After Russia 2018, next up on Gianni Infantino's air-miles list was Qatar for 2022. Eyebrows were raised once more due to its less than squeaky clean human rights record, not to mention lack of footballing infrastructure and concerns over the temperature, but nevertheless we got a first winter World Cup after another sackload of oil money made its way to FIFA HQ…
As we continue a whistle-stop tour of World Cups past, we’re also exposing the tone-deafness which seems to plague FIFA's current leader. Having kicked off by exploring the disappointing, if not necessarily surprising, roots of the sort of criticism Gianni Infantino simply carries on swatting away in office to this day, where better to pick up than Russia in 2018, where he made another dubiously powerful friend in Vladimir Putin and got himself a nice shiny Medal of Friendship while he was at it, presumably having learnt more than a few dark arts from his predecessor, Sepp Blatter?
Anyone who followed the awkward, and ever so slightly insidious bromance between Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino which has been increasingly dominant in coverage of the build up to the impending, expanded World Cup across the USA, Canada and Mexico, might be forgiven for wondering if FIFA's current head honcho had bothered to read the history books. Starting with his parental homeland's hosting of the second tournament in 1934…
It's probably fair to say the stakes were far higher for Crawley as they welcomed Shrewsbury to the Broadfield Stadium for their penultimate home game of the League Two season, before hosting Salford City on the final day and probably needing all three points to beat the dreaded exit from the Football League (in the end a goalless draw was enough to avoid the drop).
Last December I had the most serious of ankle breaks, not only has it been a real inconvenience that means I am now 3% Robocop, but it also meant that I'd gone almost four months without embracing the unique experience of live football. However, last month I got back on the horse starting with a local visit to Bristol Rovers, to witness their resurgence under Steve Evans, and now I've got our latest football away day on the board.
Originally, the plan was to visit Luton Town and the unique setting of Kenilworth Road, but after they made the most of their reprieve in the Football League Trophy and reached the final (going on to win it under the guidance of Jack Wilshere), a new destination was needed for our agreed weekend. This led us to (south) east London and the historic home of Charlton Athletic at The Valley, as we knocked off another ground in our unlikely quest to join 'The 92 Club'.