Sports Poets Society

Just Pictures/sipa USA via ReutersNasser al-Khelaïfi,  lors du tirag au sort  de la Ligue des champions, le 27 août, à Monaco. Le dirigeant qatarien avait pris la tête du club le 4 novembre 2011. En sport et en business, bilan d’une quinzaine d’années marquantes. « Il aime, et je le pense très sincèrement,  le club,  les joueurs et les supporteurs.  Il sait vraiment prendre des décisions  qui peuvent être dures »    - Alain Cayzac Ancien président du PSG 4 Nov 2026 - Le Figaro Christophe Remise Quinze ans. Quelques mois après le rachat du club par Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), le PSG se dotait officiellement d’un nouveau président, Nasser alkhelaïfi, le 4 novembre 2011. Proche de celui qui allait devenir l’émir du Qatar, Tamim Ben Hamad al-Thani , cet ancien tennisman de 52 ans fête ce mercredi ses quinze ans à la tête du club. L’an dernier, il avait déjà dépassé le légendaire Francis Borelli en termes de longévité. Critiqué par les uns, attaqu...

The rot goes beyond Carrick but keeping him feels cruel Already under huge pressure, United’s head coach surely can’t survive this loss 1 Nov 2026 - TH OBSERVER / Sport Jessy Parker Humphreys Stamford Bridge Manchester United celebrated the denouement of Celebrity Traitors on Friday night by playing their own version at Stamford Bridge. Lisandro Martínez was the obvious pick for traitor as he trudged off the pitch after two yellow-card offences in the space of 83 seconds, the latter a reckless challenge on Wesley Fofana which earned Chelsea a penalty. Catherine Ivill/Getty - Head loss: Manchester United’s Martínez  is sent off after receiving two yellow cards in four minutes. Bruno Fernandes also showed he could take on the role. After stabbing his head coach in the front by publicly criticising his tactics in an interview with TNT Sports after their 4-1 defeat to Como, he seemed to believe stabbing him in the back might be more effective. Despite the “clear the air” talks with Mic...

Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty ‘Plenty of people claim they were there for  his debut but there were very few of us’     - Leyton Orient fanzine editor 1 Nov 2026 -  Sport Andrew Butler About 200 Leyton Orient fans were there to witness Harry Kane’s senior debut 15 years ago – it was the beginning of a remarkable career that has featured no scandal, continuous improvement and now, at last, formal recognition as the best player on the planet It was a game that should have been forgotten, according to Keith Hill. The then-Rochdale manager, furious that his side's match against Leyton Orient went ahead due to bad weather, said the 1-1 draw “wasn't a spectacle, it was a farce”. He went on: “I don't think the game should have been played. That's forgotten now, it's history.” Unfortunately for Hill, that game in January 2011 will never be forgotten. In the 73rd minute, a 17-year-old, doughy-faced Harry Kane entered a senior football match for the first time. “It w...

Premier League blackout call on horizon ‘We’ve got to take that decision at some point’     - Richard Masters Premier League CEO 30 Oct 2026 - The Guardian Matt Hughes The Scottish Premiership has made the first move in what is expected to be a coordinated attempt from the UK’s domestic leagues to remove the Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout by inviting bids to televise all of its matches in the next rights cycle from 2029 . A tender document issued by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) last week is understood to have given broadcasters an option to bid for live rights to all matches, including games kicking off at 3pm on Saturdays, the domestic broadcast of which is currently prohibited under Article 48 of Uefa’s statutes. The Guardian revealed last year that the Premier League and English Football League were eager for the blackout to be lifted because they have concluded that selling more matches to broadcasters is the best way to raise revenues,...

United cleaned the air 29 Oct 2026 - The Guardian Jamie Jackson Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes have held clear-the-air talks after the Manchester United captain criticised the head coach’s tactics last week, with the player now expected to start at Chelsea on Saturday. Carrick and Fernandes met before training on Tuesday at United’s Carrington training base. The 32-yearold captain, it is understood, offered assurances that he is fully committed and intent on trying to turn the team’s season around. There was also a squad meeting with Carrick at which the rest of the players made the same vow. Dismal results have left Carrick’s job in the balance. Later on Tuesday it emerged that the 45-year-old will remain in charge for the trip to Chelsea after Jason Wilcox, the director of football, decided he should be given more time. But to remain as the head coach for the long term, Carrick has to start winning games. So having dropped Fernandes, considered United’s best player, for the 3-0 ...

