People keep waiting for Lionel Messi to say or talk about politics; otherwise, they argue, they can’t make up their minds about where he stands. But just look at how he moves and what he does. That will tell you everything. For example, elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/goat-tours
And back in Argentina, he sides with the right elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/the-argent...
Lionel Messi has allegience to one thing: money elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/goat-tours...
More on Carlos Ward, who passed away in January 2026. elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/the-sideman
Abdullah Ibrahim (born 1934) and Carlos Ward (1940 - 2026) in Nyon, Switzerland, 1983. By Dany Gignoux.
Give the good people at @goldengoalmag.bsky.social all your money: www.kickstarter.com/projects/mag...
Rahima Gambo, 2017.
El País summarizes the Bodo Glimt philosophy: "All for one ... always together under the banner of Scandinavian socialist corporatism."
Credit where it’s due: South Africa saw Trump’s tariff chaos for what it is: domestic U.S. theatre. It’s not about deracialisation, foreign policy, or “white genocide” myths. Don’t expect Business Day, News24, the DA, or other Western-leaning critics in South Africa to admit it.
Biodun Jeyifo (5 January 1946 – 11 February 2026). Google him.
From @tonykaron.bsky.social on World Cup danger:
"The physical safety of visiting black and brown fans is now threatened not only by the mass shooters...
The government itself, via its violent, racist, and unaccountable enforcement of immigration laws, represents an arguably more palpable threat."
Are we surprised mainstream Western liberal media have ignored the CPJ report on the torture of Palestinian journalists in Israeli captivity? Nope. Because the genocide has exposed the fundamental racism of Western liberal media
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Gianni Infantino has facilitated the imperial capture of the World Cup. By @tonykaron.bsky.social.
Hard to imagine a more personally targeted set of podcast episodes... Following this one up with @seanjacobs.bsky.social talking about AFCON and football politics...
My Eleven Named People week’s newsletter pairs old partners (Israel and LeBron James), announces a course by Tony Karon and me, and includes an interview I did with @endofsportpod.bsky.social podcast. elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/wednesday-...
Make sure to check out Eleven Named People, including @privaricate.bsky.social's latest on Hindutva and cricket:
You can watch the episode on YouTube here:
elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/crickets-g...
You can watch the episode on YouTube here:
youtu.be/OgZu9Ea3XTU?...
On @endofsportpod.bsky.social ep176 the team sit down with @seanjacobs.bsky.social for a conversation on how AFCON's shift to a four-year cycle has implications for African football and the role media plays in addressing issues surrounding the World Cup.
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
On the history of the sports boycott in South Africa by @seanjacobs.bsky.social. From yesterday's episode
That time Kwame Nkrumah organized a boycott of the World Cup ,and it worked:
elevennamedpeople.substack.com/p/boycott-talk
That Aston Villa v Newcastle FA Cup game was Exhibit 1,000,003 why we need VAR.
Let's GOOOOOOOOO @resistanceschool.bsky.social
@tonykaron.bsky.social just wrote on his canceled class he co-taught with @seanjacobs.bsky.social on Global Soccer and World Politics -- apparently it was so popular it caught Jeffery Epstein's attention (not for THOSE reasons though)
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Here we go. New course at @resistanceschool.bsky.social: THE WORLD CUP & THE POLITICS OF FOOTBALL — a 6-week course using the 2026 World Cup as a backdrop. Late April–June. Weekly classes, 6–8 pm EST. Taught by @tonykaron.bsky.social & me. www.resistancestudiesseries.com/worldcupwait...
Mauricio Pochettino is as delusional as his political hero, Javier Millei: "USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino told Trump USA can win World Cup" www.usatoday.com/story/sports...
Manchester United right-wing co-owner Jim Ratcliffe believes that Britain has been “colonised by immigrants." He lives in Monaco.
"We have a racist president, who is prejudiced, misogynistic, who doesn’t value anyone outside of himself" (Olympian Carl Lewis, 2019).
The Doctor's Pact (Making sense of postapartheid South Africa's trajectory over 30 years via the prism of football.)
Rest in power, Nikki Giovanni:
"I come from athletes - kneeling is a sign of love."
"... It never ceases to amaze me how even the most encumbered cultural elites in the U.S. exhibit a deep lack of interest and understanding for any social, cultural, and historical phenomena happening outside the U.S., outside of the idea of “American interest in the world" (Mariano Siskind).
