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    #26
    Cos of the Falklands/Malvinas? I’d forgotten that.
    I DO remember, however, shots of England fans (almost all with Union Jacks, in them days) spilling out of bars while Spanish fans chanted “Malvinas argentinas, Gibraltar Español!”

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      #27
      Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
      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
      The Spanish state wasn't behaving as Russia is now. As I said to Rogin on another thread there must be a possibility that our government advises British people not to travel for safety reasons. For which there's a clear precedent not that long ago- Home Internationals 1972-74

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        #28
        1982 was more about now wanting to risk playing Argentina. The UK government had such cold disregard for fans at the time that there was even some implied gloating about the possibility of our hooligans getting battered by the Spanish plod. It was a blessing that England were not at Euro 1984 and that it was still difficult to travel to Mexico in 1986.

        But I agree that there are no perfect past parallels to this current crisis, where the host is hostile to the people of a major competing nation rather than making a show of being friendly for PR reasons.

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          #29
          We'll probably end up with a Very British Boycott. Here's the opening ceremony from the Moscow Olympics 1980, when the Brits showed those Russkies who's boss, by refusing to march or wave the flag:



          The sign says BOA (British Olympic Association), who wanted to go, not GB, who didn't, so that's who Coe really won his medals for.

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            #30
            I think the BBC, either to their credit or for purely ratings reasons, still treated them as "team GB" and had the medal table and all that bollocks. Casual viewers (i.e. 95% of those tuning in) might have vaguely noticed that Seb was receiving his gold medal under an Olympic flag not a Union Jack, and might query why there was no national anthem.

            It's interesting, in fact, that the absence of the symbols of Britishness did not actually affect the viewing experience, and to me at the time, it felt like progress. But then we had the Falklands in 1982 and the flags were back with a vengeance.

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              #31
              The Süddeutsche Zeitung ran a piece today saying diplomatic boycotts are all well and good, but that we should at the very least least entertain the idea of actual team boycotts. Helpfully, I've translated the best bits here.

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                #32
                Originally posted by imp View Post
                The Süddeutsche Zeitung ran a piece today saying diplomatic boycotts are all well and good, but that we should at the very least least entertain the idea of actual team boycotts. Helpfully, I've translated the best bits here.
                Vielen dank Herr Teufel. What with this and cricket imploding I may have to spend June evenings down the allotment

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                  #33
                  Can I just point out that the Dutch team got its boycott in very early?

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                    #34

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                      #35
                      Got into a spat with TonTon on Facebook as I think boycotting TV coverage is a load of old shite (bearing in mind that I am a enthusiastic boycotter at the best of times). If Wales had got through, I wouldn't have gone - for safety, humanitarian and, in the end, work commitment issues. The only other logical boycott was, as FIFA awarded the World Cup to Russia (and, indeed, Qatar), I should probably have boycotted the qualifiers for Russia. The after-the-fact ineffectual boycotting of watching it on TV is a knee-jerk ill-thought-out idea. It won't do anything - the deed is done, Russia have got the World Cup, no national teams have pulled out and many are travelling. Russia want people to visit. If people don't travel, they don't get that. The only argument I have heard is that low TV viewing figures will 'publicly shame' Russia. This is Putin and Russia that has had no issues with the Pussy Riot imprisonment, Crimea, Yushchenko, Litvinenko, Skripal, LGBT discrimination, Syria and the violence against yesterday's protestors. They don't give a shit about the BBC's and ITV's coverage of the matches.

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                        #36
                        I'm currently boycotting the Giro d'italia (by not watching it or even paying any attention to the results.) This makes fuck all difference to anyone in all honesty but I think it's important nevertheless.

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                          #37
                          I'm doing exactly the same thing, I'm not even reading the thread on here and plan to boycott the whole race.

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                            #38
                            Political corruption aside, I think there's a case for giving it a miss on quality grounds. All my instincts say it's going to be shit. Why soil my World Cup memories by having this drivel tournament plastered over them?

                            I would struggle to watch these games anyway given that they are on Fox over here and their commentators are a pile of wank. I feel none of the usual buzz that I used to have a month before kick-off. More like a slightly sick feeling of "what if something interesting happens while I am not watching?"

