entourage wrote:I'm still not buying your "political agenda" here. You are saying that PSG's Qatari owners are buying Neymar to help Qatar? No sorry, Qatar got the World Cup to help Qatar, but that's a different thread. This thread is about Neymar's transfer from Barcelona to PSG. This is a sporting move, and the words "slavery, torture, and corruption" have no place here, they belong on a political or human rights forum discussing the state of affairs in countries which you probably don't know enough about to post on. The financial backing is actually being hidden (as much as possible in this modern day media driven world) to avoid the exact attention you are saying they are seeking.
You are one of the many people unhappy with foreign investment into sporting clubs. And while I admire the old school thinking that a "club is more than a club, and should be built from within" you ignore the beneficial aspects of having foreign owners investing millions of dollars into your country and it's clubs. You are hitting out at Man City's owners, but they have done more in the last 5 years to develop football globally than any other club in the world. Do you even know what they are doing at the youth levels? Do you know what they are doing outside of the UK?
You are mad that players seek out opportunities in foreign countries, but how do you expect the game to grow around the world?! Do you just want everyone to play in your precious Premier League? Rather than look down on the players who go to countries like China, USA, and the Middle East, you should appreciate their alternative thinking. It's what makes us human. Wanting to explore opportunities. If you had the opportunity to move to a foreign country to ply your trade, help that country develop that industry, be a part of something bigger, and make an extraordinary salary for you and your family to compensate you for taking the road less traveled, you wouldn't consider it? And if you took that opportunity, would you want to be chastized for it? I mean seriously, your one sided view of football and footballers is ridiculous.
I don't mean to offend, and I know there are problems in the WORLD, not just football, but in a thread about the biggest transfer in the history of sports, you are focused on all the wrong things. Modernize your thinking, otherwise you may find that your "dear love" of football is replaced by hate for a game that is being globalized at a faster rate than ever before.
Ted asked why I found the transfer to "leave a bitter taste", I responded. I don't expect you or anyone else to feel the same way, I was merely explaining my reasoning. If you feel that I'm focused on the wrong things, you're not obligated to respond to me and inevitably draw this aspect of the discussion out. Of course, you could continue to attack viewpoints that I didn't express, which seems to be the vogue strategy at the moment.
A few bullet points:
- Yes, PSG's owners bought Neymar for sporting reasons. They also bought him for political reasons. I'm not sure why you're denying this or why it's such a sticking point when there is plenty of present context to suggest political incentive. You can question my knowledge on the subject, that's your prerogative, but Qatar's investment in international sports is part of their global imaging strategy, that's a fact. Qatar has a recent history of egregious human rights abuses. That's also a fact. If you and others aren't interested in that aspect, that's fine, but I am. Here are a couple of articles discussing the Neymar deal's place in the wider picture of Qatar's strategy:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/04/middleeast/neymar-qatar-connection/index.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-03/neymar-seen-bringing-more-than-trophies-to-psg-s-qatari-owners
- On a football level, it's interesting and obviously a big statement of intent from PSG, but not a game changer. It's not the first time PSG have bought top players and it won't be the last. PSG have also been a good team for a while now, so it's not really going to shake up the established status quo of top teams. It might be enough to push them a bit further in the CL, and perhaps compete where they fell short in the past.
- I'm not concerned about players playing in foreign leagues, nor am I looking down on them. It's their life and their money. I'm concerned about the growing influence of deeply authoritarian nations in a sport I care about. What about this stance do you find so controversial? Why do you see it fit to police the discussion away from it?
