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FIFA World Cup 2022


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8 hours ago, DFF said:

Put this together based on the incoming format + the current FIFA rankings. I know we get plenty of spots already, but it really does seem like some decent European countries (that would like be stronger than, say, Iraq and Jamaica) would still miss out.

If anyone's wondering why there's 2x Concacaf teams in the playoffs - the way FIFA worded the rules, the host continent (ie Concacaf in 2026) get an extra spot in the playoffs. image.png

It's interesting that only one debuting country (Mali) would make it. Given their performances in a few AFCON tournaments, it's quite surprising they've never qualified yet.

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Female referees will make World Cup history this year in Qatar by officiating at a major men’s tournament for the first time.

Three female referees and three female assistant referees were announced on Thursday by Fifa among 129 officials selected for World Cup duty, including one man who caused controversy when refereeing a chaotic African Cup of Nations game in January while suffering with heatstroke.

The French referee Stéphanie Frappart oversaw men’s games in World Cup qualifying and the Champions League, after handling the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. She also refereed the final of the men’s French Cup this month.

Salima Mukansanga of Rwanda and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan are also on the list of 36 referees preparing for the 64 games at the tournament, which will be played in November and December.

The 69 assistant referees include Neuza Back of Brazil, Karen Díaz Medina of Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt of the United States.

“As always, the criteria we have used is quality first and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide,” said Fifa referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina, who oversaw the 2002 World Cup final. “In this way, we clearly emphasise that it is quality that counts for us and not gender.

“I would hope that in the future the selection of elite women’s match officials for important men’s competitions will be perceived as something normal and no longer as sensational.”

Among the male referees is Janny Sikazwe of Zambia, who blew the final whistle at an Africa Cup of Nations group match after 85 minutes and again 13 seconds before the 90 minutes were complete, with Mali leading Tunisia 1-0. About 30 minutes after the match, officials ordered the teams back on the field to restart play but Tunisia refused. The result was ratified by the Confederation of African Football despite an official protest by Tunisia.

The match was played in heat and humidity in Cameroon, and Sikazwe later explained he started to become confused in the intense conditions. Sikazwe will be officiating at his second World Cup after handling two group games at the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Fifa has picked 24 men to work on video reviews. Two referees were picked from each of Argentina, Brazil, England and France. England’s representatives will be Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor.

 

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Qatari authorities have failed to give a guarantee to travelling LGBTQ+ supporters that they will be safe at the World Cup, prompting leading organisations to advocate against travel to the tournament.

The Guardian this week presented the Supreme Committee, the body in charge of organising the World Cup, with a series of direct questions related to LGBTQ+ fans and their concerns, but received no specific answers.

The questions included whether:

  • LGBTQ+ people would be protected by Qatari authorities if threatened because of their sexuality.
  • Articles of the Qatari penal code, including those which outlaw “leading, instigating or seducing a male in any way to commit sodomy”, would be suspended during the tournament.
  • Fans carrying rainbow flags would be allowed to take them into stadiums.
  • The Supreme Committee would specifically welcome LGBTQ+ people as World Cup visitors.

A general reply said: “Everyone will be welcome to Qatar in 2022, regardless of their race, background, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nationality. We are a relatively conservative society – for example, public displays of affection are not a part of our culture. We believe in mutual respect and so whilst everyone is welcome, what we expect in return is for everyone to respect our culture and traditions.”

The Guardian approached a representative of Qatar’s government communications office with the first two of those questions and received no response.

Fears over safety have been rising among LGBTQ+ supporter groups as dialogue with organisers has stalled. Anne Lieberman, a founding member of the LGBTIQ Human Rights Sports Coalition, said the group had been in discussion with Qatari authorities for nearly two years but had yet to receive categorical safety assurances.

“This quite clearly suggests to us that LGBTIQ people, whatever their role, will not be protected from the state and its repressive anti-LGBTIQ legislation, or from other potential risks to their safety,” Lieberman said.

An unwillingness on the part of Qatari authorities to address concerns directly, or even to mention the term LGBTQ+, has led to a situation where groups are effectively recommending a boycott of the tournament.

Lou Englefield of the organisation Football v Homophobia said: “I know of no European LGBTIQ supporters’ group, or individual supporters, who are currently planning to attend this World Cup. The position of the Supreme Committee is just not in keeping with the undertakings they must have given to Fifa. How can an international sporting event which expects millions of visitors not be open to reassuring a large minority group who have well-founded fears that they will be safe and welcome? We have never seen anything like this.”

Fifa did not comment publicly on the concerns. Information shared with the Guardian, however, showed that football’s world governing body believed it had received sufficient assurances from Qatari authorities regarding fan safety and the application of the law. No specific details were shared.

