Mihir Bose's Blog, page 67
June 19, 2012
‘We thought racism was licked but sadly it never went away’
Campaigner Paul Elliott talks of the issue resurfacing in England and its impact at the Euros
Evening Standard
Paul Elliott has a chilling story of how he was regarded by one of his white team-mates when he played for Charlton back in the Eighties.
“We were at the team hotel,” recalls Elliott. “A player ordered scrambled eggs and beans. When the waiter came to me, the gentleman said to the waiter, ‘Get Paul some coon flakes.’”
A year ago Elliott, Celtic’s first black player and Chelsea’s first black captain, would have dismissed this as a story from the dark ages of football.
Evening Standard
Paul Elliott has a chilling story of how he was regarded by one of his white team-mates when he played for Charlton back in the Eighties.
“We were at the team hotel,” recalls Elliott. “A player ordered scrambled eggs and beans. When the waiter came to me, the gentleman said to the waiter, ‘Get Paul some coon flakes.’”
A year ago Elliott, Celtic’s first black player and Chelsea’s first black captain, would have dismissed this as a story from the dark ages of football.
June 14, 2012
Sport v human rights
Despite talk of reform, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Beijing Olympics proved to be catalysts for rights abuses. Mihir Bose asks whether human rights should be a criterion for hosting coveted international sporting events
Xindex
On the evening of 13 July 2001, as Beijing held a press conference in Moscow to celebrate securing the 2008 Olympics, they had an unexpected visitor: François Carrard, the Swiss lawyer who was executive director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Normally on such occasions the IOC keeps its distance and lets the victorious city have its moment in the sun. But Carrard felt he had to address the media on the human rights issue.
In the lead-up to the vote, Beijing’s rivals, in particular Toronto and Paris, had made much of China’s human rights record. As the members gathered, some 50 protesters assembled outside chanting “Free Tibet”. The Russian police, some wearing riot gear, broke up the protest and six people were seen being taken away in a waiting bus after demonstrators tried to unfurl three banners on the Moscow River embankment, opposite the World Trade Centre where the IOC was meeting. There were reports of 12 arrests.
Xindex
On the evening of 13 July 2001, as Beijing held a press conference in Moscow to celebrate securing the 2008 Olympics, they had an unexpected visitor: François Carrard, the Swiss lawyer who was executive director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Normally on such occasions the IOC keeps its distance and lets the victorious city have its moment in the sun. But Carrard felt he had to address the media on the human rights issue.
In the lead-up to the vote, Beijing’s rivals, in particular Toronto and Paris, had made much of China’s human rights record. As the members gathered, some 50 protesters assembled outside chanting “Free Tibet”. The Russian police, some wearing riot gear, broke up the protest and six people were seen being taken away in a waiting bus after demonstrators tried to unfurl three banners on the Moscow River embankment, opposite the World Trade Centre where the IOC was meeting. There were reports of 12 arrests.
June 12, 2012
England in danger of losing the plot – yet again
PlayUp
The English, who pride themselves on being a pragmatic nation, always able to assess things calmly and rationally, do lose their heads when it comes to football. And they are in great danger of doing so again at these Euros. Now this may seem a strange thing to say, but bear me out.
The nation goes into this competition in a more subdued frame of mind than at any time since Italia 1990, when English clubs were just getting back into European competition after a five year absence due to the awful events at Heysel. This time round it is not hooliganism, but problems in English football management which has meant going into an international competition under a manager who has been in charge for a mere six weeks. Even for a nation that almost boasts of muddling through, this is a bit much.
The English, who pride themselves on being a pragmatic nation, always able to assess things calmly and rationally, do lose their heads when it comes to football. And they are in great danger of doing so again at these Euros. Now this may seem a strange thing to say, but bear me out.
