Andy’s Sting In The Tale (05/12/25) “This Isn’t a World Cup for the Fans”
- Andy Smith
- Dec 5
- 6 min read
Thanks Ron H for the headline I read somewhere on line this morning, I don’t know who you are but you hit the nail on the head.
here's the full quote:
“This isn't a World Cup for the fans, it's for the FIFA ‘leadership’ to show how important they think they actually are”.
We’ve already seen that our cherished World Cup was recently hijacked into Russia because of Gazprom Dollars and then Qatar for their dollars and then by USA by their dollars. Dollars which score points and win peace prizes.
Hijacked, totally hijacked.
Yes the WC and the fact we’ll be there is a big story but once again our nation is being channelled into the ‘excess’, and ‘over optimistic’ camp.
The central casting ‘rent a party animal’ mode.
And today our media have been behaving
collectively like 3 and 4 year olds winding themselves up before a visit to Santa.
Why?
I guess:
Because they can.
Because it’s cheaper than having to think or report real news.
Because it is for now a genuine good news story as long as you don’t dig into the dynamic pricing monopoly that Fifa have turned it into or some of the very real politics.
Because King Donald will be awarded a ‘Special Award’ for nothing more than being King Donald and pals with Gianni.
Anyway my only Known Known is We’re There and Will be in a Pool of Four
Yes, the reality is we are now in the ‘group of 48 stage’ with two familiar faces from our last World Cup campaign back in '98.
Joining Steve Clarke and the TA in group C, we will face:
Brazil, ranked 5th
Morocco, ranked 11th
Haiti, ranked 84th and probably our best chance at a point or 3.
The "Group of Death" some are calling it.
I’d love it if we make it to the group of 16.
In real terms we technically progressed to the ‘Group of 16 ‘back in 1974 because there were only 16 qualifiers and splitting hairs we even made the imaginary group of 12.
And yes, the stark basket of realities we face as a football nation, realities that have been conveniently swept aside by media noise, fan travel plans and laptops at the ready for our post draw flight and hotel rush is we were second best and very fortunate to best Greece at home, Belarus gave us a scare, and apart from maybe the first 5 minutes looked second best again against Denmark but the gods were on our side.
So, our record was 3 home wins and we’re now heading for somewhere to play teams ranked mostly above and indeed well above us.
And despite the inflated Fifa-induced costs on everything except for the excessively hot and humid summer air, we’ll be there in high thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands and make friends and party like we’re expected to.
I’m an optimistic man but have learned to enjoy the journey rather than the outcomes.
This Week’s Sting
1. Gies Peace aka :No Basis and Little Transparency”
2. A Snowball’s Chance in Hell
3. Iran Ban Their Ban
4. One I Can’t Call
1. What Minky Worden Thinks About Peace Prizes
That’s not a name I just made up, she’s real and feisty too.
Minky works for Human Rights Watch as Director of Global Initiatives.
I’ll let her speak.
“FIFA’s so-called ‘Peace Prize’ is being awarded against a backdrop of violent detentions of immigrants, National Guard deployments in US cities, and the obsequious cancellation of FIFA’s own anti-racism and anti-discrimination campaigns. There is still time to honour FIFA’s promises for a World Cup not tainted by human rights abuses, but the clock is ticking.”
So she’s not hopeful.
The background to her summary was Infantino’s ‘creation’ of a prize, by himself, last month after his bestie, King Donald failed to win his much coveted “Nobel” which somehow went to Maria Machado of Venezuela, a country where USA forces are currently building up on its border.
Infantino thinks ‘Trumps Gaza Ceasefire Plan’ deserves world recognition.
Not everyone agrees.
Jamal Watkins, Senior Vice President at NAACP, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People a US based group fired an immediate broadside.
“Infantino and Trump’s relationship is too close for comfort. Giving this president a prize saying he is an ‘ambassador for peace’ is actually laughable”.
