The government did not back England players when fans booed them for taking the knee and now face the consequencesSo, as the prime minister has learned, a week is a long time in football. He and Priti Patel began it grinning in their crisp new England shirts, seeking kudos for their politics from a triumph in Europe just months after they took Britain out of the EU. Instead, the racist abuse that rained on England’s young black players following defeat on penalties on Sunday meant Johnson and Patel were finally confronted with consequences of the green light they gave to racism before the tournament started.One senior football figure told me there was “deep outrage” in the game about Johnson and...
Ignore the cynical, mean-spirited grumblings and, as this inspiring 22-year-old says, concentrate on what can be done when we work togetherSome PR stunt. In securing free school meals for deprived children over the summer holidays, Marcus Rashford has generated more tangible good with his voice than he ever will with his feet. In forcing the prime minister into a hasty spin of the heels, Rashford has delivered a timely reminder that football’s influence and cultural currency stretch well beyond its own borders. And by reaching beyond those borders in an urgent and worthwhile cause, he has demonstrated the power of common resolve and common purpose, at a time when – as he himself put it – society “appears to be...
Exercising is a better way to help the NHS than clapping once a week and more needs to be done to enact real changeFifteen years ago I was waiting by a red light when a dishevelled-looking cyclist, blond mop-top untamed by comb or helmet, pootled past without pausing. A couple of minutes later, the same thing happened again. Yes, it was Boris Johnson. And yes, he had form for this sort of thing – at one point he was filmed jumping through six red lights and a pedestrian crossing during one ride. But, to give Johnson his due, his tenure as the mayor of London did lead to some of the capital’s more dangerous roads and junctions becoming safer for...
Pledge to bring football World Cup ‘home’ in 2030 may be a bit more than wishful thinking this time – even if it lacks accuracyIt’s time, Boris Johnson assured us in the days leading up to the general election, for football to come home. The prime minister’s pledge to put the government machine at the heart of a UK and Ireland bid to host the 2030 Fifa World Cup was further embellished by a promise to spend £550m on creating 2,000 new synthetic pitches and renovating 20,000 existing grass ones.The instinctive response was to file this along with all the other campaign promises – 50,000 more nurses, 20,000 more police officers – received with such scepticism by his opponents. After...