Is anyone else boycotting the World Cup?

[TruckDriving]

Couldn't see a thread specifically on this. I've said I'm not watching any games. I know I'm one insignificant person but I don't want to add another 1 to the viewing figures. I'm furious listening to all the commentators / footballers saying "let's focus on the football now".

Countries boycotted South African sports tournaments due to apartheid. Why are we (as a country / team) just blindly going ahead with this now? England, France, Germany, USA etc should all be boycotting.

And as for David Beckham... he really has put the last nail in the coffin of his alleged integrity hasn't he. Knows he's never getting a knighthood so thought WTF I'll just grab the £150 MILLION.

Anyway sorry for rant. Has anyone else decided not to watch it this time for these reasons?

Yep. Haven't bought anything from Adidas since the corruption behind it all came out. I don't drink Coca Cola or Budweiser so that was the FIFA sponsor I could choose to avoid.

It was awarded thanks to corruption, it's been built by indentured and abused labour, it's a state which doesn't recognise women or LGBT people as equals. I am not supporting it by watching it.

We recently moved to an area where you would normally expect to see lots of flags but weirdly there are none.

No we are looking forward to it.

Your loss OP as England are playing brilliantly.

Not watching here and the schools locally are avoiding it too.

The world cup has been held in plenty of place where being gay is a crime or where human rights are abused. Did you all make the same outcries then, the media certainly didn't.

Neither was there any mass media hysteria over the winter Olympics being held in China where human abuse violations are happening everyday and people are in forced labour camps.

Will you all stick to your guns when the world cup goes to America where women's reproductive rights are bring eroded everyday or where black people or people of colour are MURDERED by the police with no consequence.

It's been proven that the figures around migrant worker deaths in Qatar widely quoted in the media are incorrect.

Qatar needs to improve in many ways, but let's not pretend that there isn't a huge amount of islamaphobia and racism behind the bullshit the media are pedalling.

Yes and every sport from now on will be ignored.

I did watch it. Did donate to Iranian women and Humanitarian Aid in Quatar whilst watching it though.

Me not watching isn’t going to change a thing, and I love, love love tournaments like this. England were fucking amazing to watch (doesn’t happen very often!)

The world cup has been held in plenty of place where being gay is a crime or where human rights are abused. Did you all make the same outcries then

Yep.

This is the one that may finally be noticed. Might make a small dint.

I won't watch it, and I love football and world cup. I'm a lesbian and feel profoundly offended by the tournament being hosted in Qatar

What does boycotting it achieve though? All these posts saying "it's not going on in my house" are hilarious. And you missed a great match today.

We're not watching it at home either. I've just watched the England match at work (I wouldn't have put it on but its what the service users wanted to do). I couldn't get excited about it even though we won 6-2 or something. Whole thing is a total downer.

Me, sardines and Eric Cantona is a seagull feeling mate

Completely agree with you OP. I won't be watching. And it is not only the devastating number of slave workers who have died (over 65,00) building their stadiums, or human rights in general, or LBGT rights in particular.

It is also because this is another hellhole for women, who have few if any rights. That is just as important as the other issues but is not being discussed much. A woman in Qatar cannot go out, get a job, have medical treatment or leave the country without a male "guardian"'s permission. Over half the population effectively captives. The place is a disgrace, and we should not be enabling it or condoning it by turning a blind eye.

I’m not boycotting the WC it’s just England are shit. And have spent the last 56 years proving it.

Of course you did. But most people won't have and the media certainly didn't.

I take it you will be boycotting America's world cup too as it certainly isn't an example when it comes to Human Rights.

Completely agree with this.

I think the number of deaths is quoted as 6, 500.
Still a tragic figure.

Do you actually think by not watching the world cup is going to change anything ? People are still going to the fanzones and matches and people and businesses are making money out of it having an uproar on social media is pointless to be fair because no one listens then you have that muppet comedian oh I'm going to shred £10,000 he got mauled all over social media that much he had to make a video of him telling people the money was fake 😳🙄 its sad that football is taking so much crap at the minute but whether we like it or not fifa don't care the teams are still playing and quatar is making millions

No. I will be watching as much of the WC as I normally do, i.e. a lot.

I don’t agree with the tournament being in Qatar, and unlike many people who have jumped on the bandwagon since the outbreak of hypocritical media virtue signalling in the past week, I have been saying this since the corrupt allocation process back in 2010.

But football isn’t the only sport which takes place in countries in which human rights are not respected. F1 goes to Saudi, China, Bahrain, Qatar etc. Tennis goes to China, Golf goes to UAE, as does cricket. If you are going to boycott the WC why not also boycott these sports? Coca Cola, Apple, Google, Mercedes Benz etc etc all trade in these countries. If you are going to boycott the WC, then why not these brands? Where does it end?

Our kids watched it at school today I'm quite surprised. They are in primary.

Everyone really cares and is ever so outraged until the coverage ends then it's never mentioned again.

I don't watch football in general but I'm finding this outrage just a bit much. Human rights abuses are happening around the world, all the time. Do the same posters boycott Chinese goods? Do they boycott goods made in Saudi / Qatar / other Islamic regimes when it doesn't involve football? How do they weigh up their opposition to the Qataris while spouting about Islamophobia - when the Qataris are just upholding tenets of Islam in relation to homosexuality?

👏👏👏👏👏👏

@TruckDriving I don't watch football on the basis of the obscene amount of money involved and the excessively tedious nature of the game. I call it a boycott, as I boycott football at all times!!

My thoughts exactly my country isn't even in the world cup and we are watching it