to think the world cup should be cancelled?

[StealthPolarBear]

Increase in domestic violence?
Over stretching of the ambulance / emergency services?
Most of all, it's FOOTBALL!

I'm very sorry, this was a stupid thread.
I do believe they have found a link between the WC and violence / emergency treatment, but i agree that to blame the WC is silly.
I just get sick of the footballs everywhere, flags on cars, "news" dominated by football players and matches and i wanted to vent.

do DV statistics go up every summer anyway? I know that in America homicide levels rise as soon as the summer heat kicks in. I'd imagine those statistics are skewed fwiw because that makes a better headline.

ILT do you mean the DV and emergency services thing? it's on the news, assumed it was national but may be wrong, 2 secs

I agree with you there!

I HATE the football. All sports actually.

If people like them, fair enough, but I fail to see why it has to be forced down everyone's throats.

There should be channels specifically for sport (oh, hang on - THERE ARE!!) and it should not be making the headline news on bloody bbc!

It's a group of men kicking a small piece of leather round a field. If that gets you off, that's your problem but ffs stop making it MINE!!

But everyone gets so excited. Is nice.

Not sure you can link football with domestic violence actually, a bastard is a bastard whether the world cup is on or not.

I have to agree with you on the flags. They should be banned.

Why? Are you harmed in some way by seeing them?

But the football won't be on every channel - there's always the option to switch off.

There are dedicated sports channels, but you have to pay quite a lot of money to receive them and SO many people get excited about the world cup, is it fair to exclude them on the grounds of their personal finances?

why ban the flags?? what other symbol of our team should be use then,when every other team in the tournament uses THEIR own countries flag???

what would you propose?

brazil fly the brazilian flag
italy fly their flag
what should we have then???

If you lived on my estate you'd be annoyed too, I'm sure.

Tell you what is annoying, not being able to buy the Australian jersey in kid's sizes in M&S, they have Brazil and a couple of others but no Aussie ones. The boy has been wearing his one from the last one, which was luckily bought way too big. All his little mates are excited by it and wearing their country's jersey, why shouldn't his English friends do the same?

There are flags everywhere around here, really can't see the problem. To my shame I have no Aussie flag to put up.

op.....do you think the whole world cup should be banned then??

or just 'Englands' participation??

It;s the ones that have ENGLAND printed across the middle. I'm aware it;s an English flag, thank you.

I think it's all the facebook crap about shirts being banned etc thats set me off.

no idea, as I said, I really hadn't thought too deeply about it, this was just a vent.
Think I should probably get this deleted.
You asked about sources for the DV etc claims - it's been reported on local radio station but despite it being their headlines, there's nothing about it on their news page

oh here this sort of stuff

But you actually just suggested banning the flag.

Lots of English people seem to have a weird self loathing thing going on.

England has much to be proud of and there is no harm in vocalising that through football IMO.

Aussie are crap at football (we have to let the rest of the world win sometimes ) but I am still quite happy about being one and enjoy supporting the Socceroos (even though they have a silly name).

oh gosh this has reminded me - must go and hang my England flag out of my bedroom window, it's sat on the chair near the window ready in preparation but as I'm not sleeping in there right now I hardly go in and had forgotten to put it up!

Drunken dickheads are drunken dickheads and presumably in the minority, so the vaaaast majority of people who enjoy the WC shouldn't have it because of them?

You are OK with punishing a whole class because of one naughty kid as well?

No, just said I get annoyed by them

To be fair, Australia isn't known for it's football hoolaganism is it? Which is precisely what seeing flags plastered to cars and houses, couple with the nurmerous twats joining the 'I'll wear my shirt, fly my flag etc etc' groups on facebook makes me think of. Hence my earlier point about stopping supermarkets selling beer for 50p a can.

Tis my ishoo though, and I'm not proposing they be banned, but I reserve my right to be annoyed

Did anyone see wags and world cup dreams on BBC3? Amongst other things it showed how they had evicted people from their slums to build the main stadium, provided them with no where else to live so that had to live in a slum city in tents just down the road from the stadium. Now whenever I see anything world cup related it makes me so mad... There is so much poverty in SA and the money could have been so much better used to help their own people.... I know it will bring money into the country but I bet they little of it will ever reach the poor people who need it...

For the record, I will be watching the WC. The flags probably won't bother me when it's actaully started, but peole have had there flags out for months! It's like putting Christmas Decorations up in October, I get annoyed by that too.

they don't pump money into it, football is popular and pays for itself.

the olympics on the other hand... a two week festival of unpopular sports, for which the taxpayer forks out billions...

Spectator sports are a fabulous way of getting men to behave, actually.

Will still be thinking of those people living in their slums whilst people are paying £100 a ticket to see a load of people kick a ball about when that £100 would enable them to build a decent shack to live in... Wont be watching the world cup and will give a bit to charity .....