Quote :

"For the 2022 selection I wanted (1) a cool country I could visit for the first time and use the World Cup as a centerpiece of a vacation"

It is 12 fucking years away... give it a chance. No one know what they would have by then... I mean, a big chunk of the world thinks the UAE is a "cool" country (for touristic purposes) and goes there to see the man-made wonders.

Who can even begin to guess what Qatar will have in 12 years? Yes, it is a developed dull country at the present, but 12 years in the future? They will probably have rotating buildings, underwater hotels, an artificial high-tech town with flying cars, and a realistic "Jurassic Park" with hundreds of robotic life-size dinosaurs that visitors can try to out-chase. Just saying... all the countries in the region want to emulate the UAE. And UAE is next door, so you can go see more stuff if Qatar still doesn't cut it 12 years later.

Quote :

""you know, I've always wanted to visit Bahrain, the World Cup in Qatar will provide the perfect opportunity for this!!""

You do want to visit the world's first Ferrari Theme Park, don't you? And the world's tallest structure? Atlantis Hotel? Etc? Yeah, next door in Bahrain UAE.

And about being biased, I am not a fan of the ME in general due to their barbaric human rights records. All I am saying is give it a chance... it is not 4 years away which means they can only build the stadia... it is 12 years away, which means they can build the fucking country also.

They said they are going to spend around $40 billion. Wrap your head around that.

12/3/2010 4:21:57 PM

Quote :

"Who can even begin to guess what Qatar will have in 12 years?"

Nobody, which is exactly why it was a god damn mistake awarding the World Cup.

12/3/2010 4:30:07 PM

OK, fair enough!

12/3/2010 4:32:12 PM

Quote :

"You do want to visit the world's first Ferrari Theme Park, don't you? And the world's tallest structure? Atlantis Hotel? Etc? Yeah, next door in Bahrain UAE."

I could give two shits about seeing any of those places. This sounds like you jacking off in those Dubai threads.

I'll admit that some of that shit can be cool, but it's like basing your whole vacation to Seattle about going up the Space Needle. Whoop-tee-fucking-do!!

12/3/2010 5:21:54 PM

If you can't get excited about a FERRARI theme park, well then you are an outlier. And it is not just one thing; UAE has at least 10 world-class things you can experience (this is now, a lot more in 2022). Which is a lot considering the area of the country, and that they were all built in the last 10 years, most in the last 5 years.

So if the Ferrari Theme Park (and not an amazing water park and not the world's tallest building) doesn't cut it for you, what do you want to see? If you want spectacular nature, forget the ME more or less. It is all about [modern] man-made wonders here. What [modern] man-made wonders are worthy of a transatlantic trip for you, honest question.

12/3/2010 5:33:09 PM

1) Qatar doesn't allow alcohol
2) Qatar doesn't even allow Israili's in the country

This is going to be a disaster.

Can't wait for some female european/american supporters to be locked up for wearing bras and body paint.

[Edited on December 3, 2010 at 5:51 PM. Reason : ]

12/3/2010 5:51:18 PM

I enjoy theme parks that celebrate overpriced Italian garbage.

12/3/2010 5:56:24 PM

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,732693,00.html

Quote :

"It is not objectionable that FIFA should be looking for new markets. However, the officials have reached a point at which they are damaging their flagship product."

12/3/2010 6:51:52 PM

I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

Russia. Fine. Even though England got fucked for political reasons, Russia is definitely capable of holding a successful World Cup and I would consider going.

But we lost in the third round to fucking Qatar? Australia, I would have had no qualms with and, would again, consider going.


This was, most certainly, an unpredictable outcome.



Now to the predictable part:

Of course Opie comes into the thread and makes a completely invalid arguments to why this is a good idea. He mentions that UAE is a cool country and people like to visit it. That's fucking fine and dandy, but guess what: We're talking about Qatar, not the UAE.

Then there is the political aspect. While it's FIFA's stance to stay out of political affairs, they chose a country who denies entry to an entire nation and also those who have ever traveled to that nation. Imagine if Israel qualified for that World Cup. Unlikely, but now the fuck what? Oh yeah, and if you've ever been to Israel and had your passport stamped, sorry no World Cup for you.

Even ignoring the whole human rights argument and differing morals and customs, which you will inevitably get between any two cultures, this is a bad plan. I understand FIFA's desire to branch out into new territories, but at the expense of a successful World Cup? Blatter and the voters are morons.

The good news is that 12 years is still far away. FIFA has always made it clear that they have the ability to revoke a country's award.

12/3/2010 11:12:48 PM

^ DUDE! FERRARI! DUDE!

12/3/2010 11:15:18 PM

Quote :

"Who can even begin to guess what Qatar will have in 12 years?"

An Iranian-style revolution?

12/3/2010 11:23:04 PM

I forgot about the fact there is a Ferrari theme park in a neighboring country.

Scratch my post.

12/3/2010 11:49:07 PM

Qatar is one of the more liberal countries in the Arab world. They're still very much a Muslim society, but we're not talking about Saudi Arabia, here.

