[sunnykerr]

Mesut Özil donates World Cup money: should more footballers follow suit? Arsenal midfielder Mesut Özil is to 'support the surgery' of 23 children in Brazil following his country's triumph in the tournament. Should we expect more philanthropic gestures from World Cup teams and players? Mesut Özil is supporting the surgery of 23 children in Brazil, as a "thank you to the hospitality of the people of Brazil", the player has said in a Facebook post. Reports that Özil would give his £237,000 bonus for helping Germany win the World Cup final, and the £118,000 for the team's semi-final win, to the children of Gaza were denied by the player's representative. The Algeria World Cup team will donate their entire World Cup prize fund to Gaza, the Independent reported. The Jordanian football journalist Waleed Abu Nada first reported the announcement on Twitter. Greece's national team rejected their World Cup bonuses, instead asking for the money to be used to build a new national training centre. "We do not want extra bonus, or money. We only play for Greece and its people," Greek media reported the players as writing. "All we want is for you to support our effort to find land and create a sports centre that will house our national team." Fifa's prize for winning the World Cup is about £20m, with the runner-up receiving around £15m. Federations leave with £5m if they are knocked out of the group stage, as well as the £800,000 tournament participation fee, all of which are shared among players and staff. Spain received widespread criticism after striking a deal to raise their bonuses to €720,000 (£577,000), the tournament's highest, if they were to win this year's World Cup. And Chile were to receive half of the total winnings, amounting to around €550,000 for each player, if they had lifted this year's trophy. England, had they made it to the finals and won, would have donated their £350,000 bonuses to charity as they do for all international games.

I don't think it's necessary for them to donate their bonuses like that, but I do think it's nice when they do.

I mean, I think we're kidding ourselves if we don't realize there might be tax-related motivations for some.

And it's not like they need it.

But, yeah, in a world where people get paid fortunes for playing sports, it's nice when some athletes pay it forward.

[canflam]

That is good news. Generally though that sport isn't 1 where millions are made at least in North America.

[_vega_]

Not in the US or Canada but yes in many parts of the World. The World Cup is the most watched and most profitable sports event in the world.

And, according to Transferkmark.uk, Özil's current market value is 44 million pounds.

[canflam]

Interesting. Are the players getting the money from playing in the World Cup? I thought that Fifa benefited the most from that.

[_vega_]

Each federation of football pays their players according to the arrangements they made before the Cup. Some federations pay more than others.

The big money footballers get comes from their clubs but playing in the Cup helps them raise their value as players and makes diverse clubs take notice of them. For example, Real Madrid is now about to sign James Rodriguez from Colombia after his excellent performance in the Cup, he had been playing for Monaco with a salary of 1.3 million euros. Apparently Real Madrid bought him for 85 million euros so I imagine his salary will increase exponentially after that change. Before the Cup he was well known in Colombia and maybe France but now everybody is talking about him, and he is still young (23 years old) so his value could increase with time now that he is going to play in a much more popular club.

[sunnykerr]

Yeah, the Premier League in Europe is big business. Massive business.

It's American football, baseball, basketball and hockey all roled into one.

I'm sure it's like any sport, and you'll find players who aren't gazillionaires, but the money comes in from all over.

You have their regular salaries, because these are all professional footballers, their endorsement deals, the money they get for just showing up at the World Cup and then the bonuses they get if their team makes it to whichever level. Because the bonuses are there at every level, that's why countries fight so hard to qualify.

It's big money, for the teams, but also for the players.

Cristiano Ronaldo is projected to make $80 million this year. There's only one other athlete making more money than him in 2014, and that's the boxer Floyd Mayweather.

Then, the 3rd highest earner is Lebron James, but then it goes back to "soccer" with Lionel Messi. Fifth place goes to Kobe Bryant.

After that, it's Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, Rafael Nadal and Matt Ryan.

Meaning that, of the Top 10 highest earners in 2014, three are "soccer" players. It's only two basketball players, two tennismen, two golfers and zero football or baseball player.

