Just want a quick gauge of what the group feels about World Cup Coverage before it’s upon us.
I get the overall feeling that Lemmy isn’t really down for sports coverage in general and there’s a large dislike of Fifa in particular.
But if you all want round by round coverage, I’ll put up a sticky.
If you say “Not World News”, I’ll yank any article that gets posted and re-direct them to some sports related community.
Personally, I don’t think any sports is “News”, but hey, that’s just me!
Americans seem to very directly associate the organisation FIFA with the sport of soccer and the World Cup itself.
I think it comes from the literal ownership of sports leagues and sports teams by corporations like MLB, NFL, NHL.
FIFA doesn’t own soccer, it doesn’t own any of the teams, and it barely owns the World Cup. It is tolerated as a necessary evil that someone has to do the organising, but historically for example, major nations have shrugged and ignored FIFA as inconsequential.
Sport in general is just vastly different on an emotional and political level in other countries. The immediate dismissal of “sports isn’t news” and “sports shouldn’t be political” very obviously shows who has grown up in an environment where sport is primarily a backdrop over which corporate sponsorships and endorsements are laid.
The politics associated with sports isn’t always good or nuanced but it is there.
I have decidedly not “grown up in an environment where sport is primarily a backdrop over which corporate sponsorships and endorsements are laid” and sports isn’t news.
You are aware that Bayern have been nicknamed “Planet Hollywood” since the 90s and your current richest club is Red Bull, right?
I resent the notion that I am somehow associated with Bayern other than happening to be in the same very general geographical area.
Edit: also, I just looked up “club red bull” because my utter lack of interest in the footie has until now saved me from knowing what you’re talking about.