England team members visit Auschwitz

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....-visit-Auschwitz.html

England are over there to play football, not to try and educate school children on the horrors of WW2.

/// Trip was filmed to educate secondary school pupils about the Holocaust ///

Perhaps they could better use this time, practising their football skills, after all isn't that what they are there for?

[mushroom25]

i bet the team's performance at euro2012 will again be one of stunning mediocrity. in 1992 the FA ceded control of the top flight to the 20 clubs that became the premier league. This move was supposed to benefit the national team; instead the premier league have run the game in their own interests, and the league is now awash with money from foreign investors.

so who would blame premier league club owners for considering Euro2012 as just a distraction from their main event? could they be blamed for being nervous, when they see their incredibly expensive investments march off to some foreign field, in the knowledge that they may well end up being injured and quite unable to earn their stratospheric wages - and dividends for the investors - when the premier league restarts?

of course the players are honoured to play for their country. but they must also know who pays their wages, and who might seek to dispense with their services if they become "needlessly" broken in some foreign sideshow.

[Arksided]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't, that old adage seems to apply here as I'm sure the players as Human beings... not money making robots were asked if they would be interested in going. Naive you may think but I believe it not to be only a PR show for the FA.

[bazwillrun]

@messi

"Terry is a racist,"

got any proof to back that up ?

[Huderon]

I doubt that the visit will make much difference to the members of the team. I'd be more impressed if any of them had gone to visit the place privately rather than as part of a publicity thing.

As for filming there - on the one occasion I visited Auschwitz, I found visitors armed with video cameras unsettling. To me, it's not a tourist attraction like a castle or a cathedral, it's a memorial to the people who died there and a reminder of just how nasty people can be to others.

[sp1814]

By visiting Ausschwitz, the England team may prompt some younger fans into enquiring about it, and that's surely a good thing, even if it IS a publicity opportunity.

I literally can't see any problem with the visit. And as someone has already sain, it's not as if the team will be training for 16 hours a day and sleeping for the other 8.

[Arksided]

It may open the eyes of a sheltered few and may want to return.

[Brenden]

Messi, you cannot call John Terry a racist - nothing has been proved yet - the only thing that is certain is that he is a better player than Rio,

[Brenden]

pdq, how would you treat a neighbour who bombs you on a daily basis - the palestinians also have a lot to answer for. Israel is a sovereign nation, the Palestinians have never had one.

[sp1814]

Brenden

Just because he hasn't been found guilty, doesn't mean that he can't be called a racist. Andy Gray is sexist, but hasn't been convicted of this.

[Brenden]

That is exactly what I mean about the word "racist" being bandied about willy nilly - it is now a nothing word imo.

[mushroom25]

the charge which mr terry will be answering is (from the CPS website):-

"On 23 October 2011 at Loftus Road Stadium, London W12, you used threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress which was racially aggravated in accordance with section 28 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
Contrary to section 31 (1) (c) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998"

which as SP pointed out, isn't the same as holding racist views - which may not of itself be an offence.

[sp1814]

Brenden - you might have a point. However, like sexism and homophobia, I still think there are those who not only hold racist views, but (unfortunately) act on them.

[bednobs]

so does anyone know who pays the england team's wages?

[askyourgran]

If I remember rightly I believe an England squad visited Auschwitz on a previous visit. Must say Rooney looked a bit sick. Are the Manager and Coach Jewish?

[FredPuli43]

aog, you were , questioning the reasoning behind these players visiting Auschwitz, and suggesting they'd be better occupied practising football. That is telling the FA and the manager how best to do their job. Do you accept that?

We are entitled to know whether the criticism is confined to this one tiny aspect or whether it is taken by you as symptomatic of a wider failing, don't you think? After all, if you've criticised them in their job the once, why don't you tell us more?

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