The nation goes into this competition in a more subdued frame of mind than at any time since Italia 1990, when English clubs were just getting back into European competition after a five year absence due to the awful events at Heysel. This time round it is not hooliganism, but problems in English football management which has meant going into an international competition under a manager who has been in charge for a mere six weeks. Even for a nation that almost boasts of muddling through, this is a bit much.
No caviar for Frankie Dettori but he’ll still be in seventh heaven at Royal Ascot
Popular jockey is looking forward to taking on ‘brilliant’ favourite despite his own chances of success being limited
Evening Standard
You only have to see Frankie Dettori leap off his winners to know he is a natural showman. But then he learnt it young, from his mother who was a circus performer in his native Italy. Even so, I was not prepared when he seized my tape recorder and, holding it with both hands like a pop star, looked ready to belt out a tune.
Then, with a smile, he explains: “This is part of my Latin upbringing. People in Italy are much more open and flamboyant than the reserved English.”
Evening Standard
You only have to see Frankie Dettori leap off his winners to know he is a natural showman. But then he learnt it young, from his mother who was a circus performer in his native Italy. Even so, I was not prepared when he seized my tape recorder and, holding it with both hands like a pop star, looked ready to belt out a tune.
Then, with a smile, he explains: “This is part of my Latin upbringing. People in Italy are much more open and flamboyant than the reserved English.”
June 8, 2012
How English football came unstuck
Financial Times
English football likes to see itself as occupying a high moral plain. It also enjoys the praise sometimes lavished on the English game by footballers from more successful nations. At the beginning of the season Uwe Rosler, the former German international now managing Brentford, told me “In my four and a half years I learnt that English football is honest. In Germany sometimes you went down and tried to get a free kick. It was natural and we called it clever play. When I came to Manchester City I did it once or twice. The manager, Brian Horton, and the players came to me and said very clearly, ‘You do that not one more time’. There was a sense of justice in the group.”
Given that England, despite inventing the game, has won nothing since the 1966 World Cup this could be some solace. The fans can say: “We may not win, but we uphold the principles of fair play.” It also fits in with the general national attitude. Despite having had the greatest empire in the world, from which it derived vast benefits, this country – or at least its historians – likes to dwell on the benefits the empire brought to millions and how it was a moral force for the good. Both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan evoked such moral sentiments.
Click here to read more
English football likes to see itself as occupying a high moral plain. It also enjoys the praise sometimes lavished on the English game by footballers from more successful nations. At the beginning of the season Uwe Rosler, the former German international now managing Brentford, told me “In my four and a half years I learnt that English football is honest. In Germany sometimes you went down and tried to get a free kick. It was natural and we called it clever play. When I came to Manchester City I did it once or twice. The manager, Brian Horton, and the players came to me and said very clearly, ‘You do that not one more time’. There was a sense of justice in the group.”
Given that England, despite inventing the game, has won nothing since the 1966 World Cup this could be some solace. The fans can say: “We may not win, but we uphold the principles of fair play.” It also fits in with the general national attitude. Despite having had the greatest empire in the world, from which it derived vast benefits, this country – or at least its historians – likes to dwell on the benefits the empire brought to millions and how it was a moral force for the good. Both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan evoked such moral sentiments.
Click here to read more
June 7, 2012
Of Roy, Rio, John, the Euros and the messy FA banana skin effect
Insideworldfootball.biz
The non-selection of Rio Ferdinand for the Euros now resembles one of those tragedies where you start with one story and end up with something so different you can hardly recognise the starting point. And to think that Rio Ferdinand should be the one who suffers the most collateral damage when he is not even involved in whatever John Terry may or may not have said to his brother Anton.
However, unlike many others in the game, I do not immediately jump to the conclusion that the villain of this piece is Roy Hodgson (pictured below, right). Where the finger must be pointed is not at the England manager, but the FA who have some urgent questions to answer. Why did they give their new manager such a hospital pass? And why have behaved so differently on this issue compared to what happened to Rio himself when he missed a drug test back in 2003.
