Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Boycotters

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Boycotters

    I might watch some games but no Panini Stickers for me this time

    #2
    I'm not planning on watching the finals. I managed to avoid the Sochi Olympics for similar reasons. This might be tougher but probably not much.

    Comment


      #3
      I've got the same good intentions.

      Comment


        #4
        Still haven't decided where my month-long retreat will be. Just reading a book about The Shaints (three uninhabited islands off the coast of Lewis). No running water or electricity there - just sheep and birds. Something like that would be good.

        Comment


          #5
          Did anyone boycott London 2012 due to the UK's involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya?

          Comment


            #6
            Well I didn’t watch any of it, but I can’t claim it was for reasons of conscience.

            Comment


              #7
              Me too. I haven't watched the Summer Olympics for a long time.

              Comment


                #8
                It’s strange, the Olympics has done nothing for me since watching the local coverage of Sydney which disillusioned me with its one-eyedness. Then I realised I didn’t really care when Athens came round.

                Comment


                  #9
                  The Flibl household boycotted the London Olympics on the grounds that it was an enormous waste of money. Didn't miss it at all so we skipped the Brazil lot as well.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Seoul 88 was the last one I cared about. Ben Johnson drug test followed by Linford's ginseng let-off killed it for me, not to mention Flo Jo. I'd be surprised if any of the Sprint finalists were totally clean but Flo Jo was an entire pharmacy with nobody batting an eyelid.

                    Barcelona 92 was a non-starter: Dream Team, professional tennis. No. Bye.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Enjoy the games! Part 364

                      Comment


                        #12
                        But you then miss out on the joy of watching the Serb fascists go out to Costa Rica while Russia finish bottom of a group with Saudi Arabia in it.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I would like to boycott it but my son is really excited about it and I don't think I've got the heart to pollute his enthusiasm with matters of politics so I'll probably end up watching some of the games with him.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I can't be bothered with it. I usually love international tournaments, but this one just doesn't appeal for the obvious reasons, and with the next one being Qatar, and the Euros seemingly no longer being a proper tournament, maybe that's it for me. The fact that my timezone means most of the games will be on in the early hours of the morning just makes it easier to ignore. In previous tournaments I would even juggle my work schedule so I could stay up for the key games. Perhaps I'll catch the odd replay in the event of some really good games, or download them.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              https://twitter.com/SamCoatesTimes/status/971013702152531968

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Bah.

                                First too late.

                                http://uk.businessinsider.com/boris-...isoning-2018-3


                                But

                                UK aren't being represented at the World Cup, and of course, FIFA do not allow political interference in which teams enter the competition or which are "withdrawn"

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  https://twitter.com/SamCoatesTimes/status/971017091590643712

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    "Team Boris"?


                                    "Team Boris"?


                                    Really?

                                    Truly.

                                    These are the end of days.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Boris knows fuck all about how football works.

                                      But even leaving that to one side, Russia has committed far worse crimes that this one.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Tactical Genius View Post
                                        Did anyone boycott London 2012 due to the UK's involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya?
                                        This is a valid question. It raises the obvious issue of where do you draw the moral line in boycotting any particular country for any particular reason, but also opens up the potentially noxious box marked 'moral relativism'. Another problem with the question is that implies an easy cop-out not to stake a stance on anything - yeah, they may do this, but we do that. But I think there's a significant difference between London 2012, say, and Russia 2018.

                                        First, I did watch London 2012, and I enjoyed it too. I've boycotted the three since (Sochi, Rio and Pyeon-Chang), and I doubt that I'll ever watch one again for all the cheating, corruption and waste that now clouds all sporting mega-events. I may end up applying this to all future World Cups, especially if they insist on this fantastical idiocy of expanding to 48 teams. If London 2012 happened now I'd probably ignore it too, but for the reasons above, not because of its location.

                                        Why am I okay with London as a venue? Because I've plenty of other ways to demonstrate my dissatisfaction with UK foreign policy - by voting, by demonstrating, by agitating etc. And because I don't think that the London Olympics were overtly exploited to showcase the government, to glorify its leader, and to big up Mother England (despite the best efforts of the BBC). But I've no other way of expressing my objections to the suppression of domestic dissent in Russia, the suppression of gay rights in Russia, the almost non-existent opposition media in Russia, the Russia involvement in the Ukraine and Syria, the shameless Russian government murder of dissidents and opposition politicians and journalists, the open oppression of NGOs in Russia under the guise of them being 'interfering foreign organisations', the mass, state-sanctioned cheating and corruption of the Sochi games... all that stuff and more.

                                        Like I've written before, it's a very personal choice, and I fully understand how hard it is for most fans not to watch the World Cup because, like me, they've been watching it all their lives (plus, their team might be in it). It's genuinely not a struggle for me to miss this, though, because the whole thing just fucking stinks from top to bottom.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          I'm beginning to wonder whether we should pull the England football team out of the World Cup in protest at what's going on with this spy being poisoned. I certainly wouldn't miss it and would be quite glad not to have the Three Lions band wagon wheeled out all over again. But at the same time I don't want politics in football so want England to compete. Mixed feelings really.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            [QUOTE=Paul S;1404139] I certainly wouldn't miss it and would be quite glad not to have the Three Lions band wagon wheeled out all over again.


                                            I originally read that as "quite glad not to have the Three Lions BAND wheeled out all over again."

                                            I would be fucking ecstatic

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              There's absolutely zero chance of the team being withdrawn. That would cost money and money > everything. Instead, they'll refuse to send some mid-ranking dignitary to some event or other and congratulate each other on how jolly well they've stuck it to Putin and how that will show him.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                If Wakanda were to lift their general boycott of world affairs I think we could have our 1st African winners, Brian.

                                                And their kit would be amazing.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Might the Beeb and ITV boycott showing the opening ceremony and/or the opening game, as they did with Argentina v Belgium in 1982?

                                                  OTOH 1982 is the clearest guide that England don't withdraw from tournaments. I have a vague memory of FIFA threatening a long ban had they done so. It would also fuck any chances of England hosting a future finals.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X