Elon Musk Is A Fascist
@NcGeehan
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Bravo to the BBC's Alasdair Gill for putting these questions on Saudi's war on Yemen to Eddie Howe. Awkward for Howe but whoever takes these jobs has to accept these questions. And this should be put to Pep Guardiola too.
🗣 "I'm a football manager, I'm coaching the team to get results and that's all I'm going to comment on.". Eddie Howe refuses to be drawn into conversations about the integrity of Newcastle's Saudi Arabian ownership in the aftermath of Roman Abramovich and Chelsea
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Compare Keir Starmer's statements on the siege of Gaza with his arguments at the International Court of Justice in 2014, where he argued that the Serb siege of Vukovar was a case of genocide. A thread on Starmer, international law and Gaza.
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I won't be able to adequately express my admiration for the FC Bayern fans who worked on this issue over the years but it's worth briefly noting some of the stuff I saw them do (and this is just fraction of all the stuff they did) . short thread.
According to reports in Germany, Bayern Munich have decided not to extend their shirt sleeve sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways. Bayern's organised support and ultra groups have long campaigned against the deal, including at a dramatic AGM in 2021.
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Best Gender Balance Awards Ever.
. @HHShkMohd honors the winners of the Gender Balance Index 2018. The Index features three categories: Best Personality for Supporting Gender Balance, Best Federal Entity for Supporting Gender Balance, and the Best Initiative for Supporting Gender Balance. #UAE
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You know what's unfair? Selling your land, leaving your wife and kids, working 12 hours a day in a toxic sauna, not being paid, dying in your sleep gasping for breath at the age of 24 in a crowded dorm, and having your death marked 'natural causes'
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The Men Behind #ManCity 2: The Kids Are Not Alright. I saved the worst stuff for the sequel, out today in English in @JosimarFotball
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A short thread on the Klopp xenophobia nonsense. Abu Dhabi has its senior guys in place at Manchester City. City director Simon Pearce was director of strategic communications for Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority and is now a senior advisor.
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This will be the defining photo of Qatar 2022 and the young men who took this stand deserve great credit for their stance. They didn't need to do this. Their government said nothing. Most other teams at the tournament (@Socceroos aside) have said nothing. Quick 🧵
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That Man City defence playbook rolled out again:. 1) Claim you have "irrefutable evidence" to disprove the allegations. 2) Fight the charges on procedure. 3)Insinuate that there's an agenda against you.
NEW: Man City have lodged legal challenges against Premier League 115 charges - disputing the process and objecting to involvement of KC who is an Arsenal fan.
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As Man City threaten to start a Premier League war, remember that it is owned by the deeply abusive and authoritarian UAE government that uses threats, violence and intimidation to maintain its power at home and expand its regressive influence abroad.
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It's one week away from Iceland 🇮🇸 v Israel 🇮🇱 play off for Euro 2024. UEFA has said it has no plans to even discuss excluding Israel from competition despite continued exclusion of Russian teams. Confused? UEFA certainly appear to be. A 🧵.
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2/ It is evident from videos and transcripts that Starmer not only understands the international law on this issue, but has a profound understanding of a Gaza-like siege situation, its illegality in international law and the relevance of the international crime of genocide.
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If you think this is wacky, the guys who control @ManCity also had Jamal Khasshoggi's lawyer arrested as he was transiting through Dubai and they've put him in prison for 3 years.
"You have a fabulously symmetrical face!" . Who better to wave us off on our pre-season tour than the President of the Greeters Guild?! 😅😂. @milocomedy | #ManCity
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This was a remarkable event. Upwards of 200 #BayernMunich fans (mostly in their 20s) sat for 2 hours, listening and asking questions about workers' rights in #Qatar. And they organised the whole thing too.
Bayern Munich fans are angry with the German soccer club's ties to Qatar, saying team officials ignore horrific working conditions while accepting sponsorship deals and holding training camps in the Persian Gulf nation. Story, video by @cfaheyap >>
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Man City owners abstain on Security Council resolution. Newcastle owners hiking oil prices. Everton and Chelsea owners at risk of sanctions. Ukraine is exposing the Premier League's ownership problems. Sport and geopolitics mixing like crazy.
