Society & Culture – Page 183 – Effects of Anxiety

Cj Mac

FIFA Recommends November Start Date For Qatar 2022 World Cup

A task force for soccer’s global governing body made the announcement following a meeting in Doha amid fears that the heat in the country during a traditional summer World Cup would endanger fans and players.

A task force for FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, recommended after a meeting in Doha on Tuesday that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar take place in November and December.

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FIFA president Sepp Blatter in Marrakech, Morocco, in Dec. 2014. Christophe Ena / AP

The announcement follows many months of speculation that the tournament would be moved from its traditional summer slot to the northern hemisphere’s winter over fears that the searing Qatari summer temperatures would pose a risk to both players and fans.

The tiny Gulf state can soar above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in summer , while in November and December temperatures drop to around mid-20s Celsius (75 Fahrenheit), the BBC reported.

It is expected that the recommendation will be ratified at a meeting of FIFA’s executive committee in Zurich on March 18–19, the BBC said.

FIFA faced a number of issues when deciding on what date to hold the contest. Not only would a move to winter mean a mid-season break for dozens of domestic league seasons around the world, but it had to avoid clashing with a number of other global sporting and religious events.

In a statement, FIFA outlined the reasons for its decision:

Given that the two bidding cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics – Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Beijing (China PR) – pledged recently to host the winter games from 4 to 20 February 2022; that the month of Ramadan begins on 2 April in 2022; and that consistently hot conditions prevail from May to September in Qatar, the only remaining effective option is the November/December window. For legal reasons, the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup must be played within the calendar year 2022.

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A worker cleans the road outside Khalifa sport complex in Doha, Qatar, January 2011. Arnd Wiegmann / Reuters

Numerous outlets have reported suggestions that the 2022 World Cup final could be held on Dec. 23 — just two days before Christmas Day — with the tournament starting on Nov. 26.

The chief of the task force, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, recommended that the tournament be shorter than usual by a few days. However, it will still feature the usual 32 teams and 64 matches.

In a statement, Khalifa said: “We are very pleased that, after careful consideration of the various opinions and detailed discussions with all stakeholders, we have identified what we believe to be the best solution for the 2018–2024 international match calendar and football in general.”

Many oppose moving the tournament to winter.

It has been pointed out that Qatar was awarded the World Cup — ahead of rival bids from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Australia — on the basis that it would take place in the summer months, and had promised groundbreaking air-cooling technology to bring the temperature of the arenas down.

Former England player Trevor Sinclair expressed his anger at the decision. “All the countries that were involved in the initial bids should get the option to bid again as FIFA have moved the goalposts,” he told the BBC. “That’s unacceptable and it should end up in the courts. It stinks and it should never have been given to Qatar.”

The move to winter will also have a knock-on effect to major European leagues such as the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, and Italy’s Serie A.

In a recent statement released prior to the announcement, the English Premier League said: “The prospect of a winter World Cup is neither workable nor desirable for European domestic football.”

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore told ITV News Tuesday that he was disappointed with the task force’s decision, and felt “let down.”

PL’s Scudamore “it looks like nobody else is giving much up….even UEFA who have let us down a little..CL can start and carry on as always”
— stevescott_itv (@Steve Scott)

Scudamore was himself on FIFA’s taskforce committee, Sky News reported.

The details of the move are still likely to face some opposition within FIFA. The organization’s vice president, Jim Boyce — from Northern Ireland — said the move to winter was “common sense,” but that he would oppose a Dec. 23 final, ITV News reported:

I think that is too close to Christmas — that’s the only reservation I would have and I would like it a week earlier, but I want to wait until the FIFA executive committee meeting to hear all the details about the dates.
It will cause a lot of disruption but it is eight years away and people should have enough time to make it work.

I Actually Liked The Star Wars Prequels…

“Growing up gracefully with Buffy the Vampire Slayer”

http://twitter.com/#!/StaticMass/status/179540564612628481

We tried to think of a different headline, but . . . that one’s perfect. We know that Buffy holds an iconic place in the childhood of my kids, so we thought maybe some of you might want to weigh in on this thoughtful post at Static Mass:

Whatever was happening in the storylines of the show we would always be able to relate it somehow to our own lives. Season 6 had a particular resonance for me, and although it’s a season that many fans said “dropped the ball”, there was a lot I could identify with from my life at that time.

After being brought back to life by her friends, Buffy has a tough time adjusting, not just to being alive again, but also coping with new responsibilities now that she has to take care of her little sister, Dawn, on her own.

While I didn’t die a mystical death and wasn’t resurrected from the dead by my friends, I was for the first time understanding my responsibilities as an adult which in many ways separated me from my former high school friends. Things were changing and like Buffy, there were times when I experienced moments of intense loneliness, self doubt and even an incredible urge to just give up entirely.

Pizza Is Weird

Creepy Condescending Wonka

Wacko Chris Matthews says word urban is racist; What about racist media?

http://twitter.com/#!/YoungCons/status/268975939512307712

Sigh. Yes, sadly predictable. As Twitchy reported, Paul Ryan praised Obama’s campaign ground game. That was cause for shrieks from the Left. Why? Because he dared to mention how well the president did in urban areas. So, of course, wacko Chris Matthews had to jump on the race-baiting bandwagon with the latest entry in the Handbook of Racial Code Words: Urban.

I’ll take Chris Matthews, aka @hardball_chris, for $400, Alex! RT @divadoll123 What asshat equates the term “urban” to racism?

— Leon (@TheBelovedFreak) November 15, 2012

Tingles Still Hearing The “Dog Whistle,” Claims Paul Ryan Using Word “Urban” Is Racist… tinyurl.com/aa699ej

— CO2HOG™ (@CO2HOG) November 15, 2012

Urban is totally a dog whistle!

Thank you Raydog, Socrates, Jying, Anona247, and most of all….Piper!

Snark few days: Ace offers up hilarious spoiler forecasts for Syfy’s ‘Sharknado’

http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355424539464843266

Ha!

Ace of Spades got on another Twitter roll today, this time around making proposition wagers on twists and turns within the Syfy movie “Sharknado” which airing this evening.

Here’s a lot more of just what Ace believes we’re prone to see inside movie.

http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355425282640973824 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355425545422503936

With Al Gore cameo? ::fingers crossed::

Ace carried on:

http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355426639850651650 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355427637478424577 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355428197246042112 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355430196347813888 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355430331236618241 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355431883158470656 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355432648438591491 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355433033777688579 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355433619449315328 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355434070206980096 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355436157884055552 http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355437553081516032

Do you think we’d be lucky enough to have a Yakov Smirnoff cameo for this final one? ::fingers crossed::

http://twitter.com/#!/AceofSpadesHQ/status/355438080074846209

At Ace of Spades, a pre Sharknado bond. It’s like Super Sunday, except on a Thursday and with phony sharks.

Relevant:

Sharknado! Greg Gutfeld and Andy Levy in snark-tastic discussion about upcoming Syfy channel movie

Find out more: http://twitchy.com/2013/07/11/snark-week-ace-offers-up-hilarious-spoiler-predictions-for-syfys-sharknado/

Category: Society & Culture