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Premier League and Fifa helpless against Saudi juggernaut’s relentless progress | Jonathan Wilson

Saudi Pro League’s moves for ageing stars echo other leagues – but there is no reason why stars at their peak should not followFootball 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...

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Alas Jordan Henderson, a familiar face caught in a haze of moral contradiction | Barney Ronay

The Liverpool captain is set for Saudi Arabia – but why is it only footballers who are harangued for their choices in these areas?It has been a big week for learnings, for moralisings, for herd-panic over the private affairs of men who appear regularly on television. In this sense the Huw Edwards shemozzle has at least revealed some vital life lessons.First, newsreaders are clearly central to the moral life of the nation. Who else will teach us right from wrong, if not people who are paid to read an Autocue and frown? Take my scripture, my certainties, abandon me to an indifferent universe. But leave me the newsreaders. Continue reading...

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