Should the England squad boycott the World Cup in Qatar?

[Glyn_Wigley]

But that trouble would piss away any of the kudos they get for hosting the tournament in an instant. Which means there'll no doubt be some 'supporters' (ie protesters) hell-bent on provoking them as much as possible to get that reaction out of them.

[Herbert Anchovy]

Sporting boycotts don’t work. Remember the 1980 and 1984 Olympics when various nations boycotted dependent on who’s side of the cold war they were on? Those boycotts changed nothing.

[SydneyRover]

It helped against apartheid

[Herbert Anchovy]

It helped against apartheid

I think the end of apartheid in SA had more to do with internal politics than any sporting boycott. As I recall, sporting boycotts of SA began in the early 60’s, around 30 years before apartheid ended.

[SydneyRover]

sanctions were imposed on sports people and others playing SA and South Africans were banned from playing in many countries it all helped in global activism against the regime and its policies.
Economic pressure came from international sanctions and you'd never guess which leading lights that were against sanctions .............. thatcher & reagan. sporting sanctions played a part.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Sporting boycotts don’t work. Remember the 1980 and 1984 Olympics when various nations boycotted dependent on who’s side of the cold war they were on? Those boycotts changed nothing.

Those boycotts weren't meant to change anything, they were political gestures of the most useless kind - ie decisions of cowardly politicians who refused to do anything of any actual substance - and the only people they affected were the athletes denied the chance to compete at an Olympics.

For example, in 1980 Thatcher refused to impose proper sanctions on Russia, but was bloody quick to demand that Olympic athletes should sacrifice their careers for a meaningless gesture.