Let’s just say that Maradona never did seem like a guy who was going to live to see 90. But he surely was one of the greatest players who ever played the world’s most popular game.
Tag: soccer
I have been unusually transfixed by this year’s World Cup, where histories of European identity and empire are so clearly on display. [updated 15 July] We’re headed into the last week, and
This is the grave of Malcolm Glazer. Born in Rochester in 1928 to Jewish immigrant parents, Glazer grew up fairly poor, working in his father’s watch repair shop. Ambitious though, he took his w
What will Americans who look down on sports except for embracing the single most corrupt and nationalistic sport on the planet do during the World Cup?
Above: Ousted FIFA president Sepp Blatter Sepp Blatter is a man who works strictly in subtlety. But for Blatter, a man who makes Donald Trump seem modest and reticent, this is a moment to preen. Holdi
Even when female athletes become national heroes, as which happened with the U.S. soccer team, they receive second-class citizenship compared to male athletes. This isn’t just in pay or televisi
Sigh: In the Women’s World Cup, the USA soccer team took the championship against Japan on Sunday—just not with their pocketbooks. In fact, they are being paid 40 times less than their male counterparts. In a Politico piece, Mary Pilon points out that the National Women’s Soccer League salaries range from $6,000 to $30,000 and […]
Minky Worden argues at Human Rights Watch that while corruption is a major issue, the new FIFA director needs to prioritize worker safety in building World Cup facilities. FIFA’s (non-corruption) pr
1200 dead workers building World Cup projects in Qatar so far. This compares to just a handful of workers dying for other major sporting events in recent years, even in relatively poor nations like Br
That Qatar World Cup is really setting a new standard for labor rights: Thousands of migrant labourers from North Korea are toiling for years on construction sites in Qatar for virtually no pay – including on the vast new metropolis that is the centrepiece of the World Cup – in what may amount to “state-sponsored […]
I intended to post this on Friday, but the time I had carved out on Friday for this unexpectedly became unavailable, and this past weekend (like most in England) was consumed by my lovely daughter. Th
The group draws for Brazil 2014, which starts next week, are not quite balanced, and I’m writing my usual ill-advised predictions for the group stages. As I wrote in December, there was much whi