Also, pre-empting tonight’s award, Jamil Dakwar, said it was “offensive and an insult to the intelligence of football fans when you are coming up with this prize with no basis and very little transparency. Fifa is becoming part of a public relations tool to normalise an increasingly authoritarian government”.
And I’m sad to quote Edinburgh-born and Heriots educated, Bryan Swanson, who some of you might remember from his Sky sports days pontificating from his fairly recent and very well-paid role as Fifa Media Director “Only Fifa could be criticised for awarding and recognising those who want world peace. Rather than be criticised for recognising peace in a divided world, Fifa should be recognised for what it is, a global governing body that wants to make the future a brighter place”.
Thanks Bryan.
We obviously think very differently or maybe just you’re paid to spout nonsense.
2. I hope We Prove Them Wrong
Someone writing in the world’s biggest selling digital newspaper thinks we are worthy of a lower ‘World Cup Outcome Rating’ than five countries who haven’t even qualified yet* and others who should not be above us, at least in my head.
This is what the NYT said about us, the words are more positive than the number they give us.
38. Scotland
FIFA ranking: 36
Their astonishing victory over Denmark to seal their first qualification since 1998 is still so fresh in the memory that it would be easy to think Scotland could win the whole thing. They won’t, but they have as good a chance as any of making it through their group, assuming Scott McTominay and John McGinn take their domestic excellence to the international game.
Here are their ‘Outcome Rankings’ above us:
Morrocco 11
Egypt 14
South Korea 17
Italy 22*
Denmark 29*
Ghana 24
USA 25
Australia 26
Austria 27
Algeria 28
Iran 30
Paraguay 31
Canada 32
Saudi Arabia 33
Turkey 34*
Poland 35*
Panama 36
Wales 37*
Scotland 38
3. I thought You’d Like to Know
The Iranian Football Federation released a statement telling us they had reversed plans to boycott the World Cup Draw.
4 visas have been awarded after 8 were requested.
In June King Donald released one of his ‘executive orders which described Iran as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’.
We know that the USA will not give visas to ordinary Iran fans who want to be there.
Maybe the easiest answer will be to have the Iranians playing in Mexico or Canada?
4. Wilfried Arrives at Parkhead
“I want my players to be confident and humble’ is not a bad start by the Frenchman in Glasgow.
Real credit for a quite amazing turn around and catchup should go to Martin O’Neil.
I’m not a fan of his club but I am a fan of the O’Neil man and what he brought in and back to Celtic.
On and off the park.
As an outsider I think the current fight between the board and the fan group is deep and may become deeper.
Sting is Andy’s Weekly Blog
Apologies much today is about what’s happening over the pond and the quite OTT reaction by our media and me too.
I’ve been avoiding the hype all day and am just about to decide whether to watch the Washington Pantomime or whether to wait and just see the outcome.
I hope Rod Stewart and Alan McRae are not picking the balls
Anyway by the time you read this we’ll all know and a new chapter will have opened.
And as always feel free to write to me about anything in football or beyond.
Andy’s Album of the Week
Various: Good Morning Vietnam
This was a 5 CD set probably produced to exploit the Robin Williams film of the same name some years before.
I picked it up in an HMV Newcastle bargain-box when I was killing half an hour because it had some of the tracks I had loved as a youngster, stuff I would have bought the singles of, back in the day if I’d had any money and a decent record player.
Stuff like, Spirit in the Sky, Kites, Everybody’s Talkin, The House of the Rising Sun, Time in a Bottle, Man of the World.
And more, much more, a dipstick into the late 60s and early 70s.
With very few duds and fillers like most compilations seem to deliver.
On a week when envoys laid on their backs to get their tummies tickled in Moscow, and on a day when our attention is very much Stateside, I thought the slow motion live-action disaster movie that was Vietnam was relevant.
The 5 CD set is still in the bargain basements and is available new for just £5.41 on Good Ol’ Amazon or on streaming services where the artistes get half of bugger all for their efforts.
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