431–440 of 702 posts
This whole thread is full of people that cannot conceive a model where profit is not the goal
Welcome to HN. It wasn’t always this way, but it sure is now!
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I am the last person to defend FIFA - I love the UEFA's stance here - but only Balogun's suspension can be pinned on FIFA. Those other things are down to USA politics. Bad, for sure, not really down to FIFA. Other than those awful hydration breaks, they didn't ruin it much. I didn't love the extended half time in the final, but I was only hate watching Argentina anyway so didn't care much. Better to have the standard…
> proper "feast of football" as we used to say. besides a significantly more common 4-3-3, I can't think of anything I particularly found entertaining - the waterworks, the extra VARs, the super special offside line. That's no feast. (and I can continue)
I'm so happy to see they care enough to take a stand. The last World Cup was a sh-t show. I expect the LA olympics to be no better.
How was it a shit show? I’m genuinely curious. I attended 5 games (Atlanta, LA and Dallas) and was a fantastic experience minus the process to get tickets.
Hydration breaks in air-conditioned stadiums?
A half-time show?
Football is more than just the world cup or the Championship league. It’s also about the local leagues or village clubs.
They all play the dame game and Fantino in his greed is ruining it.
Which fan could afford to watch all the games of his team?
The European motorsports clubs should learn with UEFA and rollback the sale of the FIA to the Saudis.
If/When self driving cars become widely available, it might start to feel absurd and artificial.
I used to watch most F1 races as a kid. But it just doesn't feel interesting anymore.
Why only now? UEFA should boycott the world cup, period. It should have been enough even before the Balogun nonsense. They have the best league and the best teams, they have the know how and could easily host the UEFA World Cup. They could host a tournament without the pay-to-win arbitrary overruling of red cards and the clownish half time entertainment. Nobody would care about the FIFA World Cup. Fork it!
Where did Infantino come from? Answer: UEFA
And for that matter, which continent did his predecessor Sepp Blatter start his football admin career in? Hint: he's not from Asia or Africa
Probably the most widely admired admin in big-time football right now is al-Khalifa, the head of PSG. A Qatari. You know - those guys who organized by common consent is considered the best World Cup in modern times (during which EUROPEAN teams were ostentatiously protesting on the pitch - while keeping VERY quiet WHEN playing a World Cup in a country who is still facilitating an ONGOING GENOCIDE) .
And from reports, he doesn't want to touch FIFA with a 10 foot barge pole.
Europe had managed to keep the lions share of footballs global revenues to itself, while keeping Africa as basically a "football nursery" where teenagers get almost trafiked across Europe before 90% are discarded.
This is one of the reasons why a (corrupt, mendacious & sly) Infantino had some support across Africa & Asia. Because he played off that imbalance. Rather like one mafioso giving you "protection" against another mafia mob.
Just saying, Europe & UEFA arent necessarily the angels in any of this ...
First off, fire Infantino on the spot, just the same way they fired Blatter for corruption. This last world cup was the worse I've ever seen since 1978, almost 50 years, and I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. We all know billions are moved under the table, but money can never break rules and traditions, specially if they don't benefit fans and players above all Did anybody ask the players about the hydration b…
“Football’s future cannot be dictated by the expectations of those whose first duty is to maximise financial return.” Very well said…replace the word football with internet/technology/web/research/university or so many others and you might understand why this single powerful phrase is so important.
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UEFA is not an angel, they generate far more money than FIFA from TV rights, sponsorships, and tickets. They also just don't want to ever lose that.
Doesn’t the majority of that go back to the clubs that make it to European competitions though?
https://www.uefa.com/running-competitions/financial-distribu...
97% returns to the club and 9.3% is ear marked for football development programs.
Some of the money is utilized as reimbursement to clubs that did not manage to qualify.
PS Treating HN like a search engine is not constructive. No flak tho, I also do this sometimes.
Infantino clearly wants to see FIFA making billions so he and many others can pocket millions legally. But the only way for this to happen in a non-corrupt way, given that FIFA is non-profit and therefore requires a lot of questionable operations, is to turn FIFA into a business like NFL / MLS. The problem with that is that it then it is no longer a sport, rather a... business. UEFA letter is spot on.
Infantino should call Altman
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I didn't realize the commercial-block-sized "hydration breaks" were that profitable. For a second, I thought the Americanization[1] of fùtbol would be done gradually and no one would complain as we'd be slowly boiled. I'm glad the corrupt bastards got greedy/impatient and took a big swing. 1. Sports primarily as a business, catering to owners first, sponsors second, broadcasters third, and then lastly, fans. IMO non-…
It is absolutely outrageous that FIFA unilaterally changed the structure of a football match (that’s been the same since the nineteenth century) with no consultation, just so they could show ads