It's apparently been reported that the truly great former footballer, Denis Law, has said that his holidays for 2018 have been booked and he is not interested in whether England get the World Cup. If this is true, he has my vote.
The effort that is now expended on trying to win host status for sporting contests has become farcical. Prime Ministers, Princes, and celebrities of all sorts appear to spend ridiculous amounts of time on such ventures. The grotesque nonsense and publicity that has surrounded the current World Cup bid says it all and the money that's been wasted is criminal.
FIFA has been, and apparently remains, an organisation riddled with corruption, and yet senior figures offer it their support while crawling on bended knee in an attempt to gain favour. The likes of Prince William and David Cameron simply demean themselves by being part of the charade, which they are for blatantly political reasons.
We neither want nor need the World Cup in England; global media will ensure that wherever it is held, anyone who wants to watch will be able to. Actually having the event here will mean that thousands of maniacal football fans will skip work and pay money they can't afford to watch teams they've never heard of. The only winners will be the officials of FIFA and other footballing organisations, politicians and assorted dignitaries and 'celebrities' who will all find themselves granted special status, free tickets and so on. The rest of us will, at best, find the television devoted to 24 hour football chat.
I remember 1966 and I watched many of the games that year, on television. I was 13 years old; now I have grown up and come to realise that football is simply a kids game. It is not something to 'die in a ditch' over. Why anyone wants to watch weeks of men kicking lumps out of each other, spitting and snarling at referees and generally behaving disgustingly is beyond me.
Denis, I'm with you. Where have you booked your 2018 holiday ? I may well be there too.
The effort that is now expended on trying to win host status for sporting contests has become farcical. Prime Ministers, Princes, and celebrities of all sorts appear to spend ridiculous amounts of time on such ventures. The grotesque nonsense and publicity that has surrounded the current World Cup bid says it all and the money that's been wasted is criminal.
FIFA has been, and apparently remains, an organisation riddled with corruption, and yet senior figures offer it their support while crawling on bended knee in an attempt to gain favour. The likes of Prince William and David Cameron simply demean themselves by being part of the charade, which they are for blatantly political reasons.
We neither want nor need the World Cup in England; global media will ensure that wherever it is held, anyone who wants to watch will be able to. Actually having the event here will mean that thousands of maniacal football fans will skip work and pay money they can't afford to watch teams they've never heard of. The only winners will be the officials of FIFA and other footballing organisations, politicians and assorted dignitaries and 'celebrities' who will all find themselves granted special status, free tickets and so on. The rest of us will, at best, find the television devoted to 24 hour football chat.
I remember 1966 and I watched many of the games that year, on television. I was 13 years old; now I have grown up and come to realise that football is simply a kids game. It is not something to 'die in a ditch' over. Why anyone wants to watch weeks of men kicking lumps out of each other, spitting and snarling at referees and generally behaving disgustingly is beyond me.
Denis, I'm with you. Where have you booked your 2018 holiday ? I may well be there too.
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