12/4/2010 12:53:01 AM

Quote :

"makes a completely invalid arguments to why this is a good idea"

don't put words into my mouth. i never said it is a good idea. just pointing out IMO that it is not a terrible idea as many people see it. everybody can have their own opinions. i agree it is not a 'good' idea, but it is not terrible either, as many many other countries would be, such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, India, Mauritania, Yemen, Mexico, and more. yes, i also agree it is not a 'cool' country. heck, i even pointed out the problems with having it in Qatar. don't be fucking blind.

and the only reason i mentioned sights in UAE is because some poster basically said that there is nothing to see in any neighboring country. (on purpose he mentioned Bahrain as being nearby which has nothing of value)

12/4/2010 4:14:17 AM

So what does the stadium look like?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjkiebus/qatar-designed-a-stadium-shaped-like-a-vagina-for-the-2022-w

Click link for more gifs and video, showing interior as well.



The designers say the design is based on the sails of a traditional pearl diving boat:

Quote :

"Under the blueprint released by Qatar's 2022 Supreme Committee, the stadium in the Al-Wakrah region, 15 km (10 miles) from the capital Doha, will have shaded spectator stands cooled between 24 and 28C and a natural grass pitch cooled to 26C. The design, topped with a structure resembling the sails of a dhow, also includes a spectator area outside the ground that will be temperature controlled at 30-32C."

With temperatures reaching 50C, how much energy will they use to cool a massive open space to about 26C???

Quote :

"Overall, the tiny gas-rich state plans to spend about $140 billion on a rail system, a new airport, a seaport, and hundreds of kilometers of new roads for the tournament, in addition to the stadiums that will host the matches"

$140 billion is fucking insane... wonder how many tens of thousands of virtual slave laborers will make all that happen, and how many will die in the process . The real tragedy is that they won't even be allowed to visit the fruits of their labor, as they are considered to be too dirty and lowly to be allowed to visit such posh places, which they built with their own hands, just as in UAE.

11/18/2013 9:48:31 PM

11/18/2013 9:55:19 PM

oh no dead dune coons who cares

11/18/2013 10:14:25 PM

aside from the idiocy of that statement on its face, it's not even dune coons who will do the work.

Qatar is the richest country in the world, per capita, at least last time I heard. They aren't gonna work on shit. It'll be mostly laborers from the Indian subcontinent, and engineers/designers/etc from Western countries.

Quote :

"$140 billion is fucking insane... wonder how many tens of thousands of virtual slave laborers will make all that happen, and how many will die in the process"

Do that many die?

I don't know if I'd exactly call it "slave labor"...I mean, they're definitely an underclass and live in severe poverty by American standards...but they generally make more there than they'd make in a lifetime in their home countries. How much more net human cost would there be without employing all that imported labor for a few hundred bucks per month?

[Edited on November 18, 2013 at 10:52 PM. Reason : ]

11/18/2013 10:51:37 PM

^
It's most certainly going to be close to slave labor.

(http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/070725abuse.asp)

This almost always happens in developing nations that see insane booms. Usually, the contractors will take the passports of the workers and pretty much hold them ransom until the project is done...at which point they may or may not pay them. And the dirty little secret is that the labor that makes these buildings are usually not skilled enough to handle the detail and craftsmanship required to execute the design (most likely, because, you know.....they're slaves).



Anyway, the moral of the story is that Zaha Hadid sucks.

11/19/2013 1:27:29 AM

It is TOTAL slave labor.

11/19/2013 7:47:45 AM

11/19/2013 8:31:51 AM

What do they plan on doing with all that stuff after the soccer match?

11/19/2013 6:35:47 PM

haha, like they give a fuck. we're talking about a country that built a shitload of gaudy skyscrapers just because they the city skyline look cool, from what I heard when I was there. They are literally sitting there completely empty.

[Edited on November 19, 2013 at 7:09 PM. Reason : the shopping malls have roller coasters, ice rinks, artificial rivers, log flumes, etc in them. ]

11/19/2013 7:08:42 PM

FIFA sets winter dates for Qatar World Cup

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-fifa-qatar/fifa-sets-winter-dates-for-qatar-world-cup-idUSKCN0RP1HE20150925

Quote :

"ZURICH (Reuters) - FIFA announced on Friday that the 2022 World Cup, to be held in Qatar, will start on November 21 with the final to be played on December 18 - cutting four days off the length of the competition."

7/14/2018 1:21:20 AM

yes, d7freestyler, catalyst, JTMONEYNCSU, halfwit, colter, Fail Boat, Førte, [user]JustGotWickd[/user], BEAVERCHEESE, cynosural, O RLY, and KG were all riding in a jeep cherokee on their way to arby's when they were struck by a train...all died instantly, except for Førte, who is in critical condition at wake med

7/14/2018 8:44:34 PM

wtf

7/15/2018 12:00:41 AM

Fuck Qatar?

More like, Fuck Trump.

Trump sells Qatar $12 billion of U.S. weapons days after accusing it of funding terrorism
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-sells-qatar-12-billion-arms-days-after-accusing-it-of-funding-terrorism

(Yes, I know it is from last summer... the point still stands!)

7/15/2018 2:16:54 AM

ORANGE MAN BAD

7/24/2018 4:19:06 AM