... In the Middle East, on the other hand, soccer must compete with radical Islamism for the attentions of the young. Both have their pin-ups, their romantic warrior-heroes, their narrative of victimhood (the whole Israel-Palestine question boils down to little more than a prodigious case of "We woz robbed"), their irrational closed-minded team-loyalties, their hooliganism. Both are powerful vehicles for male bonding. The more football there is, the less terrorism there is likely to be.
The Qataris have done us all a huge favour. I suspect the principality's most famous resident, Ken Livingstone's old mate Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi, won't like it one bit. [Heresy Corner] Read more