#UAE ABSTAINED on #UNSC resolution vs #Putin’s invasion of #Ukraine. Many are shocked - here my analysis:. #AbuDhabi works w/#Moscow in #Libya & #OPEC but is NOT strategically aligned to #Russia! . IMHO, the #UAE has yet to figure out how to navigate the new multipolar world. 1/
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Don't mess with 50+1. Bayern Munich fans announce intention to sue the club over its failure to accept a motion to end its sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways.
Der FC Bayern weiß genau, dass der Antrag zulässig ist, reagiert aber nicht und lässt Fristen verstreichen. Jetzt müssen wir schellstmöglich klagen, um die Abstimmung zu erzwingen. Das kostet Geld. Wenn ihr könnt, unterstützt das bitte mit einer Spende!.
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@richardajkeys I'm the Qatar researcher at Human Rights Watch + have spent lots of time researching conditions in labour camps in Qatar/UAE.
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7/ Western support for Israel's actions in Gaza has critically if not fatally undermined the international rules-based order. Starmer could have brought his experience at the highest court of international justice to bear to affirm its importance. He chose to do the opposite.
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6/ Starmer not only knows the law on this topic, he has applied it at the World Court in a high-profile case. Yet his shadow cabinet have been repeatedly sent out to deny Israel has violated international law and those who supported a ceasefire were sacked
A compilation of how senior Labour figures refused to support the upholding of international law as Israel killed 10,000 Palestinians in a month of bombing. 👇
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If Pep is serious about this, all power to him. Political prisoners in the UAE like Ahmed Mansoor would benefit hugely from his public support
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Not true Gary. The harsh spotlight only shines for a news cycle or two, then it's replaced by the soft lighting that accompanies big transfers and shiny trophies. You won't be talking about this next week.
🗣️ "The light is shining on them so bright that they are having to make changes." . Commenting on the Saudi takeover at Newcastle on #MNF, @GNev2 says it could be another example of sport forcing change in the world.
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The critical difference between @OwenJones84 and his frothing critics in the UK is that he has strongly criticised Hamas's war crimes of October 7 and Israel's war crimes since. His critics have been selective in their outrage, and aren't worth listening to on this issue.
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can someone please add in brackets "but City's owners prosecute sodomy"?.
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3/ Here Starmer argues against representations of the siege of Vukovar as a conflict situation. He has never mentioned the asymmetry of the warfare in Gaza.
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#BayernMunich ultras publicly critical of club’s stance on its #Qatar links during victory over Werder Bremen yesterday. Some context….
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If you want to read about how Israel's far-right political leaders cultivated and weaponised the country's football supporters to further their violent racist agenda, check out this report @fairsqprojects sent to @FIFAcom in July
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Instead of talking about xenophobia, let's talk about kleptocracy. Because the only states that can own football clubs are not only autocratic (abusive), they are also kleptocratic (using stolen money). 👇.
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A wild story reaches its conclusion. The UAE tried to wreck Qatar's 2022 world cup by devaluing its currency, using the Luxembourg bank of top Tory donor David Rowland. The same bank was used by UAE to disguise capital injections into Manchester City. A 🧵 on how states operate. .
And here it is. The day before the Coronation. The UK financial watchdog fines Banque Havilland £10 million and bans Edmund Rowland for pushing plans for an economic attack on Qatar.
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4/ Here is how Starmer describes the situation at Vukovar hospital, reminiscent of Al Shifa and other hospitals attacked and destroyed in Gaza.
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6/ German fan culture is one of the few things that modern football can be proud of and 50+1 is where we need to get to.
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Has Abu Dhabi ever had a sweetheart deal like the one it got from @ManCityCouncil? Great @DavidCollinsST piece on the cronyism that allowed this abusive govt to circumvent public tender, avoid affordable housing, and funnel 100% of rental income offshore
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Confessions of a former expat and reflections on the media coverage of Qatar 2022.
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Alexander Ceferin has used an interview with @GNev2 to lay the ground for removing rules on dual ownership. It is breathtaking. The argument for ripping up arguably the key regulation on competitive integrity of the European game is that it wasn't necessary in the first place 🧵.
