Mr Perfect and Mr 32 Minutes are Guardiola’s nicknames earned for meticulousness but his dad, Valenti, jokes son can’t even change a bulb
Now 92, his father, who lives in the impressive, orange-brick villa he built, told me this week that the long journey to Istanbul was beyond him, although he had managed to be in Manchester to see City lift the Premier League trophy.
Champions League: In the footsteps of Josep Guardiola’s pilgrimage from sleepy Santpedor town to the peppy grandmaster of Man City
Jose Mourinho might think he’s the Special One, but Guardiola, who not only wins more, but wins more aesthetically, is the real deal. Watching his teams, with their ever-evolving tactics, their supremacy is such that they often appear to have an extra player on the field. Away from the training pitch, however, he is no less fascinating.
A humanitarian agency suspends operations in DRC after staff steal $900,000 meant for 1,700 families in South Kivu
An estimated 5.7 million people are displaced in DRC, and there are more than 100 armed movements in the country’s east, where South Kivu is situated. The humanitarian situation has been worsened by an insurgency by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group.
With 60 per cent of its citizens overweight, obese or diabetic Saudi Arabia now taps into football icons to fight menace
There is undoubtedly a public health benefit. Seventy per cent of the population are aged under 35, with the government keen to improve the statistic that some 60 per cent of the population are overweight or obese. One aim, given by Al-Misehal, is to increase the number of registered male players from 21,000 to over 200,000. He did not mention a target for female players.
Inside Arab world plan to pull rag from under Western cultural dominion, expand the emirate via sports
Saudi Arabia’s announcement will also bring controversy. The nation has a terrible human rights record, homosexuality is illegal and there are severe restrictions on freedom of speech and women’s rights. This relaunch will bring accusations of ‘sportswashing’ – that by repackaging its flagship competition for global consumption, Saudi Arabia is attempting to repackage its reputation in front of a global audience.
Bombing of Fulani herders underlines pattern of deadly military assaults in Nigeria ‘overseen’ by US and Britain
Clashes between farmers and semi-nomadic herders have killed more than 3,600 people since 2016 in parts of Nigeria, according to a report published by London-based Amnesty International in December 2018. The violence is often painted as ethnic or religious in nature: chiefly Muslim Fulani herders clashing with mainly Christian farmers. But many experts say climate change and expanding agriculture are creating competition – and conflicts – over access to water and land, regardless of faith or ethnicity.
Bombing, killing of Fulani herders raises human rights concerns about US’ supplies to Nigerian military
The airstrike near the village of Akwanaja provides a stark example of a broader trend: The nation’s military, which is backed by the United States, the UK and other non-Western allies in a long war against Islamist insurgents in the northeast, has been unleashing deadly aerial assaults for years in other parts of the country.
Technology-fuelled racism in football is a haunting throwback to 1980s-style monkey chants and banana-throwing in stadiums
A report last year from Fifa, the governing body of world soccer, showed that more than 50 per cent of players competing in two international tournaments in 2021 – the African Cup of Nations and the European Championship – received some form of discriminatory abuse in more than 400,000 posts on social media. More than a third were of a racist nature.
Kenya and Uganda have copied Chinese policing models, other African countries are following suit
Between 2003 and 2017, African countries secured $3.56 billion in Chinese loans for public security, including surveillance systems, national security networks, and other security wares like anti-riot gear. This figure is almost certainly an undercount given that the bulk of this equipment is included in military sales.
Expert says racism in football is often caused by jealousy of Black players’ flair, exuberance native Europeans lack
Experts believe the global outrage, widespread reaction and outpouring of support for Vinícius following his latest abuse could mark a turning point in the fight against racism in Spain. It certainly struck a chord in Brazil, where there were protests outside the Spanish Consulate in Sao Paulo, while the Spanish league is now seeking to increase its authority to issue sanctions. Its protocol up to now has been to detect and denounce incidents and pass evidence to courts, where cases are typically shelved.
