The 45th president of the United States could be asked to back the 2026 World Cup bid – perfect for his very particular style of accountabilityIt’s been a predictably hectic first week in office for the president of the US, which he has spent fretting over the size of the attendance at his inauguration while signing bits of paper with all the abandon of a small child with a long stick who has just stumbled across an unsupervised blank canvas of freshly laid cement.In the time it takes most civil servants settling into a job to obtain a security pass and computer log-in, Donald Trump has – among other highlights – signalled his intention to do away with Obamacare, given...
If sport is a microcosm of life the ascent of Donald Trump is no different with LeBron James and Tom Brady among those speaking their minds from both sides of the debateThe noise cascaded down from the west end of Madison Square Garden. It started in low. Then it started to grow. Donald Trump had just emerged from a tunnel on to the arena floor during the undercard of the middleweight title fight between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux, prompting a crescendo of boos from the crowd of more than 20,000 spectators that stuffed the midtown Manhattan arena to capacity. It was October 2015, four months after the real-estate mogul and reality TV star had announced his presidential bid with...
Sporting giants are on the front line of setting the cultural tone and they should be praised when they raise their heads above the parapetGregg Popovich began with an apology. “I don’t think my voice is that important,” replied the San Antonio Spurs coach when asked his views on the US election. But then, over the course of six impassioned minutes, one of the greatest coaches in the NBA history sank the verbal equivalent of multiple three-pointers from mid-court. “I’m sick to my stomach,” he sighed, his voice now quivering with anger and a deepening anguish. “Not because the Republicans won but the disgusting tenor and tone and all of the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist and misogynistic.”The...
A $5,000 legal challenge over exploitation of workers building for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar pales next to the value of private flights accepted by Fifa’s presidentIn the grim scheme of things, it is the modesty of the sum that gets you. With the formal backing of the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation, a Bangladeshi man named Nadim Sharaful Alam is to sue Fifa for its alleged complicity in the mistreatment of those migrant workers in Qatar who are charged with building its World Cup venues and infrastructure. (Suggested tournament slogan: “Believe The Mirage™”.) Related: Fifa faces legal challenge over Qatar migrant workers Related: Athletes on Trump's 'locker room banter': that's not how we talk at work Continue reading...