The decision to postpone last weekend’s football fixtures caused a huge backlash against the Premier League, EFL and Football Association.
And it also came as something of a shock to other sports who were on a DCMS conference call last Friday morning when Government officials tried to give the different bodies advice after the death of the Queen. It is understood that several participants on the call - which started at 9.20am - left thinking that the Premier League would definitely play on and play their games last weekend.
Perhaps that even influenced the thinking of other sports and why the likes of cricket, rugby and golf all played last weekend, albeit the ECB had the benefit of being able to postpone Friday’s play and then continue with the South Africa Test match the following day. But there was genuine shock in other sports and among other participants when just over an hour later the Premier League announced all games were off!
Meanwhile, other sports decided to play on… were they influenced by football? We can never know for sure but that was the strong feeling from people on that call. The Premier League has stressed that they could not have taken any decision without the approval of the 20 clubs and it was a shareholders’ meeting which ultimately decided.
Some clubs have expressed surprise there was not more clear guidance in place over what to do in the event of the Queen’s death bearing in mind there is always so much forward planning. But the DCMS have been determined to allow sports to decide what is the best way to pay respect and that was the essence of the call.
Campaigners write to Newcastle
Campaign group Reprieve has written to three North East MPs and leading councillors urging them to push Newcastle United’s hierarchy into engaging with human rights campaigners to use football as a “positive change for good.”
Reprieve is highlighting the number of executions in Saudi Arabia and human rights abuses and urging the club to begin dialogue rather than allow Newcastle to become complicit in “sportswashing.”
Soraya Bauwens, Deputy Director of Reprieve, said: “The Newcastle takeover is one of the ways the Government of Saudi Arabia is trying to re-shape its global image.
“If this proceeds without any constructive dialogue on human rights this will send a message to Saudi Arabia’s Government that it can use Newcastle FC to ‘sportswash’ its atrocities, and that Newcastle will turn a blind eye.”
Greatest goal never seen
There will be cameras beaming footage worldwide from Tottenham’s game with Leicester on Saturday.
But, back on October 5, 1968, Jimmy Greaves scored what many believe was the greatest goal you never saw. His remarkable solo effort, when Tottenham beat Leicester 3-2, was also against one of the all time great keepers in Peter Shilton. Incredibly, there were no TV cameras.
There is a lovely section on it in Mike Donovan’s terrific new book on Greaves - English football’s greatest goalscorer with 357 goals in 516 top flight games - entitled The Jimmy Greaves We Knew which has got so many great stories and memories.
Wenger and Wiegman teaming up
Arsene Wenger and Sarina Wiegman together with Jordi Cruyff will take part in the Cruyff Legacy Summit at the Johan Cruyff Arena on September 21.
It will mark the year of what would have been Cruyff’s 75th birthday and illustrates the remarkable work the Foundation does to develop sports projects for young people.
Scout secrets
A terrific book “Anatomy of a football scout: an in-depth look at player recruitment” reveals a few inside trade secrets written by Jon Cotterill.
In the book, it reveals how Cotterill flagged up several Brazilian stars to Premier League clubs including Arthur Melo FIVE years ago, West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá FOUR years ago and Manchester United’s mega-signing Antony three years ago.
There is no exact science to scouting but this book is a fascinating look at identifying talent.
FIFA alarm bells
FIFA are raising alarm bells with their failure to answer questions over Celtic signing Denmark midfielder Oliver Abildgaard from Russian club Rubin Kazan.
There are strict rules in place to free players from Russian clubs until 2023 following the invasion of Ukraine and also strict sanctions and bans on Russian football.
Celtic are well within their rights to sign him, they have described it as a “season-long loan” and his contract expires in 2024 which raises an interesting question because his value would have dropped dramatically next year when he only has 12 months left.
But despite the issue and this transfer being raised with FIFA, world football’s governing body have stayed silent. Considering criticism they did not do enough in the early stages of the conflict, you would think they would be more transparent especially with players’ futures at stake.
