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Sport
Sport
Ken Burns’ Muhammad Ali: the warrior who would not fight
Exhaustive but not exhausting, Mark Dee Smith goes twelve rounds with our side’s most enduring sporting icon
Batting away complaints – Azeem Rafiq and racism in cricket
Repeated failures to address the racial abuse suffered by cricketer Azeem Rafiq illustrates the endemic racism which plagues the game, argues Jamal Elaheebocus
Tokyo Olympics: Lighting the flame of a Covid disaster – CounterBlast
Faster, higher and stronger infections are imminent in Japan due to profit-driven officials and politicians, argues Sean Ledwith
Tory culture wars vs anti-racist good sense
The events of the last week following the Euro 2020 final present an opportunity for anti-racists to take our arguments into every corner of the country, argues Martin Hall
European Super League: is capitalism killing football?
The proposed ESL is an attempt to funnel the most profits to the fewest at the expense of the many, argues Martin Hall
Books to spring into Spring with
As what's seemed like a never-ending lockdown approaches some sort of close, Philosophy Football’s Mark Perryman has been reading up on the sport we’ve lost and what sport might become
The Queen’s Gambit: a riposte to Cold War America
The Queen’s Gambit offers an engaging critique of official Cold War narratives and Western individualism, finds Nathan Street
Black Lives Matter and the terraces: the defenders take the lead
Opposition to taking the knee, an anti-racist action popularised by a global movement, shows how far there's still to go in tackling racism in football
Racism and football: Black Lives Matter, but not for long
Following the resignation of FA chairman Greg Clarke for racist comments, Tony Dowling looks at how football's governing bodies are letting black players down
Confronting boxing's segregation history
Imperialist and racist tactics were used to attempt to ensure both literal and symbolic white dominance of the sport, argues Gavin Lewis
Null and void: sport in a time of Covid-19
The Coronavirus crisis has revealed so much about sport-as-business that is bad, argues Mark Perryman of Philosophy Football
What do they know of Cricket?
England’s Cricket World Cup has Mark Perryman hunting out his favourite CLR James quote to make sense of it all
Football as resistance: women kicking back against bigotry
Shadia Edwards-Dashti, journalist and Actonians football player, highlights the significance of women's football beyond the pitch
Spring into sport
As one sport’s contest approaches its climax another has barely begun - Philosophy Football’s Mark Perryman reviews Spring books for those who measure their years out in seasons not months
Success for England will mean what we make it mean
As England prepare to take on Colombia tonight, Philosophy Football’s Mark Perryman outlines what we might or might not be able to look forward to
Le Tour: Nothing to lose but our chains
As the annual cycling spectacle of the Tour De France begins, Mark Perryman argues the case for two wheels good
After the eating and drinking, the sport?
A selection of 2017 sporting reads by Mark Perryman for the post-festive recovery period
Olympics: social democratic Team GB vs freemarket England Team
Mark Perryman outlines what Great Britain’s Olympic success does mean - and what it doesn’t mean
Sports reading: more of a marathon than a sprint
Mark Perryman of Philosophy Football offers his reading selection for a summer of sport
Never stop us dreaming
As Euro 2016 begins Mark Perryman offers an 11-point plan finally to end England’s years of hurt
Catching up with Portugal: the nature of English decline
50 years ago England beat Portugal in the ’66 World Cup Final but Mark Perryman argues English decline has left England racing to keep up with their Euro rivals
The Exclusion Games: what went wrong with Brazil’s Olympic dream?
It’s business as usual beneath the bread and circuses of Rio 2016, argues radical ethnographer Adam Talbot
The England Squad: an imagined community of eleven named people
Mark Perryman of Philosophy Football explores what the announcement of the Euro 2016 squad says about modern Englishness
Hillsborough: Football’s greatest hurt
Mark Perryman argues that Hillsborough needs to be understood not just as a human tragedy but a consequence of how football was changing in the 1980s
In a stink about a pink St George Cross
Professional controversialist Toby Young has got himself all in a froth about a pink St George Cross at England’s international this week
They took the words right out of our mouth
Mark Perryman of
Philosophy Football
applauds Dortmund fans’ resistance to a European Superleague
Beyonce, black lives and the Super Bowl
Musician Dave Randall looks at the furore surrounding Beyonce's performance at the Super Bowl
Top Ten Sports Books for 2016
Mark Perryman of
Philosophy Football
picks his favourite reads for the new sporting year
Autumn books for the Corbyn effect
Mark Perryman from
Philosophy Football
provides a rundown of new books for the #jezwecan majority
Here comes the summer of sport
Mark Perryman reviews the best of this Summer’s Sports Books
Liberté, Égalité, Vélocité
Mark Perryman makes the case for a two-wheeled revolution
Football’s Minority Movement
In the face of the Premier League’s conspicuous consumption Mark Perryman wonders where the fans’ fury might end up?
For the good of the game?
Mark Perryman of
Philosophy Football
queries the worth of Football's latest TV deal
Je suis Cantona
Next Saturday is the 20th anniversary of Eric’s Selhurst Park Kung Fu kick assault on a supporter.
Philosophy Football's
Mark Perryman celebrates a night when football took sides
Not much peace, plenty of ill will, a good seasonal read needed please
Mark Perryman of
Philosophy Football
offers his top ten books to buy to make somebody’s Christmas
Greatcoats for goalposts: celebrating the Christmas Truce of 1914
Mark Perryman of
Philosophy Football
considers different ways of marking the centenary of World War One
Beyond the froth
Mark Perryman of
Philosophy Football
picks out the best of the autumn sports books
Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: the World Cup, the Olympics and the Fight for Democracy
It was perfectly fair to enjoy the World Cup and carry on fighting for a better future, argues Orlando Hill
Petition: Suspend the Israeli Football Association's FIFA membership
Membership of the Israeli Football Association (IFA) should be suspended until Israel respects the human rights of Palestinians and observes international law, thus enabling Palestinian footballers to play and compete nationally and internationally
Dazzled and humiliated: Leonardo Boff offers his analysis of the Brazil v Germany match
Orlando Hill writes on the role of corporate contamination in Brazil's humiliating defeat in the World Cup
Reading le tour
Mark Perryman reviews books that can help frame our enjoyment of the Tour de France