Why It's OK to Be a Sports Fan is now available in stores (well, at least online)! We build a case for why being a sports fan is great... if you are critical. Otherwise, the violence, racism, and other misdeeds of fans and players lead to moral pitfalls.

Curaçao now have more World Cup goals since 2018 than Italy

Look at Vozinha at the end of this. Utterly emotionally drained. Amazing.

Asking FIFA to not listen to the "rustle of dollar bills" is like asking my dog to stop licking his balls.

This is the year when the game of two halves became the game of four quarters. And the greatest sport and event was damaged for fistfuls of dollars. Hydration breaks ruin the game’s flow and frustrates fans and viewers. If hydration breaks were solely about player welfare then they would be linked to the temperature in the stadia. It’s a nonsense having a three-minute break in an air-conditioned arena. Fifa should long ago have established a working party of coaches, sports scientists, national team doctors and Fifpro to agree a set temperature at kickoff, say 25C, which triggers the breaks. That would prove the breaks were for player welfare. At the moment, and to nobody’s surprise, it is widely accepted that these breaks are for US TV to accommodate commercials. Big bucks for the small screen. Fifa should have thought more about the effect on games and to fan (and viewer) experience when negotiating. Coaches’ desire for a mid-half tactical time-out masquerading as a drinks stop should be resisted anyway. Games have been played for 150 years without needing such intervention. Coaches can shout instructions. And who says that 22 mins and 67 mins is when a coach needs to intervene anyway. It’s nonsense. It’s about money. Respected and sane footballing voices from Virgil van Dijk to Mauricio Pochettino have spoken out against the breaks. Fifa should listen to them not appear only to listen to the rustle of dollar bills. It’s important that there is resistance to this from all over. Because if we tolerate this, our TV games could be next. BBC can’t do ads, ITV says it won’t follow its US counterparts. But it has been discussed by TV people. It’ll come one day. #FIFAWorldCup.

I've BEEN mad about this

That Gianni Infantino unilaterally altered the structure of football matches is deserving of so much more anger.

Cape Verde centre back Roberto 'Pico' Lopes has spent his entire career in Ireland, ignored a LinkedIn message from Cape Verde FA asking him to play for them because it was in Portuguese. A year later, they sent it in English. He accepted. An all-time great World Cup story.

“BBC is taking around 270 staff to the World Cup, many of whom are expected to stay in a five-star hotel, and 17 commentators. It has estimated it will spend around £11,000 per worker, which means staff will cost around £3m, plus £1m for the glass studio” The Telegraph in 2010

A FIFA World Cup host country must guarantee two fundamental principles: the safety of the country — and the unrestricted entry of all qualified teams, officials and referees. The case of referee Omar Artan from Somalia is against one of these obligations. FIFA must never compromise the universality of football. #Fifa #Somalia #GianniInfantino #CAF #OmarAtan #DonaldTrump

Germany were 5-0 up against Brazil in a WC semi final in Brazil at HT. This is out of control already 🤷‍♂️

Here's my review of Boykoff's "Red Card". It's an excellent book and I highly recommend it. Also, it is short and incisive, so you still have time to read it before the World Cup kicks off!

They aren’t even hiding what these hydration breaks are about. It’s 75 degrees under a roof at SoFi, the announcer says “that’s the end of the first quarter,” and then it’s straight to commercials. The game is gone.

I’m not sure Thierry Henry is going to last 5 weeks working with Alexi Lalas 😳

Who gives a shit?

Sometimes it’s the small things that say all you need to know. The fact that FIFA decided the opening game would be at the Pro Evo knockoff “Mexico City Stadium” and not the Azteca is a very minor issue, but it’s an extremely telling one. observer.co.uk/news/sport/ar…

When Russia hosted the World Cup in 2018, it had to suspend normal visa rules for the tournament. Foreigners with tickets could enter visa-free, using a scheme called ‘Fan ID.’ Russia also had to do weird stuff to keep FIFA’s sponsors happy. For example, small shops near Fan Zones and stadiums could only sell Budweiser beer on match days. So yes, FIFA absolutely does dictate conditions to host governments when it suits FIFA. Infantino pretending otherwise is nonsense.

Lady Di commemorative plate £20. Good condition

It's tournament eve. This is a World Cup like no other: madder, badder and more geopolitical than ever. It's OK to be excited about the football. It's OK to be appalled by everything else. inews.co.uk/sport/football/w…