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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 9:55:38 GMT
The Euro 2024 tournament has thirteen official 'global' sponsors. Which country has the most?
Hint: it's not a European one and not the USA
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 9:57:16 GMT
Which country/countries have the most players of European heritage in their squad? Which have the least?
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 10:00:00 GMT
Which league(s) has the largest number of foreign players present at Euro 24?
Which have the fewest?
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Post by Dogburger on Jun 16, 2024 10:22:47 GMT
Not sure where this is going but due to high levels of migration and the colonial past of western European countries and the UK its quite obvious that those countries will feature in the foreign player stats . Those that have basically had closed borders for the last 100 years the eastern Europeans and former soviet states will have the least .
I'll take a guess at England having the most sponsors
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 10:30:12 GMT
I'm talking about sponsors of the tournament, not individual countries. None of the thirteen tournament sponsors are English companies.
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Post by Vinny on Jun 16, 2024 10:49:45 GMT
Don't know, but I bet it's not Scotland.
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 14:10:52 GMT
Right I know you've all be anxiously waiting for the Euro 2024 Squad Diversity Awards for the teams with the highest numbers of players not of European descent, so here they are.
Unfortunately England only achieves third place with 11 out of 26 squad members, indicating some serious backsliding compared to previous tournaments. Pastor Southgate will have some searching questions to deal with when the inevitable inquest takes place. At least he will be able to point at Scotland's miserable showing in the diversity stakes, with just a single squad member qualifying for inclusion. There but for the grace of God etc. Perhaps the SNP will have had an opportunity to address the diversity defict by the next time Scotland qualifies for a major tournament in 30 years or so.
The gold medal goes to France with 16 players, or almost two-thirds of the entire squad qualifying as 'diverse'. They are run closely by the Netherlands, with 15, which is really a very creditable performance given that Surinam was their only overseas colony apart from Indonesia (which provides little footballing talent).
Honorary mentions for Belgium with 9, Germany and Switzerland (8 each). No other country scores higher that 4 (Portugal - again an underperformer based on previous tournaments), then Denmark with three. Shocking to report that eight countries scored zero - shame on them!
PS Turkey is omitted from the contest on obvious grounds.
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Post by Hutchyns on Jun 16, 2024 15:03:10 GMT
It's a pleasure not to see Coca Cola advertisements everywhere, so if the USA giants aren't the big sponsors, and if they've nobbled the Western European economies with their cunning 'sanctions' plan ...... there would be a certain poetic justice in the Chinese coming to the rescue of the people's game by stumping up the money via sponsorship ..... I look forward to learning the answer.
Incidentally, I'd never heard of AliExpress until Baron von Lotsov gave them a glowing recommendation on this very Forum a couple of weeks ago .... and I've since seen their logo displayed on the advertising board behind a glum looking Steve Clarke when reflecting on the 5-1 drubbing inflicted on Bonnie Scotland ..... and they also featured on the perimeter advertising during the Hungary v Switzerland match ...... would never have caught my eye had it not been for The Baron.
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 15:28:58 GMT
On to sponsors then, here is the big reveal for those on tenterhooks  Starting top row, left to right, these sponsors are from Germany, China, China, France, Greece, Holland, China, USA; Bottom row: China, Germany, Germany, Qatar, China. Envelope Please. And the winner at the individual country level is China is the winner with five sponsors, although if we consider the EU to be a single entity (and why not) then it just pips them at the post with six. But this does raise some vexing questions, like: Is it healthy for the Chinese to be taking such an intense interest in a European event, an important part of our cultural patrimony? And is it unhealthy that no British firms could be bothered to participate, especially since its main representatives are among the favourites? Answers on a postcard please… |
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Post by Hutchyns on Jun 16, 2024 16:04:09 GMT
Dan Dare
Extremely healthy for our wallets, as I'm sure I wasn't the only one astonished by the huge savings The Baron enjoyed by taking advantage of those efficient Chinese entrepreneurs with their renowned customer service standards. Of course we had the same old balony decades ago, with warnings that if we allowed all these Chinese takeaways to open, you'd never be able to find a good old British fish & chip shop for love nor money by the time 1985 came around.
Of course the EU monolith, the very essence of which is a protectionist zone, will want to be able to screw over its own citizens while protecting its own multinationals ...... but global Britain had enough of them and their expensive red tape, and has struggled vainly to shrug off the Eurocrats and their lapdogs in our own parliament. For cultural patrimony read 'protecting their own inflated profits gained by protectionism' ....... we've had enough and we're out !
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 16:13:12 GMT
Have you had occasion to shop with AliExpress yourself, or are you at this point just taking the Baron's encomiums as read?
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Post by Hutchyns on Jun 16, 2024 17:06:44 GMT
Dan Dare Given the likelihood that The Baron buys nothing other than items manufactured and sold from China, the fact that he would cite this one by name should be an indication that it is particularly reputable, plus, given the animosity towards him, it was a surefire certainly that anyone here who had used them and been dissatisfied would have been tapping away on their keyboard within minutes of his post, giving us chapter and verse. But I must admit, I was even more swayed by UEFA accepting them as one of their main sponsors for their major and most prestigious event. AliExpress being unmasked as a load of scammers would be catastrophic for UEFA and its reputation, and so I'm taking it that the credentials of all major sponsors for Euro 2024 would have been gone through with a fine toothed comb. I shall, as soon as there isn't so much football to watch on the telly, be in the market for Liz Truss' new book. If 'Ali' do books and can undercut the local bargain bin I might give them a try, assuming horror stories haven't emerged by the end of Euro 24 indicating that 'AliExpress' are charlatans and The Baron is a fraud. Fingers crossed  |
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Post by Dan Dare on Jun 16, 2024 20:28:14 GMT
"AliExpress being unmasked as a load of scammers would be catastrophic for UEFA and its reputation, and so I'm taking it that the credentials of all major sponsors for Euro 2024 would have been gone through with a fine toothed comb."
I don't think it's so much that as AliExpress coming up with the necessary spondulicks.
I've had a quick gander at their UK website and the first impression is that what they are offering is a load of shite.
YMMV.
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Post by Hutchyns on Jun 16, 2024 21:26:48 GMT
Dan Dare We'll hope you're right Dan. The Chinese will have given a shed load of dosh to our beloved European Football Authorities and will get no or a negligible return on their huge outlay. Having got their fingers burned they'll keep their yuans in their pocket next time a tournament based in Europe comes around. All those fretting about loss of cultural patrimony can sleep easy, the vexed need be vexed no more. Three points and a clean sheet for the lads tonight. Can the lucky notebook take us all the way ?  |
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Post by Dogburger on Jun 16, 2024 21:42:05 GMT
The only thing that matters , England won
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