The non-selection of Rio Ferdinand for the Euros now resembles one of those tragedies where you start with one story and end up with something so different you can hardly recognise the starting point. And to think that Rio Ferdinand should be the one who suffers the most collateral damage when he is not even involved in whatever John Terry may or may not have said to his brother Anton.
However, unlike many others in the game, I do not immediately jump to the conclusion that the villain of this piece is Roy Hodgson (pictured below, right). Where the finger must be pointed is not at the England manager, but the FA who have some urgent questions to answer. Why did they give their new manager such a hospital pass? And why have behaved so differently on this issue compared to what happened to Rio himself when he missed a drug test back in 2003.
Euro race fear
Danny Jordaan, the vice President of the South African Football Association and the man who organised the World Cup in South Africa, has decided not to travel to the Euros for fears of racial problems. Jordaan, who is also a special adviser to FIFA and has taken an active part in the ongoing discussions about the reform of FIFA, has been going to the European championship since Euro 2000. Two weeks ago he was in Budapest for the FIFA Congress and had planned to return to Europe with his family to watch the conclusions of the Euros. He had bought tickets for the semi final in Poland and the final in Ukraine for himself, his wife, and his two children. However, reports of racial problems in the two countries, highlighted in a recent BBC Panorama, has made him change his mind.
June 6, 2012
Ruud Gullit: Lifting this still means more to me than winning the European Cup
Former Holland and AC Milan star who enjoyed great success with both club and country believes the international game is the priority
Evening Standard
Do not tell Ruud Gullit that winning the Champions League matters more than glory with the national team.
Two years ago, just days before his Inter Milan side were crowned kings of Europe, Jose Mourinho claimed that the Champions League was bigger than the World Cup.
Evening Standard
Do not tell Ruud Gullit that winning the Champions League matters more than glory with the national team.
Two years ago, just days before his Inter Milan side were crowned kings of Europe, Jose Mourinho claimed that the Champions League was bigger than the World Cup.
May 30, 2012
Does Sport Matter to Diplomacy?
Chatham House debate
Highlights of the Chatham House debate on the role of sport in diplomacy.
Location
Chatham House, London
Participants
Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Simon Anholt, Independent Policy Advisor
John Steele, Chief Executive Officer, Youth Sport Trust
Chair: Mihir Bose, Writer and Broadcaster
With the upcoming London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the speakers considered:
Can hosting [...]
Highlights of the Chatham House debate on the role of sport in diplomacy.
Location
Chatham House, London
Participants
Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Simon Anholt, Independent Policy Advisor
John Steele, Chief Executive Officer, Youth Sport Trust
Chair: Mihir Bose, Writer and Broadcaster
With the upcoming London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the speakers considered:
Can hosting [...]
May 29, 2012
Why Tom Daley is not a true Olympian . . . by Britain’s teen diving star of 1948
Evening Standard
You would expect Peter ¬Elliott to resent not getting an Olympic ticket. Aged 17, he was the youngest Briton ¬in the 1948 Olympics and is only one of a handful of survivors from those Games alive today.
But Elliott, who hasn’t been to an Olympics since he dived for Great Britain in Helsinki in 1952, just shrugs and says: “I’m not upset about how they’ve treated me. Somebody did phone me out of the blue and said, ‘Do you want tickets?’ I said I wanted tickets for the final of the diving but never heard any more. It seems a bit of a mish-mash. Nobody seems to know what they’re doing.
You would expect Peter ¬Elliott to resent not getting an Olympic ticket. Aged 17, he was the youngest Briton ¬in the 1948 Olympics and is only one of a handful of survivors from those Games alive today.
But Elliott, who hasn’t been to an Olympics since he dived for Great Britain in Helsinki in 1952, just shrugs and says: “I’m not upset about how they’ve treated me. Somebody did phone me out of the blue and said, ‘Do you want tickets?’ I said I wanted tickets for the final of the diving but never heard any more. It seems a bit of a mish-mash. Nobody seems to know what they’re doing.
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