Womens' World Cup Final - Where's the PM?

[StarlightLady]

Just as the Australian Governmnet have pointed out that Prince William is also Prince of Australia, we hear that the Queen of Spain and her daughter are attending the final.

So, in contrast where is Sunak, the PM who loves jet travel? Would he not be attending if it was a male England team in the final.

This cerainly puts the Lionesses in their place; dreadful!

I'm still waiting for @TheThinkingGoblin to tell me what my views are that I haven't stated.

Do you not realise how absurd your argument is?

You only make womens football relevant to society if the FA and FIFA make the effort.

And thats never going to happen if William doesnt even bother to show up.

Its just bonkers how upside down your logic is.

Here, talk to the hand.

We are having an adult conversation around you.

You really are unspeakably rude.

You referred to my views and I haven't even stated them. I suggested politely that you might look at the thread again to establish that. You now can't admit you made a mistake.

If your definition of an adult conversation is hectoring people and being abusive you can hardly expect posters to engage in discussion with you.

I disagree that the sport only becomes relevant to society via the FA and FIFA. I also genuinely don't care one iota about William, I don't care whether he's replaced as president of the FA which he's been for the past 18 years or not. I care about why people are talking more about him than about the women playing on the field. It's really weird. I don't see how him flying in just for the match is supposed to progress anything or why people need to see him there to feel like its got a man's stamp of approval. I'm also curious as to where all these fans have been all this time, it certainly hasn't been supporting grassroots women's football or professional football.

... x 10

They basically dislike William and are defying any other logic or point of view to say its awful he wasn't there but can't actually articulate why not being there is an actual issue. And not reading people's posts properly.

That myth has been debunked!

You have no manners. I'm not prepared to sink to your level and be insulting in return.

"I'm sorry, I was mistaken" was all that was necessary. As adults do.

Well, you have a perfect comparator pre-match

1. Queen Letizian and 16 year old daughter showing up

vs

1. William and daughter not showing up

The effect of (1) can be compare to (2)

And the difference was material. It really did make a difference in Spain. People were so proud that they attended.

In the UK...I hear way too many excuses.

Were they? I have relatives in Spain and they werent arsed, they were focused on watching the game and excited it was being televised and garnering huge interest for a change. Most delighting in them attending seem to be those against William as a stick to beat him with which is pathetic really.

Using this logic though you're now upset he didn't attend as a member of the Royal family rather than the president of the FA not attending? Queen Letizian doesn't have a role as such does she in football, and therefore you're impressed she showed up because it means a royal was there right? Sure William is both royal and FA president, but you've been saying you're annoyed he didn't go because of his capacity as the latter but now comparing to other royals who went.

I'm really interested to hear what all the initiatives are that were apparently put in place by William & the culture sec re women's football?

Attending in August is a big deal in Spain because of vacations.

Letizia and daughter made an effort to attend by cutting their family vacation short.

William simply made excuses.

And that is not acceptable behavior as FA President. He should quit.

Lucy Frazer has been a champion of the Raising the Bar report (which isn't just her work and has required lots of input from others including prior to her appointment- but she's been decent in keeping momentum up and making sure its highlighted in the house of lords). Also the cross government £600 million imvestment and the commitment to supporting schools with increasing girls participation and access to all sports- not to be sniffed at. She often posts on her socials about achievements of women in sport and has worked with the Lionesses on their campaign for girls and women in football. I don't think that's too bad really. Re: William there are numerous interviews and statements from the FA that outline he contributes to initiatives which suggests his role is more than just being expected to turn up; I'm sure you can find some stuff he's done if you're actually bothered.

Okay but you haven't answered. I don't care if he quits so not sure why that's being thrown about in lieu of why you're bringing the queen of Spain into it if you're actually bothered he didn't attend as FA president.

And haven't really answered why the president of the FA not being there seems to be more of a discussion point for some than the women playing?

Do PMs usually go to World Cups? Australia is a long way to go for one day and I imagine Rishi Sunak is on some sort of holiday with his family (like Prince William), as it is August. The Commons is in recess and the principal royals always have August off.

I doubt very much the team cared much either way. A fuss about nothing, blown up by the media.

By the media and people who hate William and Rishi and want a stick to beat them with. For both there are tonnes of legit criticisms of them, yet the day of the women's final people have been talking at length about these two men, ew.

The Foreign Secretary and the Culture Secretary attended on behalf of the government. Whilst they are both fairly useless (though not as bad as some of the current cabinet as incompetent not malicious or corrupt it seems), the government did send someone.

As for the comparison with what if the men's team got to a football World Cup final, well that is one with an event unlikely ever to happen again.

Totally. I’d prefer to focus on the actual team not whether two men turn up. If the PM did I’m sure criticism would have been high anyway. And probably William too

TBH I'm more annoyed by the fact that there has been so much discussion about a middle aged man not going to watch the game rather than discussion about the women playing the game.

Would it have been nice to have William attend - whether as a royal representative for both Aus and England or as a representative of the FA - yes of course, but it doesn't change the fact that the focus should be on the players. TBH if anything I would have preferred Catherine and Charlotte to have attended, rather than William, especially as Catherine is patron to so many sporting endeavours and it would be nice to see Charlotte have a chance to see the women play in a WC final, the issue is the distance, especially taking a child all that way.

I think it's different with the Spanish Royals, they have a history of attending football, and not just as a representative of a sporting institution - King Juan Carlos is famously a Real Madrid fan and was often present when RM were in finals, the same for the men's national team, including hosting a reception for them when they won the Euros and WC; his son the current King is an Atleti fan who has also attended Spain games and hosted the reception for the Euro winners. There is a history of the Spanish Royals attending many sports finals that the Spanish team are playing in, but especially football. There is a famous photo from the men's team celebrating winning the WC with Puyol greeting Queen Sofía in nothing more than a towel as he was fresh out of the shower when she arrived in the changing room to congratulate them.

The Spanish Royals also have the "advantage" of there not being the complicated politics of the competition being held in a Commonwealth country, and as the HoS in Spain they don't have to worry about stepping on toes if they go somewhere as William has to as he is only the heir, not the monarch - Letizia doesn't have to answer to anyone else, if she wants to attend and take her younger daughter then she can; William is subject to all kinds of internal politics. I was surprised that Leonor didn't also accompany them, but perhaps they took this opportunity to let Sofia attend an event in an official capacity without her sister and get a chance to enjoy the spotlight while she can.

Leonor had started her schooling at a military academy so could not attend. Thats why Letizia only ended up bringing Sofia.

No one gives a toss

Reasonable excuses are fine.

BS ones from William are not.

Is that understood?

Well William could not have helped them win. They still came up short.

Its up to the uk population to support women’s football. Other than internationals, and the odd cup match, the attendance is still pretty poor snd tickets are very cheap. So if you care about the sport, turn up.

The men have a bigger mountain to climb to win anything. The world cups are not the same. The men’s game is still far better supported than the women’s game. We prefer the men’s game in our house. Will always support England though.