Mesut Özil? The one who'll be donating his US$606 887 (per today's exchange rate)? He makes US$18.5 million a year, between his salary and his endorsement deal with Adidas.

[_vega_]

The thing with football soccer is that it is a very international sport. The most popular leagues, the English Premier league and the Spanish league mainly, are watched in most places of the world, so they earn alot of money for their advertising.

Ronaldo sells white bread here and Messi sells razors even though they have never played for any of our national clubs or teams. But people still adore them. And Neuer, Müller, Mascherano, etc.

And the national teams don't just meet at the World Cup, each of the six regional confederations (Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Central and North America and the Caribbean) has their own cups for the national selections in that area (Euro Cup, Gold Cup, etc) and for the best clubs of the countries there (Champions League, Libertadores, etc.). And there's also the Confederations Cup which is one where the six best clubs of each confederation participates.

So football fans are always aware of the main players of their areas, which can belong to national selections of other areas.

And, when all the best finally meet at the World Cup, it is a HUGE event.

[sunnykerr]

The fact that I know as much as I do about football/soccer should be a testament to how freaking big that sport is.

Okay, I don't actually know all that much in point of fact.

But I think we all know just how little I care for sporting events, in general.

So that I even know what little I do know is a testament to how much it's seeped into general culture, because it all comes from watching UK panel shows, none of which are about sports.

[sunnykerr]

An update on Rodriguez:

James Rodriguez: Real Madrid sign Monaco forward Real Madrid have signed Colombia forward James Rodriguez, the top scorer in the 2014 World Cup, from Monaco for a fee which could reach £71m. The 23-year-old has signed a six-year deal with the Spanish giants. Rodriguez won the Golden Boot with six goals in five matches in Brazil as Colombia reached the quarter-finals. Madrid president Florentino Perez said: "He played brilliantly and his goals confirmed his status as one of the best players at the World Cup." Rodriguez's move is the fourth most expensive transfer of all time after those of new team-mates Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Luis Suarez. "I am very happy, this is a dream come true. I hope to make people very happy and win a lot of titles here," he said. The Colombian scored against Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan as they topped Group C before netting twice, one a sublime volley, during the 2-0 last-16 win against Uruguay, which was voted goal of the tournament. Rodriguez's final goal was a late consolation from the penalty spot as Colombia lost 2-1 to Brazil. The former Porto forward won the Portuguese league three years in a row before joining Monaco last season, where he scored nine goals in 34 Ligue 1 games. Monaco vice-chairman Vadim Vasilyev said his club had no plans to sell Rodriguez, but were proud to be part of "one of the most significant transfers in football history". Vasilyev added: "The time came when the solution of a transfer was considered to be the most beneficial solution for all parties." Madrid made Ronaldo the world's most expensive player when they signed him for £80m from Manchester United in 2009, and eclipsed that with the £85.3m they paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale last summer. Rodriguez's signing comes less than a week after they signed German World Cup winner Toni Kroos, who moved from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee.

[sunnykerr]