                            Maybe I will tape them and follow the live threads on OTF, going back to the tape if anything noteworthy is highlighted on the thread? I already do that for most Champions League rounds and EPL games. I cannot bear watching England live anyway because it already seems scripted, as in Euro 2016, that they will scrape through the group playing badly then limp out in the last 16. The best chance of Tunisia or Panama turning them over is if I avoid the games.
                            Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 07-05-2018, 11:34.

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                              #39
                              On the Giro https://bdsmovement.net/news/palesti...hal-repression

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                                #40
                                My boycott now — and in 2022 — is aimed more at FIFA than Russia (though if Vlad becomes collateral damage I won't complain.)

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                                  #41
                                  Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                                  My boycott now — and in 2022 — is aimed more at FIFA than Russia (though if Vlad becomes collateral damage I won't complain.)
                                  Exactly and, as I said, if I was wanting to logically boycott anything, it would be the qualifiers. Honestly, I can't see that happening. Although more direct at FIFA who are to blame for the awarding these World Cups, it would be even harder to get a campaign going for it. I will no more attend Qatar than I would Russia (much less so in reality).

                                  The only thing that has had any parallel in recent years (aside from boycotting attending Franchise FC obviously) is when Wales played away in Israel. I genuinely considered flying to Jerusalem and watching the match on TV there and watching some Palestinian football around the match. Obviously, it never happened and I never went to the away game.

                                  As I say, I am an enthusiastic boycotter usually and dropping watching football on TV is a fairly regular occurrence for me, it still feels ineffectual so I will probably watch with less enthusiasm than I do for most international tournaments. It is the antithesis of France 2016, whatever I feel about their institutional Islamophobia. I suppose if there is signs of open corruption, it will put me off. I will, of course, be supporting anyone against Russia.

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                                    #42
                                    There'd be a serious case for boycotting a World Cup held in the USA right now, whereas in 1994 Clinton was President and had not yet bombed Sudan. Los Angeles Olympics, 1984, under Reagan, was not an event I would have wanted to attend, but Reagan was not as vile as Trump (it's all relative, obviously; Reagan he got elected partly by playing the "welfare queens" race card).

                                    Not sure if events like the US Open golf and tennis are in the same category; they are not typically flag-waving events that boost the status quo or maintain a corrupt ruling body AFAIK.
                                    Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 08-05-2018, 22:08.

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                                      #43
                                      Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                                      There'd be a serious case for boycotting a World Cup held in the USA right now, whereas in 1994 Clinton was President and had not yet bombed Sudan. Los Angeles Olympics, 1984, under Reagan, was not an event I would have wanted to attend, but Reagan was not as vile as Trump (it's all relative, obviously; Reagan he got elected partly by playing the "welfare queens" race card)
                                      USA didn't have Guatanamo then either. It did, however, have the death penalty as did Russia at that time but the latter hasn't had it since 1996.

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                                        #44
                                        Human Rights Watch releases a 44-page report on the human rights situation in Russia, "the worst human rights crisis in Russia since the Soviet era".

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                                          #45
                                          What are you doing with your wallchart?

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                                            #46
                                            Hasn't arrived yet. Will probably allow the other two non-boycotting residents of the house (wife and youngest daughter) to use it if they want.

                                            Explaining the boycott is already tiring me out, God knows what it'll be like when the fucking tournament actually starts.

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                                              #47
                                              Well, keep it up. I shan't be boycotting, but I understand why you and others are doing so.

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                                                #48
                                                Subliminally or otherwise, this thread seems to be working on me. It was only seeing the Guardian headline just now about Hart and Wilshere being dropped from the World Cup squad that reminded me there's a World Cup about to start. The whole process involved with handing this one and the next one to their respective recipients feels so tawdry and the hosts so contemptible, I have no interest at all in the upcoming competition. I'm sort of intrigued whether the familiar urge to watch will suddenly sweep over me as the first games approach, and rather hope it doesn't.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Perhaps it is just me having had a wonderful time in France in 2016 and overestimating my usual interest in the host country (as opposed to team) in a major competition but I will be concentrating just on the matches this team. I have never been a big opening/closing ceremony watcher anyway so, perhaps, I won't really be changing my watching habits a lot.

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                                                    #50
                                                    I am just too excited by the prospect of Uruguay and a Salah-led Egypt condemning Russia to a group stage exit despite being drawn in one of the softest groups imaginable. South Africa paved the road for hosts not getting out of the group stage, but they at least managed to beat France. The potential for Russian ignominy keeps dragging me back in.

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