a price.

:rofl:

[JonLP24]

21. Funny thing is, Qatar is one of the few countries in that region that tolerate

alcohol consumption. Yes it is controlled but it is allowed.

[HuckleB]

23. Effectively only for the very wealthy, however.

Those with less means go dry.

[JonLP24]

24. Let's try this again (first post didn't go through)

I know their only bars are in expensive hotels.

It is still significant when nearby countries completely outlaw it. When I was in Kuwait, a few of us got passes to go to Qatar and they all loved it. Their favorite thing about the place was they could drink alcohol. Though if it is only in expensive hotels, I wonder how they were able to get access to it. Maybe they got an expensive hotel all paid for.

[HuckleB]

25. The Kuwaitis I knew in college sure liked to drink.

And they certainly had all the resources they needed to purchase the best stuff. They were known on campus for throwing a good party, with good alcohol, mixed right, unlike the frat fools.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. No, it's worse. Far, far worse. Qatar is completely unsuitable

Qatar is a tiny country - population 1.4 million - you'd be able to fit about half the population into the stadia they have yet to build. It has no history of football success whatsoever. It has never qualified for a World Cup final - but gets automatic qualification now. South Africa is ranked 50 in the world - so wasn't an embarrassment to be playing in the final 32. Qatar is 113.

No-one goes to Qatar for a vacation. It's a vital part of a World Cup that people actually want to visit the country to have something to do apart from the few hours watching matches. And yes, the restrictions on alcohol are a problem. But who wants to go to a place where:

It is a punishable offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in public. Offenders may incur a prison sentence or deportation. Alcohol is, however, available at licensed hotel restaurants and bars, and expatriates living in Qatar can obtain alcohol on a permit system. You should not carry alcohol with you, including in your car (except to take it on the day of collection from the warehouse to your home).

You should dress modestly when in public, including whilst driving. Women should cover their shoulders and avoid wearing short skirts. You should behave courteously at all times. Any intimacy in public between men and women (including between teenagers) can lead to arrest. Homosexual behaviour is illegal in Qatar.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/middle-east-north-africa/qatar

And then they'll have to play all the football indoors. Football is not an indoor sport.

FIFA have jumped the shark with this decision.

[KamaAina]

11. "Homosexual behaviour is illegal in Qatar. "

This alone should have disqualified them, much as Cobb County, GA's anti-gay ordinance caused the 1996 Olympic volleyball tournament to be moved elsewhere in the Atlanta area.

[MrCoffee]

12. Thing is, they can't play the games indoors per FIFA regs

FIFA rules require open stadia for World Cup matches, and I've seen nothing to indicate that the rule was waived for the Qatar bid. Qatar set up a demonstration stadium for the FIFA ExCo suits to visit...but it was orders of magnitude smaller than a full-size stadium would have to be (my understanding is that they could barely play a five-a-side match on the pitch).

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Well, in that case, the World Cup is completely fucked

Pardon my language, but this is sounding more and more like an Onion spoof.

When the suits from the Fifa technical committee came for an inspection in September, they were taken to a 500-seater, five-a-side stadium that had been erected in a matter of weeks, in an attempt to prove that it is possible to play football in Qatar in the summer.

Fifa rules demand that World Cup matches be played under an open roof. Qatar's answer to that is to create a three metre-high bank of cool air in which players can play and spectators can watch.

The source of the air-conditioning can be found in the swathe of desert adjacent to the stadium: a "solar farm", where photovoltaic cells pour energy, year-round, into the national grid and where tubes of water are heated to 200 degrees Celsius, before their energy is alchemised into cooling vast freezer packs that sit under the stadium.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/9224946.stm

Keeping a 500 seat stadium is a little different from a 50,000 one, you're right.

[Indianademocrat91]

17. It's all about money

there is no doubt in my mind that both Russia and Qatar bribed the officials with loads and loads of oil money. Neither place has a history soccer and Qatar hasn't even come close to ever qualifying for the World Cup in it's history.

[NewJeffCT]

19. Russia at least has a population and stadiums

and the manpower to build/refurbish the infrastructure.

[MrCoffee]

20. Russia actually has a pretty interesting soccer history

Leftist clubs were allowed to flourish because the Party leadership didn't consider them to be a threat, Spartak and Dynamo Kiev being the two primary examples.

[KamaAina]

16. I share your distaste for Thabo Mbeki

:dunce: :dunce: :dunce:

but he resigned as president of SA a couple of years ago.

[jakefrep]

10. How are they getting away with air-conditioned stadiums?

They had to turn off the a/c at the Pontiac Silverdome for World Cup '94. I sat in the top row for the USA-Switzerland game. It got pretty toasty there.

No carbon footprint there - nosirree. :sarcasm:

[NewJeffCT]

18. Qatar is a nation of 1.7 million people

and one city that makes up about 1 million of that population. They'd have to build how many stadiums? And also accommodate hundreds of thousands of football tourists. Not to mention having all of those people fly into Qatar from Europe, South America and elsewhere.

South Africa, at least, has a population and an infrastructure.

[Irritable Liberal]

26. Puzzling decision

Being an ex South African, it was great having the World Cup there, considering the history. The cup brought the country together again much as the Rugby World Cup final in 1995 did as was shown in Invictus. The foreign visitors all had a blast as did the South Africans. We know how to enjoy life and party. Qatar is the size of LA County. 32 team, their fans and at least 8 stadiums in a place that small. It makes no sense.

Air condition will help the fans more than the players unless the stadiums are covered. It's okay to have a cover but it has to be played on real grass. They did that in Detroit in 1994.