In a letter to the Human Rights Sports Coalition seen by the Guardian, Fifa’s Joyce Cook, then the chief social responsibility and education officer and now a senior adviser, said the governing body had “thoroughly assessed the named legal clauses and their implementation in practice, including in particular as they pertain to LGBTIQ+ persons”.

She wrote: “Based on our engagement with the relevant Qatari authorities, and following existing government guarantees, and the event-specific legislation, as well as our experience of hosting other events in Qatar, Fifa is confident that persons identifying as LGBTIQ+ will not face any repercussions based on the above mentioned legal provisions.”

LGBTQ+ organisations say a lack of specifics and public communication has reinforced concerns. Even the issue of whether fans will be able to fly rainbow flags in Doha without repercussions remains unresolved.

According to Lieberman: “Fifa has had a responsibility from the beginning to ensure the proper human rights due diligence was done, and a positive legacy for all is left, and now we are less than 150 days out still fighting for basic safety assurances.”

Last Thursday Fifa published figures showing 1.8m tickets have been sold for the World Cup, which begins on 21 November. It is an increase of a million on the previous total and remaining tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis from Tuesday. “Fans interested in an unforgettable trip of a lifetime to Qatar are being urged to act swiftly before the coveted seats are snapped up,” Fifa said.

 

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We believe in mutual respect and so whilst everyone is welcome, what we expect in return is for everyone to respect our culture and traditions.”

Ah yes, the classic "our respect for you as human beings is entirely subservient to and dependent on your respect for our authority" bullshit.

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New AI-powered technology will be used at the Qatar World Cup, Fifa has confirmed, claiming it will halve the time taken to make VAR offside decisions.

Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) will see a complete overhaul of the system used to judge ‘positional’ offside decisions in the lead-up to a goal. While a referee and their assistant will still make on-field calls and the referee will have a final say on SAOT decisions, the controversial practice of rewinding TV footage will be a thing of the past.

“Semi-automated offside technology is faster and more accurate and offers better communication to fans,” said Pierluigi Collina, the chair of Fifa’s referees committee. “It can create a new form of visualisation for supporters at home and in the ground. All tests have worked well and so [SAOT] is going into Qatar World Cup 2022.”

During the World Cup offside reviews will be conducted by creating a 3D map of the goalscoring action, using a combination of 12 cameras and a hi-tech ball. The Adidas Al Rihla ball will be fitted with a sensor that sends out location data 500 times per second, which will be matched against player positions on camera, with synchronised devices tracking 29 points on players’ bodies and relaying information 50 times per second.

That data will be processed using AI technology devised in collaboration with a number of universities, including the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. After being sent to an SAOT operator it will be double-checked by a VAR. The VAR will then relay the verdict to the referee, who will make the final call but will, in theory, merely approve the decision. Collina said that in trials the time taken to make a decision, compared with the previous VAR system, had fallen to 25sec from an average of 70sec.

Collina said the primary aim of the new system was to achieve more accurate decision making. Speeding up decision times, he said, was more of “psychological” importance to fans. Criticism of VAR offside decisions has concentrated on accuracy and speed – with cameras currently adjudging the position of players and ball deemed too imprecise.

“The objective is to have very accurate technology, similar to goalline technology,” Collina said. “Goalline technology used to measure to distances of 3cm; now it is millimetres and the technology is praised. Everyone praises the technology and it should be the same for [SAOT].”

He added: “We [also] wanted to offer something that gave a quicker answer. In terms of accuracy it’s important, in terms of time it’s more psychological. If I look at other sporting experiences the time [taken by technology to come to decisions] is lived in a normal way by coaches and spectators. In NBA you see players drinking, spectators enjoying themselves, no one is caring about the time. We know football is different [however] and that time is important.”

Once a decision is made a 3D rendering of the offside incident will be shown on television and on screens in the World Cup stadiums. Collina said that the image would be easier to interpret for the viewer than previous TV pictures with lines drawn across them, but that the images would take an extra 25 seconds to generate.

 

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I do love them hoying new technology at minor competitions like *checks notes* a World Cup. I realise it's been trialled in a few places, but not for long as far as I know.

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2 hours ago, METALMAN said:

I really hope this trial is a disaster. It will be so funny to see people losing it and give me a reason to watch a tournament I’m really struggling to care about.

Should have qualified then.

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47 minutes ago, 9 to 5 said:

Should have qualified then.

Well, you see, I’m not a narrow minded nationalist like you lot, so my enjoyment of the World Cup is not predicated on whether the team representing the little patch of land that I happened to be born on qualified for the tournament or not.

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