New table based on expected goals predicts Man City will retain Premier League title
An alternative Premier League table based on expected goals has been revealed – and it’s not good news for Chelsea or Arsenal. The English top-flight is back with a bang after Christmas with all 20 sides in action between Boxing Day and December 28. It’s not going well for Chelsea...
Social media: Tools for spreading fantastical theories have never been more powerful than they are today
That frictionless glide on social media from one post to the next, video after video, tweet upon tweet, plays tricks on the mind. Spend enough time in that realm and even the most absurd theories and narratives start to acquire the patina of logic, the ring of reason. How else...
Messi and Mbappe gave us World Cup to cherish in a bland soulless, faceless state in the desert
At the end of it all, the Emir of Qatar dressed Lionel Messi in a flimsy black robe, which seemed to be the ultimate emblem of how a host nation whose own side were so abysmal have claimed him as one of their own. The man in question, crowned player...
World Cup: Africa teems with talent but local leagues should pay players competitive salaries to retain them
In Africa itself, professional football doesn’t do so well, certainly not the club leagues. I’m afraid that, for all the solemn promises and grandiose schemes from Fifa, this will continue. It shouts to the powerhouse football countries that elite-level coaching in the lesser developed world is first-class. And the skills...
Decolonising science: How to confront racism in Black maternal healthcare in the US
Science is steeped in injustice and exploitation. Scientific insights from marginalised people have been erased, natural-history specimens have been taken without consent and genetics data have been manipulated to back eugenics movements. Without acknowledgement and redress of this legacy, many people from minority ethnic groups have little trust in science...
Morocco’s painful loss to France in World Cup semis signals shift in balance of power in football
Morocco can leave Qatar with their heads held high. It was the feet of Theo Hernandez, however, held even higher, that got France through this semi-final. What a battering the world champions took. Ultimately it was Hernandez’s fifth minute goal – the fastest in a World Cup semi-final in 64...
Frugal Morocco have a date with history in semis against reigning World Cup Champions France
Frugal Morocco have a date with destiny as they face off with high-flying World Champions France So Morocco are in the semi-finals of the World Cup, and there is no question that they are there on merit. They have been the most consistent team at this tournament, topping their group...
How former Kenya public service boss Joseph Kinyua, US and Britain saved the country from military rule, upbraided Kenyatta
Three days before Kenya’s elections body announced the outcome of the August 9, 2022 presidential poll, former President Uhuru Kenyatta had twice attempted to frustrate the exercise, and even contemplated installing a military junta if Azimio coalition candidate Raila Odinga was trounced by Kenya Kwanza Alliance candidate William Ruto, allies...
President Obama is still the go-to strategist for Democrats against GOP since Harry Truman’s era
If there was any doubt that Barack Obama remains the Democratic Party’s ablest campaigner, it was removed last week when the former president swept into Georgia for the final push of US Senator Raphael Warnock’s re-election bid. As he did during the last stages of the fall midterm election campaign,...
Numbers don’t lie: Why Kenya’s ‘opaque’ poll officials opted out to escape public scrutiny
On August 11 as Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati was getting ready to announce the presidential election, when he reportedly received communication from “above” to “hold on” until tallies from Tana River were received. The outcome as of August 9 had not – apparently – gone...
