A welcoming party for an affiliate of thuggish autocracy, a medical emergency and a defeat made for a surreal afternoon
On a cool, still afternoon Tottenham Hotspur moved up to fifth in the table with a 3-2 win against Newcastle United. Harry Kane broke his Premier League goal drought. Jonjo Shelvey was sent off. Before the game the new Newcastle chairman, Yasir al-Rumayyan of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, received an ecstatic reception from supporters following the £300m purchase of the club from the previous owner Mike Ashley. Outside the stadium, a van circled St James’ Park bearing the words “Jamal Khashoggi: Murdered 2.10.18”. Shortly before half-time the game was stopped so medical staff could administer emergency treatment to a fan who had collapsed in the stands.
To what extent, if any, do these events relate to each other? Watching football is about bold, primary-colour emotions: the pursuit of joy and the endurance of pain. It gives you wins and losses and a league table to tell you how you did, a songbook to tell you what to sing, an established liturgy to tell you how to feel. Talking and writing about football is about telling stories, prioritising and editorialising, finding out what matters and filtering out what doesn’t. But what mattered here, and in what order? How do you even begin to process a day of such sad and unspeakable strangeness, a day with no maps, no anchors and no real precedent?
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