Folly here, sanity there
Let us start from where we stopped last week. Congratulations to government on seeing sense at last and endorsing professional and technical advice from relevant officials regarding entry into the stadium for the finals of the Presidential Initiative on Sports. While the reversal of its position could be seen as a weakness in the eyes of some, to me bowing down to common sense is actually a sign of strength.
I will not belabour the point on the advantages of letting only those who have paid a little something enter the stadium because those merits have been well articulated by more competent people. What I will do, however, is to wish the finalists all the best as they fight for season’s first major honour. Both Big Bullets and Moyale Barracks deserve to be where they are and either side would be worthy winners in the end.
Talk of Bullets, it is sad that while the team has largely made headlines for the right reasons for the better part of the past year or so, recent media coverage of the team has been mostly negative as the club’s executive and trustees have allowed their differences play out in public. I am not interested at this point in who is right or wrong, but the whole saga is the latest unfortunate chapter in the club’s recent history.
Bullets have been pacesetters in taking baby steps on the way to commercialisation and we have seen it being able to raise its own money through various initiatives. Squabbles on unpaid allowances to players which had become the hallmark of life at many clubs without steady corporate sponsorship are now a thing of the past and general management of the club has been the envy of other sides.
Improved management of the team off the pitch has clearly shown results on it. Bullets are currently one of the form teams in the Super League after a stuttering start and their making this weekend’s PIS finals is a just reward for their efforts and application. No one should allow this hitherto success story to be derailed. Whatever differences exist should be resolved expeditiously and behind closed doors.
Away from home, I am relieved that the transfer window has closed in most countries in Europe and we now know who will be playing for which team, until January at least. There were still a few transfer deals to be tied up by the time this piece was being put together ahead of the midnight deadline, but I have been largely excited by the various ins and outs. I cannot wait to see how that translates on the pitch.
In the English Premier League, Anfield hosts the fixture of the week for the second weekend running as my Liverpool entertain the Arsenal in what promises to be an entertaining match-up. Both teams have made a quiet start to the campaign and will be looking to get their first wins if only to keep in touch with the front-runners. It is not necessarily a must-win game with 35 more games to come, but victory will not harm either team’s confidence.
In other news, is it really a fact that government could not raise money for the modest Paralympics delegation to travel to London? Why not just come out in the open and say you don’t care about this form of sport?
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