JADE GAO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Mbappé’s face is a common sight on buses and in subways in China.  His commerical deals may be worth £22.6m annually Sorry state ‘It’s a race to cut ties the quickest,  who can be the most patriotic’ 29 Oct 2026 - The Guardian Rebecca Bailey It’s been a bad start to the week for the Kylian Mbappé. The France forward missed out on the Ballon d’Or and instead became the latest addition to a less illustrious list – that of foreign brands and individuals charged with “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people”. The saga began when a video of the player making light of a meme involving him and China’s former leader Mao Zedong began spreading. Mbappé found himself condemned online, dropped by brands, then held responsible for state television suspending La Liga from its schedule. On Tuesday Mbappé apologised – “My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China” – as did La Liga, which released a statement saying it “deeply r...

Sept ans avant la controverse entre la Chine et Kylian Mbappé , la ligue nord-américaine de basket avait été confrontée à une situation semblable. En octobre 2019, un court message du manager général des Houston Rockets avait créé un conflit avec le gouvernement en place. “Il est inconcevable d’avoir des échanges et des coopérations  avec  des  Chinois sans connaître ni comprendre l’opinion publique chinoise"    - GENG SHUANG, PORTE- PAROLE DU MINISTÈRE       CHINOIS DES AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES 28 Oct 2026  L'Équipe VICTOR LENGRONNE Le tollé provoqué en Chine par les propos de Kylian Mbappé , qui a qualifié en plaisantant dans une vidéo Mao Zedong de « dictateur » , et le boycott qui s’est ensuivi ne sont pas sans rappeler une controverse survenue il y a plus de sept ans et qui a ébranlé la NBA. Le 4 octobre 2019, le manager général des Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey , dégainait un tweet. « Battons-nous pour la liberté. Debout aux côtés de Hon...

FRANCK FIFE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Harry Kane kisses the Ballon d’Or trophy after his triumph on Monday The England captain spoke movingly on a night of deserving winners and unintentional hilarity in London, writes Barney Ronay At Bayern, Kane has become glossed and handsome, jawline, tan, iconic Vampire hairline 28 Oct 2026 - The Guardian Barney Ronay Well, there’s something new. Football: now available in new, genuinely heartwarming flavour. There was a lovely moment at London’s Palladium theatre on Monday, with the clock creeping towards 11pm at the end of a startlingly shrill and bloated evening of never-ending awards and never-ending award-related excitement. Not just for Harry Kane, who is now the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or winner, and in the process placed indelibly in that lineage of elite footballers. But also, frankly, for anyone watching, as Kane stood on stage gazing a little shyly at his golden orb, and kicked off his speech by thanking everyone, paying tribute to everyone, everywh...

Arrivé à Londres avec des rêves de consécration plein la tête, le capitaine des Bleus en est reparti sans titre mais avec un scandale international. « Je présente mes excuses à toutes celles  et à tous ceux que mes mots ont heurtés.  Ce n’était absolument pas mon intention.  J’ai un profond respect pour le peuple chinois et son histoire,  et je suis sincèrement désolé »    - Kylian Mbappé footballeur international        et attaquant au Real Madrid « Kylian a su bien mettre dans la tête des jurés ce qu’il a fait,  dans une année de Coupe du monde où il y avait plusieurs favoris…  mais qui ne cochaient peut-être pas tous les critères non plus »    - Vincent Garcia rédacteur en chef de France Football « Tout propos ou tout acte qui blesse les sentiments du peuple chinois  se heurte naturellement à un rejet commun de la part de l’ensemble de la société chinoise »    - Guo Jiakun porte-parole du ministère...

ALBERT GEA/REUTERS  Real Madrid players explode with joy after Kylian Mbappé’s winning goal in the clásico,  which cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to three points The win at Camp Nou stopped Barcelona building a significant lead at the top and reignited the title race Mourinho racked up his sixth consecutive meeting with Barça without defeat 27 Oct 2026 - The Guardian Sid Lowe José Mourinho had already done the por qué?, the printout and the press conference no-show in under 100 days. Now he’s done a knee slide too, and in the perfect place: back where it all began and where it can all begin again. When Kylian Mbappé scored the first in the Clásico on Sunday, Real Madrid’s manager hardly moved, sitting in the shadow of the bench – but when the striker got the second to win it with time running out, Mourinho leapt into the light, throwing himself to the grass, the knees of a 63-year-old’s trousers muddy as a schoolboy’s, stuck his tongue out and pumped his fists. H...