Category: Sport

Yulia Tymoshenko & The People’s Republic Of Sport

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Yulia Tymoshenko waves to supporters from her prison cell. Image via huffingtonpost.

Rumours that several nations are considering a boycott of EURO 2012 games to held in Ukraine have given rise to questions about the role of politics in sport once again. At the beginning of May it was reported that Austria would not be attending  fixtures held in the country as they were “concerned …  about the prison conditions of the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.” Yesterday, the BBC confirmed that the venue set to host the final, the Olimpiysky stadium in Kiev, has received just 50 bookings for VIP seats.

Tymoshenko was jailed last year after a trial condemned for being politically motivated.

Continue reading “Yulia Tymoshenko & The People’s Republic Of Sport” →

Tony Thompson & Wladimir Klitschko: Laugh Now, Receive Head Injury Later

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Image: REUTERS/Pascal Lauener.

Tony Thompson got the giggles during his face-off with Wladimir Klitschko at the Stade De Suisse yesterday. Thompson is due to fight Klitschko in a mandatory bout at the stadium in July – a prospect that shouldn’t provoke uncontrollable laughter.

Maybe he heard that Frank Warren’s opportunism regarding David Haye’s post fight press conference scuffle with Dereck Chisora last May has paid off.

I certainly allowed my head to drop when I heard. Onto my desk. Repeatedly.

The Sun vs. Roy Hodgson: Pronounced Persecution

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Front page of thesun.co.uk, 02/05/12.

It’s looks as though the English press are coping really well with the embarrassment of being blindsided by the FA in the appointment of Roy Hodgson as England manager.

With this kind of support from ‘the nations’s favourite‘ newspaper, England cannot fail to perform at the European Championships.

Brazil 2014: No, Honestly. It’s Easier If They’re Drunk…

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Image: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images.

I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but I suspect the police in Brazil are going to have to something about their numbers before the World Cup hits the country in 2014.

Luckily, drinking is prohibited in Brazilian stadia in order to minimise violence. Imagine if all those people were… wait, what? FIFA have demanded that the ban be lifted for the duration of the competition? And Brazil have reluctantly agreed?

Oh Lordy.

Gavin Henson: Where Is My Mind?

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Image: REUTERS/Eddie Keogh.

Oh Gav. If only you’d have been wearing your body map shirt on Saturday morning. Then you might have remembered that being drunk on a flight and aggravating fellow passengers by throwing ice cubes at them is not conducive to rebuilding your career and representing your country at the sport you love.

Well, you’ve got plenty of time to think about it now, haven’t you?

Sepp Blatter: Negotiation Tactics

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Image: REUTERS/Agencia Brasil/Antonio Cruz via Daylife.

Here’s Sepp Blatter overseeing another massive carve up.

This time, the FIFA head honcho was in Brazil to meet president Dilma Rousseff, after claims that building work for the 2014 World Cup was behind schedule. He said negotiations went very well.

But then, if you ask him, so did his drive against racism in football.

The Cheltenham Festival: A View From The Trenches

Posted on by Kelly Welles

How very… titillating. Image: REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth.

I’ve lived in Cheltenham for much of my life and therefore feel totally qualified to chip in on this whole ‘Cheltenham Festival/Massacre’ debate.

However, it should probably be noted that if I lived in Guatemala, I would still feel the need to stick my nose in. The faster internet connection I would invariably have if this was the case would merely encourage me.

Continue reading “The Cheltenham Festival: A View From The Trenches” →

Boxing Showcase: Vitali Klitschko vs. Dereck Chisora vs. David Haye

Posted on by Kelly Welles

This little altercation took place after Vitali Klitschko comprehensively beat Dereck Chisora to retain his WBC Heavyweight Championship belt on Saturday night.

The fact that David Haye felt that someone else’s post fight press conference was an appropriate place to articulate his perceived persecution in the sport, not to mention promoter Frank Warren’s opportunistic attempt to make another moneyspinning fight out of the whole sorry mess, probably says more about boxing today than the state of Haye’s career.

But not by much.

The Darwin Awards: Misogynist Sports Fans Category

Posted on by Kelly Welles

Image via twitter.

This screen shot is apparently from a complaint form on ESPN USA.

One can only hope that it is a devious tactic employed by the staff at ESPN to filter out the idiots in the viewing population. The option is clicked, the IP address is stored, and a troupe of pre-menstrual ESPN presenters (female and male) go round and issue a good kicking to the fool in question.

Probably not though.

If you are unfamiliar with the brilliant Darwin Awards website, check it out here. You won’t be sorry.