Elric Antona >> friday june 8 - 11:11

Please, don't give names of real countries or peoples as I would like this thread to stay on a PHILOSOPHICAL level. No politics ! (I am sure our moderator will agree on this one ;) )

My question is : HYPOTHETICALLY, how evil has an organizing country to be for you to stop watching a World Cup ?

At which point would you feel nauseous in front of your TV screen knowing what is happening outside the stadion at the very same time ?

Kesvick >> friday june 8 - 12:35

The question does not really make sense.

Those countries that fit the bill don't have the infrastructure, money and political will to hold a World Cup.

Otherwise, time is a far better obstacle.

Elric Antona >> friday june 8 - 15:00

@Keswick thanks for answering !

"Those countries that fit the bill don't have the infrastructure, money and political will to hold a World Cup."

Obviously, a lot of hard core dictatorships, some of them being particularly aggressive, with a lot of power, money and infrastructures have hosted big competitions in the past, both OG and WC.

The reason why dictatorships of the worst type often get a good chance at organizing the WC is simply that FIFA itself is corrupt to the core.

And here are a few reasons why big competitions are highly sought after by dictators :

- to tell their own people how great their leader is,

- to make their people forget about real life problems : "panem et circenses" (and in dictatorships the "circenses" part is more important than the "panem" part)

- the dictator can boast over his ability to host world-sized events, even if his country is in reality isolated politically,

- to be able to re-distribute giganormous amounts of dirty money to cronies right and left through construction of overpriced stadions etc.

- staging a World Cup is costly for the country. But it also brings huge revenues, and in authoritarian countries with no control whatsoever, this money ends up in the leader's pocket and his mafia.

- through shiny stadiums, new infrastructure and the opportunity to present a staged image of the nation, the dictator has a chance to distract the world’s press, players and tourists from reality,

- a big event, the whole world as spectator, big stadions filled with crowds cheering for the local team : in authoritarian nations this can breed nationalism, a dangerous anti-democratic national pride that emphasises the superiority of the state above all, or even racism, in the worst cases.

The world being what it is, it may be worth asking ourselves how low moral standards we are ready to tolerate when we watch our favorite competition.

Balthazor >> tuesday july 10 - 07:49

It's not the qualified countries and players' fault that FIFA, IOC etc is so corrupted and decided to select such hosts. Why to punish sportsmen, who are just doing their job?

Stephen >> tuesday july 10 - 08:03

Any country is essentially not that country during a FIFA event. Part of the stipulation of holding the tournament is that the laws of the country are changed in certain ways for the duration of the event. Apart from the people, countries are not the same.

That’s not to say that I don’t agree with you in certain aspects, just that this is a hugely complicated topic.

Namejs >> tuesday july 10 - 08:07

It is much easier to organize big events in dictatorships then democracies. Usually head of the country stays the same from getting the rights to organize till organizing the event. There are far less protests against those events.  I think last WC (in Brazil, right?) caused major upset in this regard.

Although many of Your points are valid, these events also bring worlds attention to these dicatorships. And almost always they cause the dictator to decrease his oppresional power over nation.

If Your claim is that core of FIFA is corrupt don't forget who was the advocat in last couple nondemocratic candidates for WC in football. It was a legendary France footballer.

Stephen >> tuesday july 10 - 08:21

I’m pretty sure that the OP is not Platini, unless he’s seeing how far he can push things by polling the good people of RS! Just because they’re both French doesn’t mean they share the same views.

holt >> tuesday july 10 - 13:47

People forgetting that Platini revealed that the 1998 seeding was fixed...

Plus,Dictatorship find it easier ,no doubt.Just look at 1936 Olympics and North Korea's games.

Namejs >> tuesday july 10 - 14:12, Edited tuesday july 10 - 14:13

I'm saying that Footbal functionar from one of oldest demecraties in Europe pushed two Worlds Cups towards dictatorships.

Also many of Elric's points apply to democratic countries as well.