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This is the same OP that started a thread of boycotting the world cup even though he admited he has no interest in soccer. I can understand if someone is interested in soccer that would want to boycott an event like the world cup and that has to be a very good reason to do this and I dont see any but having no interest in soccer and saying he is boycotting the world cup is plainly stupid.
On Saturday, General Bheki Cele, South Africa's top police officer, praised his officers and prosecutors for acting quickly after three journalists -- two from Portugal, one from Spain -- were robbed of money, camera equipment, laptop computers and mobile phones June 9 in a town northwest of Johannesburg. One of the journalists was robbed at gunpoint.
Within days, three suspects were arrested, tried, and sentenced -- two to 15 years each, one to four years.
Talk about a justice system that works fast. Maybe we can have that kind of efficiency here? Or maybe South Africa has kangaroo courts set up for this kind of thing? If a trial with such serious charges last that short of a time with that long of a sentence it would be called out by human rights groups as being unfair to the accused if it was in any other country in any other situation.
I am a fan of soccer. I enjoy watching the world cup. However, it cannot be denied that South Africa may not have been the right destination for the world cup. In fact, some of the games so far have not been sold out and have had many empty seats. This is unprecedented for a world cup in the past 2 decades. The crime rate is out of control and theft has been high. I havent seen a world cup before in my life that has had so much petty crime reported against journalists and players. Hotels are sadly doing a terrible security job.
The truth is that FIFA wanted an African world cup to promote the game in Africa and prove that FIFA was not racist against Africans. IMO, Egypt would have done a much better job hosting a world cup but Egypt wasnt African enough for FIFA.
In the big picture, this world cup is being pushed to try to help the African economy. The idea is that if South Africa can hold such a big event successfully it will encourage investment and development in Africa. The tourism from the world cup was supposed to deliver an economic boost and also change global perspectives on the reality in Africa. The fact that South Africa needs to put criminals in a kangaroo court shows how important this is for South Africans in terms of the way the nation is viewed.
Also, ESPN tried to push viewers into watching the World Cup by promoting how soccer causes people to throw away politics and focus on only the games. Guess many people in this country dont understand how nationalistic soccer really is. It is more nationalistic than international. England fans still sing about shooting down German bombers and will do so if they play Germany. The Mexican team rarely allows players that are naturalized citizens on the team and gets criticized for doing so. When England and Argentina play, the Falklands War makes the match up very personal to people on both sides. The same can be said for Germany and Poland. In fact, in South America there was a war caused by soccer games known as the soccer wars.
If you are going to watch the world cup do so for love of the game or for your country but I wouldnt try to idealize the world cup as something more than it is. In Europe, there is a lot of debate about whether the world cup is even the highest level of competition in soccer. Some believe club soccer and the Champions League is better than the international game and the world cup because there are more minnows in the world cup whereas in the Champions League every team is very tough especially in the knock out phases. The world cup is more about luck and getting on a run of good form than it is about who is truly the best team in the world.
Talk about a justice system that works fast. Maybe we can have that kind of efficiency here? Or maybe South Africa has kangaroo courts set up for this kind of thing? If a trial with such serious charges last that short of a time with that long of a sentence it would be called out by human rights groups as being unfair to the accused if it was in any other country in any other situation.
I am a fan of soccer. I enjoy watching the world cup. However, it cannot be denied that South Africa may not have been the right destination for the world cup. In fact, some of the games so far have not been sold out and have had many empty seats. This is unprecedented for a world cup in the past 2 decades. The crime rate is out of control and theft has been high. I havent seen a world cup before in my life that has had so much petty crime reported against journalists and players. Hotels are sadly doing a terrible security job.
The truth is that FIFA wanted an African world cup to promote the game in Africa and prove that FIFA was not racist against Africans. IMO, Egypt would have done a much better job hosting a world cup but Egypt wasnt African enough for FIFA.
In the big picture, this world cup is being pushed to try to help the African economy. The idea is that if South Africa can hold such a big event successfully it will encourage investment and development in Africa. The tourism from the world cup was supposed to deliver an economic boost and also change global perspectives on the reality in Africa. The fact that South Africa needs to put criminals in a kangaroo court shows how important this is for South Africans in terms of the way the nation is viewed.
Also, ESPN tried to push viewers into watching the World Cup by promoting how soccer causes people to throw away politics and focus on only the games. Guess many people in this country dont understand how nationalistic soccer really is. It is more nationalistic than international. England fans still sing about shooting down German bombers and will do so if they play Germany. The Mexican team rarely allows players that are naturalized citizens on the team and gets criticized for doing so. When England and Argentina play, the Falklands War makes the match up very personal to people on both sides. The same can be said for Germany and Poland. In fact, in South America there was a war caused by soccer games known as the soccer wars.
If you are going to watch the world cup do so for love of the game or for your country but I wouldnt try to idealize the world cup as something more than it is. In Europe, there is a lot of debate about whether the world cup is even the highest level of competition in soccer. Some believe club soccer and the Champions League is better than the international game and the world cup because there are more minnows in the world cup whereas in the Champions League every team is very tough especially in the knock out phases. The world cup is more about luck and getting on a run of good form than it is about who is truly the best team in the world.
Well one of the main reasons for South Africa being chosen compared to other African countries as it has the most developed infranstructure. In addition South Africa recently held over events such as the cricket world cup and the Rubgy world cup.
Egypt may be a better choice for security wise, in addition Morocco also made a bid for the world cup too.
Anyway South Africa has spent more on security compared to any other world cups and an example of a security procedure is there is a tent city for fans near the stadium in Durban and you cannot enter there without being fingerprinted each time entering and with photo id.
Your people screamed and cried about apartied now the tides have turned and you don't like it.
Because you thought that Apartheid was a "good" idea?
Please elaborate....
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