Qatar World Cup: migrants wait a year to be paid for building offices Workers who fitted out lavish offices used by tournament organisers say they are trapped after collapse of contractor Migrant workers who built luxury offices used by Qatar's 2022 football World Cup organisers have told the Guardian they have not been paid for more than a year and are now working illegally from cockroach-infested lodgings. Officials in Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy have been using offices on the 38th and 39th floors of Doha's landmark al-Bidda skyscraper – known as the Tower of Football – which were fitted out by men from Nepal, Sri Lanka and India who say they have not been paid for up to 13 months' work. The project, a Guardian investigation shows, was directly commissioned by the Qatar government and the workers' plight is set to raise fresh doubts over the autocratic emirate's commitment to labour rights as construction starts this year on five new stadiums for the World Cup. The offices, which cost £2.5m to fit, feature expensive etched glass, handmade Italian furniture, and even a heated executive toilet, project sources said. Yet some of the workers have not been paid, despite complaining to the Qatari authorities months ago and being owed wages as modest as £6 a day. By the end of this year, several hundred thousand extra migrant workers from some of the world's poorest countries are scheduled to have travelled to Qatar to build World Cup facilities and infrastructure. The acceleration in the building programme comes amid international concern over a rising death toll among migrant workers and the use of forced labour. "We don't know how much they are spending on the World Cup, but we just need our salary," said one worker who had lost a year's pay on the project. "We were working, but not getting the salary. The government, the company: just provide the money." The migrants are squeezed seven to a room, sleeping on thin, dirty mattresses on the floor and on bunk beds, in breach of Qatar's own labour standards. They live in constant fear of imprisonment because they have been left without paperwork after the contractor on the project, Lee Trading and Contracting, collapsed. They say they are now being exploited on wages as low as 50p an hour. Their case was raised with Qatar's prime minister by Amnesty International last November, but the workers have said 13 of them remain stranded in Qatar. Despite having done nothing wrong, five have even been arrested and imprisoned by Qatari police because they did not have ID papers. Legal claims lodged against the former employer at the labour court in November have proved fruitless. They are so poor they can no longer afford the taxi to court to pursue their cases, they say. A 35-year-old Nepalese worker and father of three who ssaid he too had lost a year's pay: "If I had money to buy a ticket, I would go home." Qatar's World Cup organising committee confirmed that it had been granted use of temporary offices on the floors fitted out by the unpaid workers. It said it was "heavily dismayed to learn of the behaviour of Lee Trading with regard to the timely payment of its workers". The committee stressed it did not commission the firm. "We strongly disapprove and will continue to press for a speedy and fair conclusion to all cases," it said. Jim Murphy, the shadow international development secretary, said the revelation added to the pressure on the World Cup organising committeeafter . "They work out of this building, but so far they can't even deliver justice for the men who toiled at their own HQ," he said. Sharan Burrow, secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation, said the workers' treatment was criminal. "It is an appalling abuse of fundamental rights, yet there is no concern from the Qatar government unless they are found out," she said. "In any other country you could prosecute this behaviour." Contracts show the project was commissioned by Katara Projects, a Qatar government organisation under the auspices of the office of the then heir apparent, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who is now the emir. He also heads the supreme committee, the World Cup organising body. The committee is spending at least £4bn building new stadiums for the tournament, which has become mired in allegations of bribery, while there is disbelief at the prospect of playing the tournament in Qatar's 50C summer heat. Katara said it terminated its agreement with Lee Trading when it discovered the mistreatment of workers and non-payment of wages, and made efforts to repatriate those affected or find them new jobs. It said several workers had been compensated after court settlements. "If there are employees who were not repatriated, did not find employment or did not receive compensation, we would be happy to engage in any effort with the ministry of labour and ministry of interior to rectify the situation," a spokesman said. The problems at the Tower of Football workers are not isolated, despite Qatar's pledges to monitor salary payments and abolish the kafala sponsorship system, which stops migrant workers changing job or leaving Qatar without their employer's consent. In 2012 and 2013, 70 labourers from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka died from falls or strikes by objects, 144 died in traffic accidents and 56 killed themselves, the government's own figures show. Dozens more young migrant workers die mysteriously in their sleep from suspected heart attacks every summer. The Guardian discovered more projects where salaries had not been paid. They included a desert camp of 65 workers who had not been paid for several months, were sleeping eight to a room, and were living with dirty drinking water, filthy, unplumbed toilets and no showers.

Just as we were discussing how a World Cup is massive business for all involved, I guess we need to remember that it's actually not "all involved" who profit in the end.

The Brazil World Cup had, as I recall, similar labor problems. And, of course, plenty of worker deaths, though on a smaller scale.

Just something to keep in mind ahead of the Qatari World Cup.

