On November 26 2022 01:52 DropBear wrote: FIFA have put out an official press release claiming that matches from the first round of the group stage had an average attendance of 94% of capacity.
I cannot see how this is possible based on what I've seen while watching the matches, there have been plenty of empty seats
Well, if you compensate every 50% occupancy with 138% occupancy in another match then you have an average of 94%
On November 26 2022 01:52 DropBear wrote: FIFA have put out an official press release claiming that matches from the first round of the group stage had an average attendance of 94% of capacity.
I cannot see how this is possible based on what I've seen while watching the matches, there have been plenty of empty seats
Well, if you compensate every 50% occupancy with 148% occupancy in another match then you have an average of 94%
The biggest sign of a despotic organization is that they know you know they're lying and they just couldn't care less.
On November 27 2022 01:15 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Portugal has been added to Qatar's blacklist, whatever that means. Due to the PM and Diplomat's talk about Human Rights.
I tried looking for this and all I found was a reddit post with a link to an article that just said the Portuguese ambassador was summoned and no details of the meeting were released. Has there been any evidence of an actual blacklisting reported that I missed?
The hat trick hero of protesting... only problem is he did it in the Middle East. Here's hoping his embassy is bale to get him out of the country before it is too late.
On November 27 2022 01:15 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Portugal has been added to Qatar's blacklist, whatever that means. Due to the PM and Diplomat's talk about Human Rights.
I tried looking for this and all I found was a reddit post with a link to an article that just said the Portuguese ambassador was summoned and no details of the meeting were released. Has there been any evidence of an actual blacklisting reported that I missed?
The Qatari authorities will blacklist Portugal at the end of the FIFA World Cup due to statements made by the country's president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, writes the publication Sol.
The blacklist may have political and economic consequences and affect the travels between the two countries.
Earlier, de Sousa made a statement on human rights at a conference in Doha, on the sidelines of the game between Portugal and Ghana.
Similarly, Qatar also didn't like the public criticism from Denmark, Germany and France.
Messi and Argentina came out first in the group against that abysmal first match. If they can get passed Australia, it will be vs. Holland in the Ro8, possible Spain/Brazil in semis, and vs. Portugal in the Final!!
Bad news for FIFA, and especially for Qatar. Not only do they not seem to making money, but also not making an impact for Qatar on the World. The solution? Anyone from the Gulf states can now attend games, which should prove interesting.
Qatar received just over 765,000 visitors during the first two weeks of the World Cup, according to an organizers’ report obtained by Reuters, falling short of the country’s expectations for an influx of 1.2 million during the month-long event.
A huge surge in visitors at this stage is unlikely with only eight teams staying on in Doha, and eight games left out of the 64 in the tournament that began on Nov. 20.
Organizers had previously identified the peak period for international visitors to be Nov. 24-28 during the busy group stage, when 32 teams were playing four matches every day.
The Dec. 7 report was prepared by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which organizes the tournament, and said that the first 17 days of the World Cup saw 765,859international visitors, more than half of whom have now departed.
The report registered 1.33 million match ticketholders and 3.09 million tickets sold across the eight stadiums in Qatar for the tournament that ends on Dec. 18.
A Qatari official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the figures. The SC did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The tournament in Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, is considered one of the most expensive in terms of tickets, hotels and alcohol, sales of which are restricted.
Fewer international visitors than originally forecast led to an unexpected glut of accommodation but has also averted major over-crowding or traffic headaches in Qatar, the smallest country by both population and area to host the World Cup.
The influx of visitors represents a 25% boost to the country’s resident population of 3 million, of which only about 10-12% are Qataris.
“With over a week of competition still to go, a wave of new visitors has started arriving from the nations that made it to the quarter finals,” the Qatari official told Reuters.
More visitors are expected to flock to Qatar for popular matches and after the country lifted entry restrictions for nationals and residents of fellow Gulf states.
Cumulative stadium attendance at the first 52 matches was 2.65 million, the document said.
Previously, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said that stadium attendance in Qatar had surpassed attendance at stadiums during a corresponding period at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Moroccan fans flew into Qatar on special flights arranged ahead of their team’s victory over Spain. It is expected that similar fights will be laid on to allow last-minute fans to fly in from overseas to watch their teams advance through the tournament’s final three rounds.
