We saw the best and worst of football in Qatar on Monday as England and Wales kicked off their World Cup campaigns.
FIFA banning Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and other captains from wearing OneLove arm-bands to oppose prejudice, particularly against LGBTQ+ people, was the ugly face of the sport.
Selling football to a Qatari anti-gay regime for a fistful of dollars was a victory for discrimination over decency.
But we also saw an inspiring display of solidarity from Iran’s players.
The team bravely declined to sing their national anthem before the clash with England to express support for anti-regime protests in their home country.
What a courageous show of solidarity when activists believe more than 400 protesters have been killed in a ruthless crackdown.
FIFA should be ashamed, and Iran’s players applauded.
Heroic victory
Finally bowing to pressure from nuclear test veterans for a medal is a welcome climbdown by the Government.
But No10 should have handed them out decades ago before the Mirror championed the heroes’ campaign.
It’s a tragedy only 1,500 of the 22,000 men who took part in 600 blasts in Australia and the South Pacific between 1952 and 1957 are still alive to receive the Nuclear Test Medal, meaning the bulk will go to relatives.
If Rishi Sunak is as grateful to the heroes as he claims then perhaps he could also create a compensation fund for those who believe they and their families suffered from radiation.
See off Big C
A BREAKTHROUGH that could double survival rates of advanced cancer offers huge hope against the deadly disease.
Cancer Research UK calculates around 167,000 Britons die of the illness every year.
Cutting-edge research to lengthen and improve lives is a spur to continue work to save as many of us as possible.
