Saudi Pro League’s moves for ageing stars echo other leagues – but there is no reason why stars at their peak should not follow
- Sign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, the Guardian’s free weekly newsletter on European soccer
Football is far from perfect but it is a thing we love. It has existed in its present form for more than a century and a half. It has its rituals and its routines. It has taken on a cultural significance way beyond what is reasonable. It is a way for parents to commune with children, for exiles to maintain their links to home, a source of pride and identity for areas otherwise left behind. It lubricates the cogs of social interaction. It is everywhere: on televisions, on radios, on phones, in background conversations in offices and pubs and schools.
And it is under threat – at least in the form in which we recognise it.
Continue reading...