Sam Kunti

Cuckoo in the nest? Part I - josimarfootball.com As the UK government considers introducing a blanket ban on advertising for unlicensed bookmakers in football, Newcastle United has become the latest Premier League club  to become the partner of myst...

New for @josimarfootball.bsky.social: part 1 of our investigation into 8Xbet, the new unlicensed betting partner of Newcastle United, who now sponsor *nine* English clubs - when the government is making noises about a full ban of unlicensed bookmakers. Really?

josimarfootball.com/2026/03/09/c...

Jesper Moller has been re-elected as chairman of the DBU.

He got his new term under way with a zinger: "We have not been involved in the peace prize and, as a consequence of our principled approach, we do not have a position on the award it."

Dozens killed as Israeli special forces raid Lebanese village in search of 40-year-old remains Overnight, one Israeli operation saw at least 41 people killed and 40 injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Pretty serious allegation here. "Witnesses told the BBC that the Israeli soldiers had arrived disguised in Lebanese military fatigues and used ambulances with signs of Hezbollah's Islamic Health Organization."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Silent slaughter - josimarfootball.com Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

Last call for this.

josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

Not a word about the minimum wage, freedom of association, legal representation for workers,...

Then again, when the ILO renewed its technical cooperation with Qatar in 2024, its own evaluation noted that it had no actual input from the more than 2 million workers in the country.

The Joint Work Program, funded to the tune of $19 million, also raises eyebrows.

This line is also remarkable: "The ILO-Qatar partnership is firmly anchored in the objects of Qatar National Vision 2030."

The report discloses that Qatar has supported the ILO office Doha with a budget of $39,9 million since 2018.

It pays off to 'pay off' the International Labour Organization.

A February report from the ILO showers Qatar with praise.

"Reforms...that have transformed the country's labour landscape....unprecedented policy milestones..."

You get the gist.

Putin's strategy in sport has been disrupted by Russian exclusion As international sports bodies move to reintegrate Russia, they once again stress the “neutrality” of sport. Stanis Elsborg argues that this language obscures what has really been achieved by excludin...

"The language of neutrality has returned with force - one in which neutrality absolves responsibility."

An important ready by @staniselsborg.bsky.social as Russia returns to the fold tonight.

www.playthegame.org/news/excludi...

Silent slaughter - josimarfootball.com Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

Silent Slaughter

By Zohreh Abdollahkhani for @josimarfootball.bsky.social.

josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

No further comment.

"HERE WE GO!": the lowdown on "football journalist" Fabrizio Romano The Italian "influencer" who has never worked as a real journalist, has 100m+ followers on social media and leverages them for cash. This is a tale about modern sports media

"HERE WE GO!": the lowdown on "football journalist" Fabrizio Romano

sportingintelligence832.substack.com/p/here-we-go...

The Mbappe Project: Making a Superstar Making a Superstar

Publication day! My new book, "The Mbappé Project", is officially out today. It is not a biography, but an attempt to understand and explain how a football prodigy was built into a global star by his entourage and by himself, retaining control every step of the way.

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

New arrival.

The great Gleeson has detailed the life and times of the South African great.

Silent slaughter - josimarfootball.com Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

By Zohreh Abdollahkhani

josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

Excellent choice for a first guest.

Silent slaughter - josimarfootball.com Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.

'Silent Slaughter'

By Zohreh Abdollahkhani for @josimarfootball.bsky.social.

* Warning: it's a brutal (but very necessary) read.

josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...

Dadá Maravilha turns 80 today.

"Dadá went from the periphery and margins to the spotlight. In many ways, he embodied the ‘Brazilian miracle’. Dadá was Brazil."

Book extract about the 1970 World Cup winner in issue 47 of @theblizzard.bsky.social

👉 theblizzard.co.uk/the-salesman...

David Squires on … Gianni Infantino’s accomplishments in 10 years as Fifa supremo Our cartoonist on a decade of magic moments in the big job for world football’s leading ‘man of the people’

"He doesn’t like to talk about it, but last week Gianni Infantino celebrated a decade as FIFA supremo. Hooray! It feels like an appropriate time to list some of the accomplishments of the man Donald Trump called the king of s̶y̶c̶o̶p̶h̶a̶n̶t̶s̶ soccer…"

www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

Issue 60 of The Blizzard, edited as ever by @jonawils.bsky.social, is out now and packed with wonderful long-form football writing from @philippeauclair.bsky.social, @verypopularname.bsky.social and more

More here 👇 theblizzard.co.uk/shop/issues/...

From yesterday.

Do read @anamariecox.bsky.social's first reply as well - Polymarket's response.

“.. This is your peace prize. It is also a beautiful medal that you can wear everywhere you want to go.”

The Board of Peace is already fostering cooperation and producing results, as two of its members joined forces to launch a war today

«Donald Trump er ingen verdig vinner av en fredspris».

Og nevner: Toll, trusler, utmelding av internasjonale avtaler, alternative organisasjoner, rasisme, ICE..

«Infantino roser Trumps ledelse» og nevner hans samkvem med diktatorer. #Tinget2026

Follow @josimarfootball.bsky.social for all the latest from the NFF congress.

Two important motions: suspension of Israel and discontinuation of the FIFA Peace Prize.

#Tinget2026

Thank God for the FIFA Peace Prize

😂

Throwback to November 1982.

The evergreen Mr Radnedge was associate editor at the time.

In today's Tribune de Genève.

👉 www.tdg.ch/iran-des-foo...