Hope we pull out of this unless the venue changes. Validating those c*nts. Fifa should be fucking ashamed. Want nothing to do with this. Burying the ghosts of 05? Burying the fucking ghosts of the poor slave lads who are building those stadiums on behalf of Qatar and Fifa more like. Partake in this and there is no moral high ground in any talk about City or PSG ever again. Oh yeah i forgot, revenue. Hypocrits
Frankly, this is a ridiculously simplistic view.
Spending less than a week in Qatar to play in a football tournament we are obligated to compete in does not equate to your club being owned, controlled and operated by people with appalling human rights records, and contributing to lining their pockets by going to games and buying their overpriced tat.
We've not boycotted the Premier League because they allow Man City take part, and we've not boycotted the Champions League because PSG are in it. Liverpool playing in the CWC does not equate to the club supporting the Qatari state or its various policies and practices. As a fan you have every right to take your own moral high ground by not watching the games and celebrating if we win. But trying to make sweeping generalisations about these things is just grandstanding and doesn't contribute anything practical to the discussion on this FIFA clusterfuck.
Does the European Super Cup decide the best team in Europe?
Does the Charity Shield matter?
This mickey mouse shite is about as important as those two things.
Only difference is you play 2 games to win it rather than 1.
You're being disingenuous here. There's a difference really between a "super cup" competition, which is as you say a glorified friendly designed as a curtain raiser to the domestic season, and a competition qualified on merit to determine an actual champion.
The champions of Europe are determined by who wins the CL.
The champions of England are determined by who wins the PL.
The champions of the World are determined by...?
I think there's obviously room for a wide spectrum of views on here but as ever people hate nuance.
It's not a competition that should or will take priority over the league or champions league. It's played in a gap between the early league cup rounds and the FA Cup kicking off so shouldn't have any impact on either. It's obviously a practical challenge to add two games and an overseas trip in an already busy month, but I trust the club to manage this appropriately by sensible use of players in the tournament, particularly given the likely calibre of opposition in the semi-final. Playing it in Qatar is not ideal, either geographically or geo-politically, but it's not a decision the club has made and we are obligated to take part. It might not mean much to our English or European fanbase but it obviously means a lot to our players and supporters from further afield.
So yeah. It's complicated. Not quite a glorified friendly, not quite a sought-after trophy. Champions of the world and strangely insignificant.
But we're in it, so we should try to win it, because that's what we do.
