The cooperation of men and animal has been fruitful for millennia. Mostly mankind has benefited from this symbiosis – and sport is no exception.
Great pass from the Seagull number 6 #gtfc #pvfc pic.twitter.com/oX2nFqP2a2
— Simon Stephenson (@SimarinerGY) December 30, 2024
The year is almost over and it was a difficult one to get through, particularly since the events in Magdeburg last Friday. However, sometimes it is the little things that provide you with hope and a sense that not all is lost or negative.
This gesture by Alex Iwobi is one of those moments that demonstrate that professional football players are capable of giving something back to the community. Footballers have the reputation of being disconnected from their fan base and their communities. This example proves that we should not judge all players by the same token.
Alex Iwobi has been spreading festive cheer in east London by opening up his own temporary shop.
The Fulham and Nigeria star has been giving out free food, including turkeys, to local residents struggling to pay for their Christmas dinner. pic.twitter.com/qiKDsZdTXI— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) December 23, 2024
Thanks to Jerome Pugmire for the inspiration.
Christmas is a difficult time in general as its imposed happiness feels false and hollow. This year, however, it feels even worse. The attack on the Christmas Market in Magdeburg, back home!, has made it impossible to enjoy this time of year. Thoughts are with the victims and their families and those who are injured.…
Football is often overburdened with social problems that are not easily solved even in society. Football is a mirror of society and as such works as a prism for the workings of the people.
In a rare moment of fragility, the German national coach Julian Nagelsmann had to fight back his tears after his team lost to Spain in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Euros. It was a little sentence delivered almost at the end of his press conference that reverberated through the night.
He spoke of society in need of more “We” moments than “I”. Yet, way more remarkable was his statement that we need to think more solution oriented than being focused too much on problems. This is a very important point as we, as society, simply need to replace one word with another: not crisis but task for which there is a solution.
Whatever momentum Magdeburg may have gathered over the last three games, it was all gone within ten minutes against Fürth. While the first half looked decent, if not solid, between the 65th and the 75th minute, Magdeburg gave the game and their good position away. The goal difference before was -11 which compared well with…
As a little note for the weekend:
According to its latest report, FIFA have recorded $5.8bn revenues in 2022, largely due to the World Cup in Qatar. According to Wikipedia the Gross Domestic Product of Guam for 2017 was estimated to have been $5.793bn; for 2022 there were no figures available yet. For 2022 the list of GDP shows that FIFA would rank somewhere between Lesotho and the Central African Republic in terms of revenues. For a non-profit organization this is a lot.
This gives this association an incredible amount of financial and political power. And it is of course not shy to use this. It has borrowed the city of Berne around CHF1.8bn over the last six years. Apparently, the towns and cities to which FIFA has leant money had found no other lenders despite their ratings being impeccable. What is not so impeccable is of course the reputation of FIFA. The organization is mired in scandal, yet the mayors seemed not to care.
At the same time global governing body of soccer has ‚only’ donated $1m to the earthquake relief fund for Turkey and Syria.
FIFA is drowning in money says this report in the German broadsheet F.A.Z.
image credit: Money Bags by 401(K) via flickr under CC BY-SA 2.0
Good writing does not come by chance, so consider a little tip:In an article published in The Guardian, the author claims that England fan culture is changing. This is supported by a statement from Jamie Cleland, an academic who is stating that the trip to Qatar was too expensive for many ordinary England supporters. “With the World Cup occurring mid-season, close to Christmas, and in a…
The German TV pundit and former player Sandro Wagner has come under fire after a comment on TV in which he called the traditional dress of the Qatari men, the Thawb, a bathrobe. This was insensitive and he has acknowledged his mistake and duly apologized. This is an example of cultural insensitivity not only by…
In the sea of poison surrounding Qatar 2022, it is difficult if not outright impossible to find a little drop of water. It exists however. Some innovative and little known fact is that the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium near the port of Doha has been built using modular shipping containers, which beforehand have been used…
In a very good match of football, Germany cam back from one goal down to level the score by Niclas Füllkrug who is an out and out centre forward – a real number nine that has been missing since the retirement of Miroslav Klose. 🤓 #ESPGER pic.twitter.com/gHrsen14Wg— Olis Cartoons (@OlisCartoons) November 28, 2022 By coincidence…