Why you aren't watching the world cup

[Aeson]

Canada is one of the main reasons International Law has a section covering war crimes.

Because they committed so many war crimes? I knew they were tooooo nice no one is that nice.

 

[Dioltach]

1) A lot of what you think shouldn't hurt probably does.

Ankles are particularly vulnerable. Tripping is a red-card offence in rugby, and it was even in the days of rucking, punch-ups and head-high tackles.

 

[Greg K]

Three reasons that I am not watching the World Cup.
1. I didn't grow up watching or playing soccer and don't know the rules.
2. Nobody I know offline has any interest in it soccer.
3. Since my dad passed away in early 2000s, I pretty much lost my interest in sports outside of MMA.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Re: flopping; VAR

Part of the reason it exists is because players are trying to get the ref to punish unnoticed (especially repeated) bad behavior- there’s just not enough officials to catch everything. Using VAR to call some of that could reduce the amount of missed fouls.

The VAR's remit is pretty constrained, and it doesn't provide for much review in the way of fouls explicitly, outside of penalty and red card offenses (functionally, goal/no goal could also involve adjudication of a foul). Calling non-cardable fouls in open play is still going to be up to the referee's discretion.

1. A video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official, with independent access to match footage, who may assist the referee only in the event of a ‘clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’ in relation to:

a. Goal/no goal

b. Penalty/no penalty

c. Red card (including a clearly incorrect second caution)

d. Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player)

Broadly, though, trying to use VAR to catch all fouls, even catch more fouls, would grind everything to a halt -- facetiously, yesterday's France-Paraguay match would still be in added time; more seriously, corner kicks would take ages to review (there's as much holding there as there is on any play in the NFL). VAR already takes some of the joy out of the game in the goal/no goal calls with their interminable offside checks.

The problem is, with the way the game is currently being played, you might get an avalanche of VAR stoppages, disrupting the flow of the game. It would eventually return to a more fluid state, but until then, soccer might become almost unwatchable.

And, though I think English football (which I'm most familiar with) can be prone to conspiratorial thought where the referees are concerned, there's reason to think that, setting aside accusations of bias against clubs, the VAR being populated by "off-duty" refs kind of poisons the well. There's a sense that the VAR often tends to protect his on-field colleagues.

 

[jian]

Because they committed so many war crimes? I knew they were tooooo nice no one is that nice.

I’m curious about this as well. Canadian servicemen (especially from the now disbanded Airborne Regiment) have sadly committed their fair share of war crimes in Somalia and Afghanistan, but I didn’t know that had affected international law.

 

[Dioltach]

This won't make FIFA many friends outside the US:

World Cup 2026: US striker Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban suspended by Fifa

Folarin Balogun is available to play for the United States in their World Cup last-16 tie against Belgium after his one-game ban is suspended by Fifa.

www.bbc.com

 

[Old Fezziwig]

This won't make FIFA many friends outside the US:

World Cup 2026: US striker Folarin Balogun's one-game red card ban suspended by Fifa

Folarin Balogun is available to play for the United States in their World Cup last-16 tie against Belgium after his one-game ban is suspended by Fifa.

www.bbc.com

Yeah, this is a gross development. The news that Balogun's suspension was going to be, er, suspended was kind of fishy on its own already, but this is a bad look for everyone. I think it was a legit red card, but, even if it weren't, there have been more egregious red card suspensions that have been enforced. I wish I could say I was surprised by any of it, but it's entirely predictable.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’m curious about this as well. Canadian servicemen (especially from the now disbanded Airborne Regiment) have sadly committed their fair share of war crimes in Somalia and Afghanistan, but I didn’t know that had affected international law.

Basically, Canada- moreso than any other allied nation- got so creative with killing people in WW1 and subsequent conflicts that the world created the war crimes legislation to rein them in.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The VAR's remit is pretty constrained, and it doesn't provide for much review in the way of fouls explicitly, outside of penalty and red card offenses (functionally, goal/no goal could also involve adjudication of a foul). Calling non-cardable fouls in open play is still going to be up to the referee's discretion.

Apologies, I was unintentionally vague. I meant to say that FLOPPING exists for yada yada yada reasons, not the VAR. That was unclear from my phrasing.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

Diving and faking injury is considered the lowest of the low in hockey, and antithetical to sporting values in Canada. It is absolutely derided here, and fans will turn on their own players instantly for it, in any sport. You are expected to show grit and moral character.

We’ll also cheer you for settling a dispute by punching someone, though, so it’s not like our sporting values are perfect. We are clearly ethically confused.

As a Canadian, I saw a lot of fakery during the Canadian vs Hurrican 2026 Hockey Play Offs, on both sides. It was disgusting. Canadian vs Golden Knights wasn’t as bad but it happened too.