Day 9: Cameroon v Serbia, South Korea v Ghana, Brazil v Switzerland, and Portugal v Uruguay   A couple of days ago, while promoting their crunch final match, the United States Men's teams social media accounts posted their two nations flags, but on Iran's flag, they had removed the Islamic Republic crest. In the press conference on day 9, Carlos Quieroz, Irans coach was asked about that. The most telling part of his answer sums football up, he said:   "I was born in a place in Africa. Some of you know my background. You don't know what one simple ball can do for kids who sometimes fo ..read more

Day 7: Tunisia v Australia, Poland v Saudi Arabia, France v Denmark and Argentina v Mexico And Day 8: Japan v Costa Rica, Belgium v Morocco, Croatia v Canada, & Spain v Germany   Hypocrisy comes in as many shades as a rainbow flag. If you want an example of it, you would do well to find one better than Piers Morgan. On the 2nd June 2015 Piers tweeted: “Russia & Qatar must have their World cups removed. Both bids mired in sleaze & corruption via Blatter & his FIFA cronies”. A tweet which he has since deleted.   Piers has since taken a nice pay cheque to go and work in ..read more

Day 6: Wales v Iran, Qatar v Senegal, Netherlands v Ecuador and England v USA   Day six began with the most emotionally charged game of the Finals so far. Wales v Iran. There was not the nerves of the opening fixture for either side as they lined up for the national anthems. Both teams knew this was their best chance at picking up points and progressing to the next round.   This felt like the game with the most genuine supporters from both sides too. Wales red wall group of supporters belted out "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" – meaning Land of my Fathers, with a roar befitting of their reputat ..read more

Day 5: Switzerland v Cameroon, Uruguay v South Korea, Portugal v Ghana, Brazil v Serbia In the 10 years leading up to this World Cup, Qatar's message was simple: everybody will be welcome. You'll be able to drink alcohol in the stadiums. You'll be able to wear rainbow colours. We only ask you respect our culture. So much for that. Before Wales' game with the USA fans were asked to remove, or had items of clothing confiscated, that had rainbow insignia on. Grant Wahl, a US journalist, was detained by security. He was taken to a room and kept there for over half an hour, they confiscated his pho ..read more

Day 4: Germany v Japan, Spain v Costa Rica, Morocco v Croatia, Belgium v Canada You can't silence democracy. For FIFA and Qatar every day is a school day. It could have been so easy. When I was asked by @Global's network of radio stations about the decision by FIFA to effectively ban the One Love armband, I hadn't given it much thought. To me, it was basically another fairly meaningless gesture in an avalanche of meaningless gestures. How many t-shirts and campaigns and altered logos have we seen down the years? How much has any of the equated to real change? In fact, banning the armband has h ..read more

Day 3: Argentina v Saudi Arabia, Mexico v Poland, Denmark v Tunisia, and France v Australia Qatar have buyers remorse. Sources from Qatar have told The News Agents that: “Nothing good has come to us as a result of this.” Perhaps they could buy Manchester United? And it wasn't the best day for the GOATs of the footballing world, one lost his job and the other was involved in the biggest shock in World Cup history. Just another day in Qatar. Day Two, as you know, saw security officers refusing entry to fans who were wearing items of clothing bearing rainbow symbols. Qatar finds rainbows scary. A ..read more

Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022 World Cup Diary   Day 2: England v Iran, Senegal v Netherlands, & USA v Wales   Another day of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and we woke up to the news that FIFA had threatened the European Football Associations that if they were to wear the One Love captain's armbands adorned with a rainbow heart, that they would receive sporting sanctions, including perhaps a yellow card for the wearer, suspensions from games or even points deductions for the nation.   Remember, the One Love armband had been planned for months, FIFA made a decision on the mornin ..read more

Blood on the Sand: Qatar 2022, World Cup Diary is a daily podcast tracking the news, both on and off the pitch. Day One: The Opening Ceremony and Qatar v Ecuador From the moment Qatar was announced as the hosts of the 2022 World Cup, there has been an uneasy feeling about it. A country smaller than Northern Ireland, with next to no footballing heritage, hosting the biggest tournament of the globe's biggest game seems ludicrous. Would Northern Ireland be named as hosts? I cannot even see why they would ever even bid. And yet Northern Ireland is bigger, has a strong footballing heritage, and wer ..read more