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The man who took the decision to convict UK academic #MatthewHedges Hedges on spying charges in the #UAE and sentence him to life was the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Mohamed bin Zayed. He is the money and power behind English champions @ManCity. The people's game in 2018.
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I'll be writing to @ManCityCouncil (coping the Information Commissioner's Office @ICOnews) to ask why my right to information request about council's commercial deals ended up on desk of senior execs at Manchester City, who are also agents of a foreign and abusive govt.
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And yes Newcastle United management and players and LIV golfers should have to answer questions about the execution of children and the many horrendous cases that will follow, because they effectively work in public relations for the Saudi state.
🚨BREAKING: Saudi Arabia’s Court of Appeal has decided to uphold a death sentence for child defendant Abdullah al-Howaiti. The Saudi justice system continues to rely on the torture-induced 'confession' of a 14-year-old boy to convict him for a crime he could not have committed🧵
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Manchester City director Simon Pearce is a senior member of the UAE's ruling circle, responsible for communications. The UAE's approach to criticism of its various human rights abuses and ruinous foreign interventions is to deny or ignore, and to smear and discredit its critics.
“Despite repeated invitations to do so, Manchester City declined to make a formal statement on either the chants or graffiti in the aftermath of the 1-0 defeat.” . @josephmdurso @jwhitey98 report on an increasingly bitter rivalry .
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This Men Behind #ManCity article may need a #MuellerReport update. Report details how #MBZ and his advisors (a mercenary and a convicted paedophile) met in Seychelles to trash Obama and sell the virtues of white supremacist Steve Bannon to the Russians.
The Men Behind #ManCity. If you thought #Qatar was a problem, wait till you get a load of #AbuDhabi. My piece in @Medium
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Notable that Manchester City have made a lot of effort in recent years to depict criticism of their UAE owners' human rights abuses as racist. Bravo to the Palace ultras. More of this please
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Yesterday we released a report showing how politicians in Manchester and Newcastle had shown a lack of civic leadership and enabled sportswashing projects. Andy Burnham then helpfully went and proved our point for us.
TORTURE. DETENTION. CRIMINALISATION OF GAY PEOPLE. Do Abu Dhabi's human rights issues concern Mayor of Greater Manchester @AndyBurnhamGM?. Listen to the podcast here: #PodSaveTheUK @cocobyname @MrNishKumar
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If not swiftly followed by a pardon, academics with links to universities that have taken UAE money (LSE, Oxford, NYU to name but a few) need to exercise their collective power and stand up to these thugs.
Matthew Hedges, a 31-year-old student at Durham University who went to UAE to research his PhD thesis, was handed LIFE sentence at Abu Dhabi court in a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, and with no lawyer present
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5/ It was Starmer's job to argue Vukovar was genocide. Other highly reputable international lawyers represented Serbia and argued it wasn't. That's the job of an advocate. The issue of whether genocide did or didn't occur (and what Starmer actually believed) is not the issue. .
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#UAE at its hypocritical best. @EmiratesLitFest is holding an Orwell lecture. Hard to imagine George would approve
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Western political leaders care more about a bunch of racist Israeli thugs getting beaten up in Amsterdam than they do about thousands of innocent Palestinian children being blown to pieces in Gaza.
“My legs hurt from walking, and blood is coming out. We don’t know where we’re headed.” .🚨These are the words of a 4-year-old child, displaced with her family due to the Israeli brutal airstrikes in northern #Gaza. I’m at a loss for words… Just damn this silent world‼️
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Note #Rooney was returning from #SaudiArabia. The moral of the story is that you can do paid promotional work for a state where journalists get dismembered and women's rights activists rendered and tortured. just don't get pissed on the flight home.
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Don't forget that Jamal Khashoggi received "assurances" from the Chairman of PIF. That's how they lured him to the Saudi embassy where they murdered and dismembered him.
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Re: John Barnes and his sudden appearance as a defender of Qatar and a critic of its critics, he was listed as a Q22 ambassador in internal comms strategy documents from Qatar's Supreme Committee. I wrote about this in @JosimarFotball
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Shameful from Qatar's World Cup organisers and from @MartinLipton and The Sun for peddling their PR without doing a basic fact check. Short thread. Contains facts.