Visitors to Qatar must obtain a Hayya identification card ahead of travel as it doubles as a mandatory entry visa during the tournament period. On Tuesday, Qatar dropped this requirement for Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Well now World Cup has taken a very dark turn. Grant Wahl the most prominent US Soccer Journalist has died during the Netherlands v Argentina match. His brother believes he was murdered. He was detained on the 21st for wearing a Rainbow shirt, and has written frequently about the Migrant deaths in the runup to the WC.
But he also said himself he had bronchitis and took thursday off to get better. Although bronchitis isn't usually deadly, especially for healthy people. Too tough to say without more information, I don't know if he was alone when it happened? There must have been foreigners around him...
On December 09 2022 23:49 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: Bad news for FIFA, and especially for Qatar. Not only do they not seem to making money, but also not making an impact for Qatar on the World. The solution? Anyone from the Gulf states can now attend games, which should prove interesting.
Qatar received just over 765,000 visitors during the first two weeks of the World Cup, according to an organizers’ report obtained by Reuters, falling short of the country’s expectations for an influx of 1.2 million during the month-long event.
A huge surge in visitors at this stage is unlikely with only eight teams staying on in Doha, and eight games left out of the 64 in the tournament that began on Nov. 20.
Organizers had previously identified the peak period for international visitors to be Nov. 24-28 during the busy group stage, when 32 teams were playing four matches every day.
The Dec. 7 report was prepared by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which organizes the tournament, and said that the first 17 days of the World Cup saw 765,859international visitors, more than half of whom have now departed.
The report registered 1.33 million match ticketholders and 3.09 million tickets sold across the eight stadiums in Qatar for the tournament that ends on Dec. 18.
A Qatari official, who did not wish to be named, confirmed the figures. The SC did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The tournament in Qatar, the first to be held in the Middle East, is considered one of the most expensive in terms of tickets, hotels and alcohol, sales of which are restricted.
Fewer international visitors than originally forecast led to an unexpected glut of accommodation but has also averted major over-crowding or traffic headaches in Qatar, the smallest country by both population and area to host the World Cup.
The influx of visitors represents a 25% boost to the country’s resident population of 3 million, of which only about 10-12% are Qataris.
“With over a week of competition still to go, a wave of new visitors has started arriving from the nations that made it to the quarter finals,” the Qatari official told Reuters.
More visitors are expected to flock to Qatar for popular matches and after the country lifted entry restrictions for nationals and residents of fellow Gulf states.
Cumulative stadium attendance at the first 52 matches was 2.65 million, the document said.
Previously, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said that stadium attendance in Qatar had surpassed attendance at stadiums during a corresponding period at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Moroccan fans flew into Qatar on special flights arranged ahead of their team’s victory over Spain. It is expected that similar fights will be laid on to allow last-minute fans to fly in from overseas to watch their teams advance through the tournament’s final three rounds.
Visitors to Qatar must obtain a Hayya identification card ahead of travel as it doubles as a mandatory entry visa during the tournament period. On Tuesday, Qatar dropped this requirement for Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
That is interesting. Do you know anything about TV viewer numbers? Our local radio mentioned that the whole "boycott Katar" did not really work since in most countries the viewer numbers were higher than ever. A few exceptions, among them Germany with absolute abysmal viewer numbers even when we were still in the tournament. Glad we did one thing right
On December 10 2022 15:54 aseq wrote: But he also said himself he had bronchitis and took thursday off to get better. Although bronchitis isn't usually deadly, especially for healthy people. Too tough to say without more information, I don't know if he was alone when it happened? There must have been foreigners around him...
Yeah, not only was he already ill (which could have been something more serious misdiagnosed as bronchitis), murdering him makes zero sense because his death only shines more light upon his criticism of Qatar.
Boycott qatar got some traction in Northern Europe but not elsewhere is my impression + strengthened the pov that we are racists in much of the Arab world.
On December 13 2022 00:28 Liquid`Drone wrote: Boycott qatar got some traction in Northern Europe but not elsewhere is my impression + strengthened the pov that we are racists in much of the Arab world.
