States of Play: How Sportswashing Took Over Football

by Miguel Delaney

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER & WINNER OF THE FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

A TIMES SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR
A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN IRISH INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Important, perfectly timed and hugely necessary.' The Guardian
'A monumental piece of investigative journalism.' Irish Times
'A must-read on how modern football works.' Ian Wright
'Brave, forensic and utterly gripping.' Tom Holland

______________________________

The definitive account of how capitalism and the world's elite corrupted modern football. Fully updated to cover Saudi Arabia's 2034 World Cup bid, the Manchester City charges case and PSG winning the Champions League.

As the 2022 World Cup in Qatar drew to a close, there was a bitter undercurrent to Argentina's triumph. Throughout the tournament, numerous allegations of sportswashing and financial misconduct had been made against the state of Qatar, moving what had previously been a smaller conversation into the worldwide spotlight.

The question had been asked, who really owns and runs football?

Journeying from Abu Dhabi to Newcastle, and onto London, Paris, Moscow and New York, journalist Miguel Delaney investigates the allegations of sportswashing and misconduct in the beautiful game. The result is a gripping account of how football has been taken over by the world's wealthiest businessmen, state-backed corporations, media tycoons and oil-rich oligarchs.

From Neymar's £198 million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain and Abu Dhabi's construction empire in Manchester to failed Financial Fair Play constraints and the dawn of the European Super League, Miguel draws on exclusive interviews and unprecedented access to key stakeholders to produce an all-encompassing exposé of modern footballs highest echelons.

Authoritative, riveting and eye-opening, States of Play reveals how football has become a tool for the world's elite.

______________________________

Miguel Delaney's STATES OF PLAY was ranked in the Irish Times bestsellers list the weeks of 11th-18th November & 9th December 2024.

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction, Politics, Audiobook, History, Soccer

Audible Audio

Published November 7, 2024

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I love to get mad about things that are supposed to be escapism.

Luckily I’ve learned my lesson on assuming any footballer is a good person after Jordan Henderson spent years making himself football’s face of LGBTQ+ allyship and then fucked off to Al-Ettifaq for a paycheck and desaturate the rainbow captain’s armband he wore at Liverpool to black and white in their announcement video, but I still live in fear that LFC is going to be bought by someone particularly awful (of course there are no ethical billionaires but obviously FSG is far better than a Russian oligarch or a shady nation-state).

This book did nothing to allay those fears, but did offer a comprehensive look at how exactly we got here. Sportswashing is ubiquitous in football, and despite outcry over events like City’s takeover or the Qatar World Cup, the number of dodgy dealers using sport to launder their images is only growing.

While most of the information here wasn’t new to me, Delaney does a really good job laying out the root causes of the current situation as well as a timeline of events that lead up to the present state of soccer, both in the geopolitical context and in the sport itself. I think that having at least a passing familiarity with the teams involved would probably be useful, but you could definitely understand and appreciate this book even if you’re not a massive sports fan.

One of the most impactful sections for me was when he wrote about several Newcastle fans who work in the human rights sector with regards to the club’s 2021 Saudi takeover and how those fans come to terms with two facets of their life that may be diametrically opposed. I suppose I’m lucky in that, although I’ve supported my team for over a decade it’s *only* a decade and not thirty, forty years, and that my favorite club isn’t from where I am so if I found myself in a position where I felt I ethically had to turn away, I could do so without also losing lifelong friendships, hometown connections, etc. But I understand the challenge for people for whom their team has been such a big part of their life for so long, only to have something so unexpected cause this ethical conflict, and I thought Delaney’s reporting on this was particularly interesting and thoughtful.

States of Play is a pretty dire indictment of where sports are at now, but it’s an important one, and it gives the information needed for fans to be aware of what’s going on in the backgrounds of their favorite clubs and hopefully to feel empowered to push back against it and for a more sustainable and ethical model of ownership and economics.