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No such thing as no direct govt links in a dictatorship. It would be under the influence of MBS, who would have control of 2 Premier League clubs. Contravenes owners and directors test "F 1.2: Power to determine or influence the management or administration of another Club".
I can confirm Saudi Media Group have made a £2.7bn ($3.5bn) offer to buy Chelsea. Mohamed Alkhereiji is a Chelsea fan and leading a private consortium. No direct government links.
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Denmark applied to FIFA to host the Under-17 World Cup. They didn't even get a response. FIFA instead just gave the tournament to Qatar. For 5 years.
Ingen grænse for FIFA’s arrogance.
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Bahrain executions unjust and inflammatory. Public, unequivocal condemnation imperative to prevent Bahrain killing more young men.
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8/ A full video of Starmer's intervention is here, from 51 minutes.
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@Okwonga AND literally no western governments are criticising Qatar or any other Gulf autocracies. It's journalists, NGOs, trade unions, supporters and some players. The idea of a hypocritical western campaign is a largely confected PR defence to Qatar's misjudgements, abuses and failures.
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Abdullah Ibhais, a former employee of Qatar’s World Cup organizers, is facing 5 years in jail. He claims the case relates to his stance on migrant workers’ rights + that his confession was coerced. A thread on what we know and why this case is so critical
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"“Only God knows how we are suffering here.” West African teenagers who worked as security guards at Qatar 2022 homeless in Doha and owed thousands in unpaid wages. Great work from @samindrakunti in @JosimarFotball .
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In 2019, Saudi Arabia executed 5 men in relation to alleged homosexuals acts.
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Let Qatar's World Cup leadership do a 6 day 80 hour week in 40 degree heat sleeping 8 in a room for 200 dollars that they won't get paid for 4 months. Then they can talk about unfair treatment.
Qatar World Cup leadership spoke to media today and claimed: "Qatar has been unfairly treated and scrutinised for a number of years." . Criticism was turned on the media. Others in Qatar accept reporting & human rights groups' pressure led to change which is a benefit of hosting.
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Further perspective. Saudi Arabia is a kleptocracy and has significant levels of poverty relative to other Gulf states. The money to pay these players comes from the misappropriation and reckless waste of state resources by a deeply corrupt elite.
To put Saudi Arabia spending into perspective: European football's highest ever contract was Lionel Messi at Barcelona: €75m per annum. (This was significantly reduced at PSG). In 🇸🇦, Ronaldo reportedly earns €200m per annum. Benzema €200m. Kante €100m. Messi offered €400m.
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Brace yourself. Another torture tape has emerged from Abu Dhabi.
Celebrating victory . Celebrating together! .Congratulations to @ManCity on winning the English #PremierLeague 🏆👏@Cityarabia #ManCity
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The UEFA Working Group on Qatar went on a fact-finding mission to Qatar and this is their statement. It's so bad, I can barely bring myself to do a thread on how bad it is but here goes 🧵
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"Who made the stadiums? Who made the roads? Who made everything? Bengalis, Pakistanis. People like us. Now they are making us all go outside." Workers in Qatar being evicted to make way for fans. FIFA has nothing to say, again.
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The UK government: . - kicked Roman Abramovich out of Chelsea for his links to Russia .- wants ban on Russian athletes in IOC events because Russia uses "sport for their propaganda purposes". - is briefing its support for a Qatari takeover of Man Utd .- 🤌.
Hours after a second Qatari bid for Manchester United goes in, Qatar's chamber of commerce issues a press release encouraging Qatari trade with Russia. It was UK sanctions against Russia that forced out Chelsea's former owner Roman Abramovich
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Predictably outraged responses from certain quarters in Qatar at Hummel's decision to disguise their logo on Danisj kit so as not to be associated visibly with a tournament that has "cost thousands of people their lives". So a short 🧵on the facts.
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It's #Qatar vs #UAE today. and these two flat-out don't like each other. If you want to know how #ManCity, #PSG, high-stakes camel racing, child slavery and an over-priced Leonardo Da Vinci play into this feud, here's a piece I wrote for @JosimarFotball.
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.@MiguelDelaney raises important questions for football that extend beyond #MCFC to the health of the game as a whole. High time these issues and these articles were going past news editors as well as sports editors.
