You can let football be the escape we all want it to be, just accept that hypocrisy is everywhere, and give yourself a pass.
For City, don’t talk about the charges laid down by the same man who handed them their Premier League medals last week, nor Abu Dhabi’s record – according to Amnesty – on arbitrary detention, LGBTQ+ rights and torture. Much the same goes for all state-run clubs. Just where are the benevolent billionaires?
A lot of people don’t care. Many journalists and broadcasters ignore it or allude to it once and think their job is done. Gay allies taking money from Qatar to promote the World Cup. “
Today I feel gay.” Today I care about other gay people. Sorry, how much? OK, I care about my LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters but only within the nearest 4,000 miles.
To divorce the two seems the only way. Are you still listening to Michael Jackson? Do you still nostalgically remember Gordon the Gopher, even after last week? I want to love that Alexander Isak run. I want to delight in Erling Haaland’s pure massiveness. And of course similarly powerless United fans could be in the same predicament pretty soon.
And it’s not just them. Don’t mention the player on bail amid allegations of rapes bossing the [redacted] for [redacted] helping them to [redacted] place. Don’t keep highlighting corruption or gambling addiction. Forget the racism and the abuse of referees. Don’t mention the continuing sexist abuse female presenters and pundits receive. It’s a long, depressing list.