Survival of the fittest

 A new era [View this email in your browser]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, In the words of Mobb Deep’s late lyricist Prodigy: There's a war goin’ on outside no man is safe from. Not even sportsmen, it turns out. Anyone who has watched a European football match in the past two years will be familiar with the ritual of taking a knee before kick-off. It is a reminder, the commentators usually tell us, that the game pales in significance to the serious matters of the real world. But their matter-of-fact tone belies that this is a fresh recognition in the context of the global sport. Until recently, football was quite happy to exist in a vacuum; to delude fans and protagonists alike that there is no issue so severe that it should violate the sanctity of the pitch. If the death of George Floyd hadn’t already clobbered that mindset, then the events of the past few weeks certainly would have. It’s not just that there’s war that’s impossible to ignore. But the consequences of that conflict are being felt to an extent not seen since World War II. European champions Chelsea find themselves in an unprecedented pickle, because their Russia owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the government. The move meant a complete freeze on the club’s spending — no tickets, shirts or anything allowed to be sold that might send a cent back to the overseer. This period of uncertainty has coincided with the M&G scoring a coup in getting on board long-time columnist Richard Calland to apply his sharp pen to the world of sports on a regular basis. In this week’s column he has [little sympathy for Abramovich getting his comeuppance](. Nor, in fact, for the Blues themselves. “To look into the grey, expressionless eyes of the Chelsea owner was to look into the abyss of modern crony capitalism’s excesses and structural injustice,” he writes. “Perhaps it’s unfair to say that this one rich Russian represents that’s all that’s wrong with football, just as it’s hardly fair to argue that Chelsea represent everything that’s wrong and has always been wrong with football. But since football is rarely if ever about what is reasonable and rational, let’s just do so anyway.” Whatever your personal feelings about the club, the situation is shaping up to be an unparalleled mess. South African football is often admonished for allowing the machinations of the boardroom to infringe on sporting integrity, with clubs regularly purchasing top-flight status the obvious example. But it’s now clear that not even the richest league in the world will escape the consequences of their owners’ backdoor dealing. To summon the words of Prodigy once again: There ain't no such things as halfway crooks. Turning away from tumultuous Europe for a second and towards tranquil New Zealand, where the Protea Women are turning up after a slow start at the Cricket World Cup. They are undefeated so far and (somewhat surprisingly) looking like one of the two favourites at this point. We have veteran sports journalist Luke Alfred [covering our progress]( he’ll brave the obscene time differences to bring you analysis of the semifinals and (hopefully) the final. South African cricket bringing home some silverware? That really would cap off these crazy times. Until next week, Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2022 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.