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My Dad died 12 days after Scotland qualified for the Euros. Calling him to tell him we had beaten Serbia was glorious. He wouldn't have been able to watch a second of the game last night but would have been unspeakably proud of the highlights this morning.
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Ahead of a promised Extraordinary FIFA Council meeting @fairsqprojects submitted a report detailing Israel Football Association (IFA) violations of numerous FIFA Statutes and provide clear grounds for their suspension or expulsion 🧵
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Pep on the one hand correct and courageous to speak out. On other hand grossly hypocritical - he is employed by a state that suppresses free speech and disappears and tortures those who practice it. Ignorance (if that's what it is) is no excuse. #Catalunya #AbuDhabi #UAE.
Football coach Pep Guardiola reads statement on behalf of Tsunami Democràtic protest group, calling on the international community to take a clear stance on the Catalan independence conflict. Learn more:
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Based on comments from Emily Thornberry and now David Lammy, it appears that Labour's position is that the laws of war don't apply to Israel in Gaza because there is a war on. Yes really. 👇.
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A short (slightly weary) 🧵 about the media coverage on Qatar 2022 and specious claims of orientalism. Here goes. Qatar is getting a lot of media coverage right now because Qatar is hosting the World Cup, which is the most watched event on earth.
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A reminder that we need to stop saying Newcastle United's owners have "human rights issues" and spell out what they do and to whom. They execute children, for starters. Brilliant video from @Reprieve.
Why is a UK football club - playing in the Premier League today - owned by one of the world's top executioners?. Watch Peter's video and sign the petition: #MCINEW
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Gianni Infantino today told the European Parliament that there have been 3 worker deaths in Qatar 2022 preparations "The real figures are 3 persons." A shameful falsehood being propagated by Qatar's World Cup organisers and now FIFA. Link to truth below.
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A member of the ruling Qatari royal family that wields control of state resources with no transparency or accountability is making a 6 billion pound bid for Man Utd. The claims that he is doing so as "a private individual" need to be interrogated. Assurances aren't facts.
Being stressed Sheikh Jassim's bid for @ManUtd is being made as a private individual and therefore no issues are expected re Premier League's statement around owners and directors today.
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Bank with close links to Manchester City fined £10 million after it "actively encouraged the commission of financial crime" to try and devalue the currency of Qatar, which is trying to buy Manchester United.
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FIFA's black humour? Qatar 2022 WC final will be on December 18: International Migrants Day. http://t.co/FzPKSyMMyf
http://t.co/JdpUanucKT.
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6/ A big tip of the hat to #BayernMunich fans for showing that you can love the club and criticise abusive owners/sponsors. Actually standing by the principles the club claims to hold dear. Beautiful Game 1. Dark Side 0.
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The Labour leader of Newcastle city council went on @bbcnewcastle and said he was delighted that the separation between PIF and the Saudi state had been established. It hasn't. They are, factually, run by the same person. The lack of civic leadership on this issue is shameful.
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German fan culture is still the thing that gives you hope for the game. "Ignoring the interests of the members to fawn over the [Qatari] emir" Borussia Mönchengladbach ultras in solidarity with their Bayern Munich counterparts and their stand against Qatar.
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It's the job of journalists like George Caulkin to question nonsense like this, not to print it unchallenged. Supporters might like to hear this but it's not the truth, and supporters need and deserve the truth.
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The IOC should insist that France overturn its ban on French athletes wearing the hijab at #ParisOlympics or face sanctions. It's discriminatory and in part based on gross misrepresentation of the Olympic Charter. 🧵 on how France dresses its Islamophobia up as secularism
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US Homeland Security Committee has asked FBI if it has "any related undercover employees, online covert employees, or confidential human sources" among what it called "pro-Hamas protests on college campuses. From @kenklippenstein
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The footballing dream team of FIFA and Qatar continue to dazzle. Their opposition to the one love armband has managed to imbue a fairly inconsequential and uncontroversial stance with some real significance.
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Last week, a Qatari consortium made a bid for Manchester United. There are lots of reasons why this should seriously concern lots of people. Here's a thread on just one of these reasons. Based on this @fairsqprojects research just released
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