[Eoghan O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this as a read over the Christmas - whether you're a sports fan or not.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the spirit of keeping an open mind to things I am not interested in, I decided in the case of this book with going to the sports section to choose my next book. For me - hardly an athletic person - the genre holds about as much interest as, say, anything in the true crime, cooking, business or fantasy sections. I remember once when I met a friend - well, a friend of a brother's - in England once; he was reading an autobiography by Sir Donald Bradman, the Australian cricket legend, and I was like: "What the fuck is wrong with you? Of all the books in the world" ...

But I don't know. I just felt like reading something along those lines this time. So, I went to the sports section, scanned a bunch of autobiogs by people I had never heard of and cared about even less. Then my eyes alighted on this one. A cheeky decision really, as while it does involve sport - specifically, English football - it is more of a non-fiction expose of the corrupt level of "sportswashing" going on at the moment, which has resulted in the entire game no longer being the way it once was.

I grew up in a family of staunch Chelsea supporters. My uncle on my mother's side was the main reason why following the club always was more of an ingrained religion than our nominally inherited Catholicism. So, the team has always had something of a nostalgic appeal to me. Just like the Les Misérables poster on my mother's childhood bedroom door in my grandparent's Ruislip Manor house, the Chelsea logo, and the 'Fly Emirates' sponsor thing, were always a reminder of my quaint and innocent childhood. It went hand-in-hand with my birth-country England, along with a number of other things that would sound so much more nonsensical if I attempted to relate them.

So, while I would say that I now have zero interest in Chelsea and the current world of football - which I'd always assumed was corrupt, given the amount of money, backroom deals and scandal - I would certainly like to rediscover the joy, the torture, the suspense, the anger, the exhilaration of the game. Now that I have two boys, with two uncles that have always been dead set on football, I feel like it is kind of inevitable, and I would like to share that experience with my little men.

Of course, I will only allow myself to do this with a caveat: I get to choose a new team. Chelsea just never resonated with me. Even at my most invested stage - back in 2005, when I watched them play Liverpool and decided I would idolise Petr Čech, their incredible goalkeeper - I was never able to muster anything more than a passing pretence of actually caring. I had decided that I would let my two sons follow in the family tradition and just go it alone with a new team. Introduce a little light family rivalry. But then personal events convinced me to say "fuck loyalty", and I decided, unless they vigorously protested when older and decided to go with their much cooler uncles, that I would take them with me.

My interfamily treachery was leaning towards Liverpool, merely because Chelsea-Liverpool was the first game I saw, I was impressed with some of their players, and I also just happen to love their city. But now, although it is still not wholly settled, I am thinking I might go with Arsenal, instead.

Anyway, that's my half-assed attempt to say that I'm not really into a football. I sucked at it when, for shits and giggles and an insult to the sport, I joined an indoor soccer team. Living in Australia and sleeping in the lounge-room when I was a fuckup who didn't even have a bedroom, Chelsea games always meant I would be woken up about two in the morning to wild cheering, even if I had work at five. So, I am coming to it not as an enthusiast, or even as someone who is necessarily concerned or surprised about the declining integrity of the game.

It just seemed an interesting expose of a world and culture I think could do with some airing. And the writer does deliver in providing that. It is a very interesting book, though if I was feeling emo, I might have deducted one star for Delaney's Western-softy handwringing over the Qatar world-cup and the Arab world's relative disdain for social progressive. I found that whole episode and all the supressed attempts to virtue signal hilarious.

[Ash Bebbington · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best football books I've read for years. Charts the depressingly relentless influence of dirty money in the game we love over the last 30 years, and the game's total lack of realisation that it was happening until it was too late. A must read if you follow elite level football, but fair warning, it'll make you want to go follow your local semi-pro side.

[Paleblueyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excruciatingly detailed and sourced journalistic expose on the corruptive role of state sponsored soccer teams purchased to broadly speaking sports wash and enhance the image of very unpleasant dictatorial Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. Shows the success of these regimes at diminishing global concerns about their anti woman and abusive practices toward guest workers etc. The book meticulously documents the corruptive use gulf money is put to in international organizations supposedly regulating and managing for the good of the game

[Will Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was a slog

[Matthew O'Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievable book with a deep analysis of the effects of money, greed, nefarious power and authoritarian ambition on football. A very grim read at times but mandatory for anybody watching or participating in sport in the 21st century.

[Emily Shotton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fair to say, the games gone

[Marcus Roche · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very complex read, and hard to understand at times but I'm glad I read it. Was one of those books which almost feels like studying but I'm definitely more educated for having read it. Extremely well written and researched

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are we including audiobooks here? Think I need the numbers so it’s getting counted anyway. This was really good albeit super bleak despite a flourish of optimism at the very end.

[Mark Coomey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading for those who enjoy sport but are worried about its political usage or wider implications, ownership etc. Eye opening

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scathing and unflinching journalism.

[Gregory E Wieczorek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Delaney does a really nice job laying out the timeline of events that lead to the current state of football or soccer depending on which part of the world you currently reside. The geopolitical relationships were fascinating to read about and how personal relationships impacted so many aspects of the game. While the book definitely focuses on the Gulf nations, Mr. Delaney does balance it out with some information about the how the Western world, including the US, influenced the sport. I did knock off a star as I did feel several facts were repeated a bit too many times and certain chapters ran a bit longer (with unnecessary information) than they needed to, to drive home the point.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short review: We're all so screwed!!!

Long(er) review: A thoroughly comprehensive exploration about the ways in which state actors are trying to use sports to launder their reputations and the terrible choices that leave the rest of us who just want to be fans of a thing we love. It's an excellent companion to Narcoball, which is really the predecessor text to this one. Support journalists who tell these stories. We need them.

[Paul Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Didn't realise how corrupt football had become and how related to geopolitical shifts it is. Fair play Miguel.

[Robert Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book but I found it a bit disappointing, especially as it tended to drift into a lot of heavy detail.

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m old enough to remember a more innocent time where football appeared to offer an escape from the ills of the world. But now, football isn’t just a reflection of the troubles besetting society (whether the greed, corruption, venality or cruelty of so much of modern life), but it could also be argued that football is now contributing to those ills and actively making them worse.

Football does this by submitting itself to Sportswashing, that is by selling off its precious assets – its clubs, competitions, and governing bodies – to authoritarian regimes who exploit these assets to peddle influence and launder their blood-soaked reputations. Miguel Delaney’s “States of Play” is a highly detailed trawl through the past 20 years of malign football club involvement by nation states, and how high-profile clubs like PSG, Man City, and Newcastle have been allowed to become vehicles for Sportswashing.

And as Miguel Delaney advises, ‘Sportswashing’ might be inadequate term to describe the true horror of what is going on with global football. That’s because the dictatorial regimes of Qatar, U.A.E., and Saudi Arabia who are pumping so many billions into acquiring the sport no longer care about conventional public relations or convincing the West as to their virtousness; instead, they are increasingly brazen that they have no intentions of addressing Human Rights or reforming their brutal regimes and, as Delaney writes, football ownership is another tool for “keeping (their) dictatorships going”.

“States of Play” argues, however, that it isn’t just Middle Eastern autocratic states that are moulding modern football. The sport has also been shaped profoundly by free market fundamentalist economics (perhaps personified by the turbo-Thatcherism of the English Premier League) to such an extent that now “Modern football represents extreme economic neoliberalism distilled into sporting form”. And these two juggernauts have been facilitated by the pitiful gutlessness and outright corruption of FIFA and UEFA, football’s supposed governing authorities.

