KCRag Forum

If FIFA cared even a little bit about human rights then they would've pulled the 2022 World Cup out of Qatar years ago.

shaffe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:44 pm If FIFA cared even a little bit about human rights then they would've pulled the 2022 World Cup out of Qatar years ago.

And Russia in 2018.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:17 pm

shaffe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:44 pm If FIFA cared even a little bit about human rights then they would've pulled the 2022 World Cup out of Qatar years ago.

And Russia in 2018.

It’s obvious major sports industries only care about human rights abuses, or perceived “abuses”, only when it’s in a first world nation in the west. The olympic committee has proved this the past decade or so, and powers on with Chinas Winter Olympics hosting.

Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:01 am

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:17 pm

shaffe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:44 pm If FIFA cared even a little bit about human rights then they would've pulled the 2022 World Cup out of Qatar years ago.

And Russia in 2018.

It’s obvious major sports industries only care about human rights abuses, or perceived “abuses”, only when it’s in a first world nation in the west. The olympic committee has proved this the past decade or so, and powers on with Chinas Winter Olympics hosting.

Also FIFA and the IOC are two of the absolute trashiest organizations on this planet.

Nobody really cares about human rights, it's just a handy thing to wave around when it suits someone's real purpose (which, in FIFA's case, is to make money), but if FIFA doesn't award you the World Cup because of your state's cruel, bigoted legislation, FIFA is not the bad guy (uhhh, in this one very specific situation), regardless of their lack of sincerity.

phuqueue wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:39 pm ...because of your state's cruel, bigoted legislation

Explain. Without hypocrisy, please.

phuqueue wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:39 pm Nobody really cares about human rights, it's just a handy thing to wave around when it suits someone's real purpose (which, in FIFA's case, is to make money), but if FIFA doesn't award you the World Cup because of your state's cruel, bigoted legislation, FIFA is not the bad guy (uhhh, in this one very specific situation), regardless of their lack of sincerity.

I think the idea is more that FIFA is saying it's an important issue but would have to reject some of the best candidates. Really doubt they will do that.

Agree that FIFA will probably not reject otherwise-good candidate cities and leave money on the table over its fake concern about human rights, so it's probably a moot point, but I was getting the impression that, in the event that KC gets rejected on these grounds, people in this thread were going to be annoyed at FIFA, which I think would be the wrong reaction. My bad if I misunderstood and that isn't really what anyone meant.

normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:05 pm

phuqueue wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:39 pm Nobody really cares about human rights, it's just a handy thing to wave around when it suits someone's real purpose (which, in FIFA's case, is to make money), but if FIFA doesn't award you the World Cup because of your state's cruel, bigoted legislation, FIFA is not the bad guy (uhhh, in this one very specific situation), regardless of their lack of sincerity.

I think the idea is more that FIFA is saying it's an important issue but would have to reject some of the best candidates. Really doubt they will do that.

It’s more sponsors. It’s hard to explain, but FIFA sponsors care more at home than they do in authoritarian countries.

Qatar simply won’t allow protests, but in the us you’ll have big campaigns for years.

It’s hard to get people motivated about foreign workers in Qatar but people will mobilize here quickly.

Basically, these companies don’t want to spend four years being asked about trans rights.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.tennes ... 219254002

Tennessee bill moves on to Governor that require 30 day notice before bringing up lgbtq in the classroom.

KC will host the CONCAF Cup this July. KC will see games from the US Men's National Team, Canada, and Martinique. Per the release, FIFA ranks the US as #20 in the world right now. This is a good time to see them for cheap and close to home. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.

Also in July, FIFA will be visiting KC to inspect infrastructure and facilities. I do wonder if they will visit one of the games.

Is this the same US men’s team that didn’t qualify for the Olympics? Not being snarky, I’m not sure if there are different levels/teams etc. Curious how they’re ranked 20 while recently missing out on the Olympics

droopy wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 5:59 pm Is this the same US men’s team that didn’t qualify for the Olympics? Not being snarky, I’m not sure if there are different levels/teams etc. Curious how they’re ranked 20 while recently missing out on the Olympics

No, the olympics are an under-23 team so to not compete with the World Cup. It’s still embarrassing not to qualify.

The USMNT has not done well lately at any level.

Thanks for the reply. My wife is a big SKC fan and we watched the tournament when the men didn’t qualify for the Olympics, I didn’t realize they were U23. I like watching as background noise but obviously am not a superfan.

