Sports Poets Society

il caso La battuta su Mao fa infuriare la Cina Mbappé scaricato dagli sponsor In un video ripostato dopo mesi, la star del Real definisce il leader "un dittatore". La tv oscura la Liga, poi le scuse GIANLUCA MODOLO La Repubblica - Mercoledì 28 ottobre 2026 Pagina 41 Un cartellino rosso pesante quello che la Cina ha mostrato a Kylian Mbappé. Nel giro di 24 ore l'attaccante del Real Madrid si è visto cancellare sponsorizzazioni (immaginiamo) milionarie, ha fatto saltare le partite del campionato spagnolo dalla tv di Stato, i suoi account social cinesi sono stati bloccati, si è beccato insulti online e pure una tirata d'orecchi dal governo di Pechino. Tutto per una battuta su un suo meme in cui c'entra Mao Zedong che, a sentire le parole del calciatore francese, forse nemmeno sa chi sia. Il padre della Cina comunista non si può toccare, argomento sensibile qui: infangare la memoria del Grande Timoniere porta dritti al cartellino rosso. In un video del talk show The B...

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...

MATTHEW CHILDS/ACTION IMAGES/REUTERS  England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane was awarded  the men’s Ballon d’Or trophy at a ceremony in London last night 27 Oct 2026 - The Guardian Barney Ronay - @London Palladium Harry Kane is the Ballon d’Or winner for 2026, the first English man to win football’s most prestigious individual trophy in 25 years. Two hours into a lavishly excitable ceremony at the Palladium Theatre in London, Kane’s name emerged from the final envelope to wild cheers inside the auditorium. The women’s Ballon d’Or, awarded moments earlier, was won by Alexia Putellas of London City Lionesses, a third Ballon, five years on from her first in the colours of Barcelona. In the men’s voting Kane finished ahead of co-favourites Lamine Yamal of Barcelona and Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid , an outcome that will perhaps cause the familiar consternation among the hierarchy of those clubs, not to mention the vast online fan army attached to the superstar players in Ka...

Lauréat en 2025, Ousmane Dembélé (ici, au Théâtre du Châtelet le 22 septembre 2025)  pense que le Ballon d’or « va rester dans les mains d’un joueur du PSG ». La cérémonie de remise du 70e Ballon d’or se déroule ce lundi soir, à Londres. Le suspense est (vraiment) entier. 26 Oct 2026 - Le Figaro Christophe Remise « Je suis fatigué par le Ballon d’or. » Luis Enrique n’a que peu d’appétence pour les distinctions individuelles. Chantre du collectif, l’entraîneur du PSG a d’autant plus de raison d’en avoir ras la casquette que la course au plus prestigieux trophée individuel a largement occupé la scène médiatique ces dernières semaines. Ce lundi, à Londres, ce sera l’heure du verdict. Enfin. « Ce trophée n’est pas indécis, à mon avis. Je pense qu’il va rester dans les mains d’un joueur du PSG», juge Ousmane Dembélé. Au terme d’une saison normale, le lauréat 2025 aurait eu raison. Meilleur joueur d’une Ligue des champions remportée par le PSG, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia aurait eu un bouleva...

Ceremony has come long way since Owen accepted his award in stationery cupboard, writes Rory Smith The Ballon d’Or became the battleground on which Messi and Ronaldo vied for supremacy Rory Smith 25 Oct 2026 - THE OBSERVER / Sport In the quarter of a century since the men’s Ballon d’Or was last presented in England – or, for that matter, to an Englishman – things have changed somewhat. On Monday, the most prestigious individual awards in football will be handed out at a bombastic ceremony at the London Palladium, all designer tuxedos, red carpets and fusillades of flashbulbs. In 2001, by contrast, Michael Owen took receipt of the trophy in what appeared to be the stationery cupboard at Liverpool’s former training ground, Melwood. Owen, boyish and beaming, wore an oversized grey suit. So did Gérard Ernault, then the editorial director of France Football. They stood in front of a plywood shelving unit. The whole thing looks like a deleted scene from The Office . At the time, Owen was ef...

Family proud as London Palladium hosts Monday’s ceremony 70 years after first award at Blackpool town hall ‘He was so far ahead of his time …  his boots were like slippers  so that he could move quicker’ 24 Oct 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Ed Aarons When football’s dignitaries assemble on Monday at the London Palladium for the Ballon d’or ceremony it will be a far cry from the first awards 70 years ago. That was held in the slightly less glamorous surroundings of Blackpool town hall, where Stanley Matthews was presented with the prize by Gabriel Hanot , the visionary editor of L'Équipe who came up with the idea of crowning the world’s best player every year. A specially commissioned china plate was also handed over by the town’s mayor before the 41-yearold Matthews, who was famously teetotal, gave a short speech. “He might have had a double carrot juice that day,” says his son, Stanley Matthews Jr, who will attend this year’s awards with his sister, Jean, and her two daughter...

HULTON ARCHIVE/PA/REUTERS/GETTY IMAGES " There was no legal way of stopping him! " 21 Jul 2026 - Daily Mail By GRAEME SOUNESS Keegan’s rival and great friend IF you wanted an example of a man who became a superstar but never changed as a man, Kevin Keegan would be top of that list. For everything he achieved in the game — the trophies, two Ballons d’or — his greatest quality was the humility he carried with him through every waking moment. He treated every person he met in the same way: with utmost respect. To say he was an absolute gentleman seems an understatement. He was a class act. This was a genuine superstar. If only you could bottle the attitude he had and sell it to the players today. I was in a restaurant not so long ago when I witnessed a young player, a so-called star, refuse to do a selfie with a fan. That was the absolute polar opposite to Kevin. Kevin Keegan was a genuinely humble man who recognised he had got lucky in life, but boy did he make the most out of ...

TRINITY MIRROR/ ALAMY Keegan on the pitch for Newcastle United against Cambridge United in 1984 One of football’s greats who played for Liverpool,  Newcastle and England, later managing the national side "I was the mongrel who made it to Crufts,  and that was fine by me" Richard Williams 21 Jul 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Journal The apotheosis of Kevin Keegan, who has died aged 75 of cancer, came in the minutes after his final appearance as a professional footballer, while wearing the black and white stripes of Newcastle United, the club of his heart. On 17 May 1984, at the end of a friendly against Liverpool, with whom he had achieved his early fame, a helicopter landed on the pitch at St James’ Park and carried him away, still in his full kit, borne aloft by the cheering of 36,000 home fans, many of them moved to tears by his departure. Such displays of emotion were seldom far away during a playing career that took the son of a Yorkshire coalminer from an apprenticeship at Scunt...

EAMONN MCCABE/THE GUARDIAN Kevin Keegan scores for England against Scotland at Wembley in 1979 The former England manager may be remembered by many for his ‘I’d love it’ rant, but he was also a footballing pioneer and bona fide superstar. Keegan was arguably the most charismatic modern English footballer, with a rare gift for inspiring and uplifting players A career like no other Farewell to a footballing pioneer and a superstar It was a major shock to Keegan when Bill Shankly told him:  ‘You’re not just a great player – you’re one of the great players’ Keegan, still England captain, learned from the press he had been ‘dumped’.  He felt ‘betrayed, hurt and humiliated’ 21 Jul 2026 - The Guardian By Rob Draper Kevin Keegan, who has died aged 75, is the only British player to win the Ballon d’Or twice , was the star of Liverpool’s first European Cup-winning team, a messianic figure at Newcastle United as a player and coach, forging a team so memorable that FIFA’s president wrote ...