As “States of Play” is effectively the account of Football’s unrelenting drive to eat itself alive, you may be unsurprised to hear that this is often a depressing book – albeit a hugely important one. Modern Football could be said to be a prime example of Cory Doctorow’s oft-cited theory of ‘the enshittification of everything’, with stalwart fans priced out of the game while the wealth generated by the sport is increasingly concentrated in a tiny number of ‘superclubs’, themselves owned by unaccountable oligarchs, hedge fund kingpins, or petro-chemical states. Delaney paints a dystopian picture of football’s potential hyper-global future where it is “impossible not to wonder whether it’s going to perpetually be Saudi Arabia v Abu Dhabi; sovereign wealth fund v private equity; state v capitalist”.

As dispiriting as much of the contents of “States of Play” might be, Miguel Delaney writes with an admirable clarity (no easy task when dealing with topics as tense as the regional rivalries between Qatar and Saudi Arabia). And Delaney has the good grace to conclude his book on a ‘hope lies with proles’-style message, arguing that grassroots leagues in Sweden and Ireland offer an alternative model to how the game might be nurtured and protected.

As I was finishing this book, the Qatari state-owned PSG were lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy for the first time in their history, making the publication of “States of Play” even more timely. By shining a light on the hypocrisies and ruthlessness of those who have captured the top levels of the sport, Miguel Delaney provides football with a much-needed moral compass. If you in any way care about the future of football, you should support him and his other courageous journalistic colleagues who are exposing the guilty men.

[Motez Bishara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This long book brings absolutely nothing new to the table. For anyone who's been following the FIFA, UEFA, Man City and PSG corruption scandals and charges over the past decade, you will not learn anything new here. This book is a collection of second-hand reporting of previously published court documents and leaked emails. The only original interviews the author seems to have conducted for this very long book are with several academics and some armchair critics of Gulf states buying into football. Literally everything else is taken from other books, news reports or documentaries on the topic. Sprinkled with this recycled reporting is the author's overt bias against Qatar's hosting of the 2022 WC. Delaney repeats the worn out tropes of Qatar not respecting the rights of foreign labourers or LGBTQ members, and even has the gall to suggest Qatar was morally obliged to use the billions on curing cancer instead. He dismisses Gulf states' defence of their human rights records -- stating they are working on changes while asking why human rights criticism in sport is uniquely reserved for them -- as 'whataboutery', when in fact they are pointing out the glaring obvious.

Conveniently left out of Delaney's commentary is that:

A) Qatar can actually afford to spend 200+ billion on a football tournament, and asks nothing of its citizens to contribute by way of taxes. This is in stark contrast to Britain hosting the 2012 Olympics at a cost of £9 billion, with nearly £1 billion funded by taxpayers while the NHS and other public services continue to suffer, or Athens going bust after spending on the 2004 Olympics, Or Brazil hosting the 2014 WC and 2016 Olympics while millions of its citizens live in squalid favelas.

B) While Qatar and Saudi are hardly benevolent actors in geopolitics -- as Delaney bangs the table on throughout the book -- he says next to nothing about Russia and China's appalling human rights records and war crimes. This despite Russia recently hosting both a World Cup and Winter Olympics, and China hosting both a summer and winter Olympics in the past two decades. Russia was allowed to host the 2018 World Cup despite annexing a part of Ukraine in 2014. It was handed the World Cup despite constantly killing and jailing political opponents, including killing KGB defector Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. These abuses are no different from the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, yet are erased from discussions of sports washing when written about in books and news reports that tackle corruption in world football.

I'm honestly not sure how this book got commissioned as it brought so little new information, or even opinions, to the table.

[Frederik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book left me feeling both better informed and slightly exhausted. The subject matter is crucial, and Delaney clearly knows his field inside out. What impressed me most was how Delaney connects individual scandals to the broader system. The chapters on UEFA and FIFA don’t just accuse them of corruption—they show, step by step, how these organisations repeatedly shifted financial and ethical goalposts to enable authoritarian states, oligarchs, and private equity groups to embed themselves in the sport. None of this happened overnight.

