Mark Andrews – Tinkly pianos, slowbalisation and socking it to the Qataris with rainbow armbands
The Football Association could have made a principled decision not to compete at the World Cup in Qatar, in protest at the host country's poor record on human rights. Or it could have said politics has no place in sport, and that it is not our place to tell other nations how to govern themselves.
Either move would have taken a degree of courage, so of course the FA has done neither. Instead, players will take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the tournament, but will do so wearing rainbow-coloured armbands. That should have the authorities quaking in their boots.
And, of course, the FA bigwigs and broadcasters will spend the next month boring all of us at home rigid with stern lectures about diversity.
Funny old game.
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Preparing the ground for this week's raid on our wallets, the Prime Minister, Chancellor and various other ministers produced an online video complete with tinkly piano music.
Now I suspect most of us are quietly resigned to the fact we will be giving more money to the Government and getting less in return. And we all know that when politicians talk about 'those with the broadest shoulders bearing the heaviest burden', they really mean 'screwing the last penny out of middle earners'.
