Football federations should take a stand on moral issues, but in Qatar they folded when Fifa put them under pressureThe saga of the OneLove armbands that were going to be worn by a number of team captains has been annoying and frustrating from start to limp finish. In many ways, the clamp down by Fifa on the wearing of them is ironic, too, because everyone within the federations who put together this show of support has worked hard to build a new OneLove brand almost to detach from the rainbow, to dilute and depoliticise an issue that is unavoidably political.The whole episode was disappointing because even the most watered-down attempt to show that football should be an inclusive and welcoming...
There is no more elegant pivot than moaning about the World Cup in Qatar to begging a Gulf state to come and buy your club“When I want a peerage,” sniffed Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe), “I shall buy one like an honest man.” So yes: I want to begin with an apology for a ridiculous statement in my most recent column, which held that David Beckham’s mega-lucrative Qatar promotional deal meant he has been “wearing the face of a man who knows he is never going to get his knighthood now”. This was obviously wrong. Having been paid a reported £150m for his work shilling for the Qatari regime, David is in fact even better placed to buy a knighthood...
Late decision on the sale of alcohol in World Cup stadiums shows that the host nation is running the show, not FifaThe ink was barely dry on Qatar’s decision to ban alcohol from World Cup stadiums when an informed insider in Doha was asked why it was happening now, just 48 hours before the tournament’s big kick-off. His response was succinct. “It’s a deliberate fuck you to the west.”Of course it was. Yes, the Qataris wanted to ensure that fans of every nation, religion and creed feel comfortable at matches – and that wouldn’t be the case if some were boozed-up or blotto. And yes, Qatar remains a conservative Muslim country, in which alcohol is alien to the culture. But...
As we consume the football on show in Qatar despite knowing the brutal facts, we should at least force Fifa to make change So here we are then. Premier League season on pause while the lower leagues keep chugging away. Knackered and injured players off to a country where it’s illegal to be gay, where women who are victims of sexual assault can be put in prison and where thousands of migrant workers have died since Qatar was awarded the tournament 12 years ago. Welcome to the World Cup.Of course, we all know these things by now. In fact the impact of hearing about them again and again seems to numb you from the brutal facts. It’s easier to just...
Report released on Friday shows clubs are not doing enough and without radical transparency there is no short-term solutionAccording to the business guru Jim Collins, the journey from being a good organisation to becoming a great organisation is built on the willingness of leaders to confront the brutal facts. Productive change cannot happen without that foundation. How does football’s equality journey measure against that yardstick? Does football fully confront the brutal reality of inequality in the game? Do we honestly confront our uncomfortable truths or do we soothe ourselves with the balm of comfortable half-truths?Recent data suggests that stubborn historical challenges remain. The Black Football Partnership revealed last week that only 4.4% of managers in England are black compared with...