Ronald McDonald calls for a global ban on meat-product sandwiches. Bears condemn arboreal defecation. David Beckham rails against the morally vapid celebrity bandwagon industry. And in other news Emmanuel Macron, president of France – yes, really, France – has declared on the eve of Qatar 2022 that we should all keep politics out of sport.
As we head into four weeks of mind-bogglingly politicised football theatre, sport as nation-building on a scale the world has barely seen, this has become an increasingly common line from those in power. It was the gist of Gianni Infantino’s pre-tournament letter to European football associations. And in fairness Infantino himself stuck to this line so diligently in Russia four years ago that he ended up at the Kremlin having a medal pinned on his chest and declaring Vladimir Putin to be a friend to the world and an emissary of love. History will judge Infantino accordingly. We have, as they say, the receipts.