[sunnykerr]

Golfer's 'stand your ground' claim denied in man's beating case DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A central Florida judge has denied a "stand your ground" claim by a golfer who is accused of beating a man who claimed a golf ball had hit his pickup truck. Circuit Judge R. Michael Hutcheson on Wednesday determined that 44-year-old David James Barror's "piston-like punching" of 64-year-old Richard Fillingame last summer was an overreaction. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Fillingame confronted Barror while he was golfing last summer. No damage was found on the truck. The incident led to a confrontation that left the older man with several broken bones. Barror was charged with aggravated battery, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The judge said neither man is a bad person and suggested the attorneys get together and reach a compromise.

It gives you an idea of just how insane the court system is in Florida when a man can beat another to the point where several bones are broken, and the judge is all "oh, neither of you is a bad guy; you should try to work it out."

[sunnykerr]

Well, it's finally coming to and end.

Only we won't be here to comment on it:

Judge in Oscar Pistorius murder trial to sets verdict date as 11 September Defence lawyer says 'slow burn' of anxiety made sports star act like abused woman who 'had enough' when he fired his gun The judge in the trial of Oscar Pistorius said she would deliver her verdict on 11 September, as closing arguments concluded in court. The five-month trial drew to a close with the defence insisting the athlete should be acquitted of the premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on 14 February last year. Pistorius claims he thought he was confronting an intruder and did not intend to shoot. In his closing submission, Barry Roux, lead counsel for the defence, told Judge Thokozile Masipa that Pistorius' experience over many years as a disabled person – his lower legs were amputated when he was a baby – was comparable to that of an abused woman who kills her husband: "She has had enough … The cup is full to the brim." Roux said the state had been wrong to pursue the charge of murder after assertions made at the initial bail hearing – that he was wearing his prostheses at the time he fired the gun, and that he was standing close to the toilet door as he fired into it – had been disproven. "Culpable homicide [manslaughter] is what the trial should have been about – but unfortunately it was not." Pistorius' team submitted two lines of defence, despite criticism from prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who called them "not just mutually exclusive but mutually destructive". The accused should be acquitted, Roux argued, because if the firing of the gun was purely reflexive – because he was startled by a noise – he lacked criminal capacity. Alternatively, it was "putative private defence" (self-defence) because Pistorius believed he was in imminent danger: that an intruder was coming out of the toilet. He had no motive to kill Steenkamp, Roux insisted, telling the court the relationship had been "loving". The state's case that the couple were awake in the early hours arguing was dealt a "fatal" blow by evidence that a security guard went past the house at 2.20am and heard no arguing, the defence maintained. Pistorius' hopes could hinge on a forensic timeline of events constructed by the defence to show that the state's version – in which the fatal shots were fired at 3.17am – cannot be true. The defence says noises heard by neighbours at 3.17am were the thuds of the cricket bat as Pistorius broke down the toilet door. The gunshots, it contends, were several minutes earlier. The timing might prove crucial in determining whether screams heard by neighbours on the Silver Woods estate were those of Steenkamp or, as the defence claims, Pistorius, who is said to sound like a woman when distressed. Roux asked the court: "If the shots were, as submitted by the state, at 3.17am, would it make sense that before firing the shots the accused would shout 'help, help, help'?" But in a surprise move, Roux said Pistorius should be found guilty of a separate charge of negligently discharging a firearm in a restaurant. Pistorius had pleaded not guilty. In a brief response, Nel said Pistorius should be convicted of premeditated murder: "The accused intended to kill a human being. He knew there was a human being in that toilet. That's his evidence … He is guilty of murder. There must be consequences for it."

[canflam]

I would not be surprised if it's a guilty verdict, but this just brings up the question do citizens need firearms when something like this could happen more often than if that if there was an actual ''intruder''?

[sunnykerr]

Well, we all know I'm against civilians owning firearms, with the posisble exception of hunting purposes.

But, beyond that, I guess we'll discuss the verdict on the new N&P thread.