So, the world cup begins tomorrow, and it’s a hard and tough situation for football groups and websites like Ibrox Noise to call. Do we push the political agenda, calling out Qatar and FIFA for the corruption, deaths, appalling morals and anti-minority policies of this backwards Gulf state?

Or do we move on, get over that for four weeks and concentrate on the footballing angle?

We’re not fans of Gary Lineker, and his stance of ‘report’ not ‘promote’ is hypocritical, as we’ll get to, and FIFA’s approach over the whole situation has been, frankly, beyond corruption.

It is their fault we are having a world cup dominated by the politics of the host nation and the time of year it’s taking place, no one else’s, and it’s the most undermined football tournament of all time thanks to the corrupt bung-filled decision to hold it there.

It’s therefore very hard just to look at the football festival on its own merits, so we’re going to be fair and do both as much as we can. We can look at the tournament, but never forget the rotten core underneath it.

What we will say is for all the outcry by English media, by world media and the majority of the teams involved, it only took one big country to boycott this tournament, just one, to actually have the backbone to stand up for their principles and not go – one could have led to two could have led to several, and hey presto we don’t have a world cup.

For all the protests, not a single soul eligible to be at this world cup has actually boycotted it, such as Lineker, simply refusing to go to Qatar, or any of the teams who made it. If they really believed all the protests they’re pushing, why not make the stand and not go?

Because at the end of the day, it’s virtue signalling by all of them. They all want to look good and morally right, but when it comes down to it, they don’t back up their protestations with action. And sorry, t-shirts with slogans doesn’t cover it – action does.

So we don’t take a word seriously of anyone at Qatar who has vocally damned the tournament, because they’re still earning their money in the Middle East and not backing up their words.

Us at Ibrox Noise? None of us are going to Qatar – we will cover the tournament to an extent, because it’s the world cup, but we’re not massive public figureheads whose total boycott would make the difference England not going would, or Lineker or Neville. We also aren’t being paid by Qatari state cash.

Instead those hypocrites slate the thing but go to Qatar and get paid big money to cover it. Not really consistent is it?

Infantino’s speech? Well the further virtue signalling by the likes of Sky’s Melissa Reddy who’s in Qatar as she scathes down on his speech but sits there being paid to cover it really doesn’t sit well with us.

What the president said was blunt, and been condemned by all, but there’s an iota of truth in some of it – there IS a spot of hypocrisy from the west here (even if he’s shamelessly indulging in whatabouttery), and while his trivialising of minorities’ suffering was very misguided, anyone who is ginger and of a certain age will know how dreadfully they were treated in their youth, much like how minorities are now. Infantino was stupid to say his line about being gay being this being that, but only because you’re not allowed to say that stuff anymore. BLM saw to that.

Hell, we’ll probably get slaughtered for this article as well, because someone somewhere will find something to be offended by.

But we are with everyone in condemning this tournament being in Qatar. It should never have happened, but corruption meant it did.

With that all said and done, do we focus on the football?

It’ll be very hard to do.