I do remember going to a World Cup game at Foxboro stadium in 1994 (I had to look up the year). It was a couple small counties with not so competitive teams and the atmosphere was incredible. Put a pre-Brady Patriots game to shame. It would be a huge win for KC

NBC Sports is far from confident in our bid!

https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2021/01/27 ... -stadiums/

Ranking potential 2026 World Cup venues

Host cities

1. New York/New Jersey
2. Los Angeles (Rose Bowl Stadium or new Inglewood NFL stadium)
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Miami
5. Seattle
6. Atlanta
7. San Francisco/Bay Area
8. Dallas
9. Boston
10. Denver

Missing out
11. Philadelphia
12. Kansas City
13. Houston
14. Nashville
15. Orlando
16. Baltimore
17. Cincinnati

Houston, Philly and Kansas City are the three cities who could be interchangeable with Denver, Dallas and Boston, depending on how their site visits shake out.

Canada and Mexico picked their hosts already. Montreal cut funding for the WC so that might open up another host position.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... cup-soccer

Here's how I see the World Cup going for KC:
According to geographical & political realities...
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Atlanta
4. Miami
5. Boston
6. Washington D.C.
7. Dallas
8. San Francisco
9. Seattle
10. Denver/Kansas City

-Philly/Baltimore out because DC, Boston, NY already are hosting and the proximity in the East region is too close (Rob Kraft of Boston is heading the World Cup bid, so Boston will get it)
-Orlando out because Miami is taking the FL spot
-Houston is out because Dallas will take the Texas spot
-Nashville out because it's too close to Atlanta, which will get a spot

That leaves Denver & KC for the final 10th spot. These two will be vying for the "middle of America" spot, since Chicago, Minneapolis decided not to bid. From what I've read, the World Cup doesn't want to shut out the Midwest and the middle of the country by only having games on the coasts. However, I do actually think I'd give the advantage to KC here over Denver for a few reasons
1. KC has the MUCH better soccer culture than Denver, it's known as a mecca within the US for soccer (as we all know) and the National Training center for US soccer is in KC
2. Clark Hunt is helping lead the bid, and is hugely influential in soccer circles. He wants a game at Arrowhead
3. Arrowhead is a bigger stadium than Denver, and has a GRASS surface whereas Denver doesn't. That's big for KC's side
4. FIFA has expressed skepticism at playing in high altitudes. This almost killed Mexico City's bid.
5. If KC isn't picked, the Midwest would be completely shut out of a bid. Something FIFA isn't comfortable with.

Denver's only advantages
1. More people and better transit. But more specifically the transit

I give a slight advantage to KC for the final spot, mostly because I think having Arrowhead and the Hunt's on our side will be the silver bullet. Who knows, but KC having that new airport by 2026 could be the thing that tips it our way.

1. US will likely have 11 hosts now that Montreal dropped out.
2. Denver has a big hub airport connected via rail service to their city. Very attractive from an event perspective. Their airport did 70 million passengers a year pre-covid and they are about to complete a 40 gate expansion (source:DIA website).

normalthings wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:39 am 1. US will likely have 11 hosts now that Montreal dropped out.
2. Denver has a big hub airport connected via rail service to their city. Very attractive from an event perspective. Their airport did 70 million passengers a year pre-covid and they are about to complete a 40 gate expansion (source:DIA website).

That’s great. If we’re having 11 now, then I think KC makes the cut! We were always gonna be #10 or 11, so this should push us over the edge.

Yes Denver has the big advantage on rail. We had the advantage in almost everything else though.

Rail transit isn’t that big an advantage as people think.

The finals are being held at a site in New Jersey and requires multiple transfers from NYC to a single line. Clearly they didn’t care about being in a good spot for rail access for the biggest game.

2018 attendance was 47k per game average.

At 170 per vehicle it would take 276 trains loads. At every 5 minute spacing it would take 23 hours to use just rail transit for moving people around. Every two minutes, which I doubt is realistic, is 9 hours.

A good bus shuttle plan will be far more critical. KC handling 800,000 for the Royals parade with the associated citywide bus shuttles is likely far more useful to the host city selection than the amount of rail a city has.

Would have liked to see a full house at the Gold Cup game tonight. I hope it doesn't speak uncorrectly about this cities soccer passion.