The notion that sport and politics should never mix is a curious, and also deeply political, one. Sport, after all, is just the waging of international politics by other means. Ask the East Germans.

Rarely has the mix been quite as fruity as this weekend’s end to the Italian football season [Read more →]

Here’s a lesson for guidebook writers: never, ever make predictions about football.

What we wrote in the book, p. 142:

They might not be a household name, but AS Livorno are a team on the up. In 2004 the team returned to Italy’s elite Serie A after a 55-year wait…

It was the kiss of death, clearly. Yesterday, the team were relegated after a 1-0 home defeat by Torino. [Read more →]

Ed:

I think Materazzi probably deserved it…With any luck, Materazzi will be disciplined for racist abuse by FIFA.

Dave Hill:

If – and it’s a very big if – I had been him and Materazzi had said to me anything like any of the remarks attributed to him, I think I would have done the same and maybe more.

Matt Foot:

Materazzi called Zidane a “terrorist”, presumably in some disgusting reference to his Algerian descent…Materazzi would be guilty of an offence in this country: racially aggravated disorderly conduct, on the basis of abuse of someone because of their nationality

Piara Powar, national co-ordinator for the anti-racism group Kick It Out:

If there was a racial slur then Fifa needs to act.

I’m sure there are plenty more. You might put this down to footie partisanship. We love Zizou. He’s the peerless footballer of his generation, the greatest since Maradona. Materazzi was a` pantomime clown (and occasionally violent) during his time at Everton. But something more interesting is going on here. [Read more →]