On September 29 2022 16:09 don_kyuhote wrote: Interesting fact: the seeded teams that South Korea have played since 2002 have been winning the world cup in sequential order for 4 world cups.
2002 Poland (pot 2) USA (pot 4) Portugal (pot 2) Italy (pot 1) - won in 2006 Spain (pot 1) - won in 2010 Germany (pot 1) - won in 2014 Turkey (pot 2)
2006 Togo (pot 2) France (pot 1) - won in 2018 Switzerland (pot 3)
Also, from when the tournament was increased to 32 participants in 1998, half of the winners came from Group C (1998, 2002, 2018). Argentina is in Group C this time. A lot of patterns going in favor of Argentina haha.
On September 29 2022 16:09 don_kyuhote wrote: Interesting fact: the seeded teams that South Korea have played since 2002 have been winning the world cup in sequential order for 4 world cups.
2002 Poland (pot 2) USA (pot 4) Portugal (pot 2) Italy (pot 1) - won in 2006 Spain (pot 1) - won in 2010 Germany (pot 1) - won in 2014 Turkey (pot 2)
2006 Togo (pot 2) France (pot 1) - won in 2018 Switzerland (pot 3)
Also, from when the tournament was increased to 32 participants in 1998, half of the winners came from Group C (1998, 2002, 2018). Argentina is in Group C this time. A lot of patterns going in favor of Argentina haha.
On September 29 2022 16:09 don_kyuhote wrote: Interesting fact: the seeded teams that South Korea have played since 2002 have been winning the world cup in sequential order for 4 world cups.
2002 Poland (pot 2) USA (pot 4) Portugal (pot 2) Italy (pot 1) - won in 2006 Spain (pot 1) - won in 2010 Germany (pot 1) - won in 2014 Turkey (pot 2)
2006 Togo (pot 2) France (pot 1) - won in 2018 Switzerland (pot 3)
Also, from when the tournament was increased to 32 participants in 1998, half of the winners came from Group C (1998, 2002, 2018). Argentina is in Group C this time. A lot of patterns going in favor of Argentina haha.
On September 29 2022 16:09 don_kyuhote wrote: Interesting fact: the seeded teams that South Korea have played since 2002 have been winning the world cup in sequential order for 4 world cups.
2002 Poland (pot 2) USA (pot 4) Portugal (pot 2) Italy (pot 1) - won in 2006 Spain (pot 1) - won in 2010 Germany (pot 1) - won in 2014 Turkey (pot 2)
2006 Togo (pot 2) France (pot 1) - won in 2018 Switzerland (pot 3)
Also, from when the tournament was increased to 32 participants in 1998, half of the winners came from Group C (1998, 2002, 2018). Argentina is in Group C this time. A lot of patterns going in favor of Argentina haha.
Can't believe it's been 3 months since World Cup 2022 ended with a victory for Messi and Argentina. All of the suspense, disappointments, jubilation, etc. all in the course of 1 month. This World Cup will be best remembered as the one where Messi finally accedes to the Hall of the GOATs, Bale finally retires to play golf, Benzema's questionnaire injury, Song Hyun Min third WC of tears, Ronaldo's scoring with the top of one of his hair, Morocco's little wonder and so many other amazing feats. I summarize it all by representing the 32 teams in the piano cover of the World Cup anthem: Hayya Hayya. This song's remixed with 2 other melodies which I'm sure you'll recognize:
On March 18 2023 03:30 Jubinell wrote: Can't believe it's been 3 months since World Cup 2022 ended with a victory for Messi and Argentina. All of the suspense, disappointments, jubilation, etc. all in the course of 1 month. This World Cup will be best remembered as the one where Messi finally accedes to the Hall of the GOATs, Bale finally retires to play golf, Benzema's questionnaire injury, Song Hyun Min third WC of tears, Ronaldo's scoring with the top of one of his hair, Morocco's little wonder and so many other amazing feats. I summarize it all by representing the 32 teams in the piano cover of the World Cup anthem: Hayya Hayya. This song's remixed with 2 other melodies which I'm sure you'll recognize: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OB5CRm8yqM