The Premier League chapters are even more vivid. Instead of just condemning state ownership in general terms, Delaney walks through the specific political logic behind Abu Dhabi’s takeover of Manchester City, and later Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of Newcastle. The book doesn’t go for easy moralising; it unpicks exactly how global PR strategies, sovereign wealth funds, and football fandom intertwine. Delaney shows how countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE use football as part of long-term national branding projects: to diversify economies beyond oil, to strengthen geopolitical alliances, and to soften international criticism of their human rights records. Football becomes a shortcut to global legitimacy—far more effective and emotionally disarming than any normal diplomatic strategies. By hosting tournaments, buying clubs, and integrating themselves into football’s commercial bloodstream, these states rewrite their international image while securing influence that extends well beyond sport.

Delaney doesn’t let the “old guard” off the hook either. Russian oligarch money, American hyper-commercialisation, and the Premier League’s own desire to globalise at any cost all helped pave the way for the situation we have now. The greed isn’t new—only the scale and sophistication.

Where the book falters, for me, is in its organisation. Topics bleed into each other, certain arguments are repeated several times, and the pacing can feel uneven. That made the reading experience heavier than it needed to be. Still, despite these issues, States of Play is a sharp and necessary indictment of modern football. It doesn't just describe sportswashing—it shows how it has become woven into the sport’s economic and political fabric. And even as someone who thought I already understood most of this, Delaney offered context and connections I hadn’t fully seen before.

3.5 stars, but its importance is closer to a 5.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

States of Play is an outstanding and essential read for anyone who loves the game or works in and around it. Miguel Delaney has delivered a masterclass — well-researched, thoughtfully written, and unafraid to ask the difficult questions that too many in football prefer to ignore.

What I found most powerful was the way Miguel draws back the curtain on the parts of football that remain largely unseen — the money, the ownership structures, and the uncomfortable realities that sit behind some of the sport’s most glittering castles. His examination of state ownership and the growing trend of clubs becoming geopolitical assets is handled with the insight and bravery that few journalists seem willing to match. As someone who works professionally in football and cares deeply about the integrity of the game, I share many of Miguel’s concerns about where we are headed.

This is not just a book for the industry insiders — it’s a gripping, articulate, and at times sobering account for anyone who spends their Saturday afternoons emotionally tied to the fate of their club.

Yet, despite the challenges he lays bare, States of Play ends on an optimistic note, with a vision of what football could and should be — a vision that resonates with anyone who remembers when Palace were the ‘Team of the ‘80s.’ Perhaps there’s hope yet for all of us dreaming of football’s better angels.

[Petros Constantinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read book for practitioners and the wider public interested in the regulation of football (sport) alike. The vision of the author is admirably served by his attention for detail. Unsurprisingly thus, his conclusions are robust and his recommendations should be key input in whatever follows on the regulatory front. Those looking for headline scandals will be disappointed. The author chose the hard way of proving his argument. He points to the lack of checks of balances (which he identifies and specifies) as the key explanatory variable for the various governance failures that sports-governing bodies have bequeathed football with. He details various episodes (carefully selected to avoid sample-bias) to provide a persuasive account why institutions matter, well-run institutions that is. Confusion of functions at UEFA/FIFA in the author’s account has led to a consistent side-stepping of institutional arrangement put in place to address distortions, and worse to personality cult and eventually to a waning of the institutional framework itself. Addressing similar mishaps is easier now that Delaney has provided the blueprint. The question is whether the world can count on the political will to do so.

Petros C. Mavroidis

[Dewi Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an important book. In an age of misinformation and dishonesty, it’s immeasurably valuable to have a sane and comprehensive account of how football is losing its soul, pound by pound.

All of football’s most serious problems are laid bare in the most damning detail. That so much of this story is very modern history is worrying. That it shows little sign of slowing, in fact it’s accelerating, is even more concerning.

There is a whole class of morally bankrupt parasites atop the game. They have been here a while and their like aren’t going anywhere. A combination of capitalist and autocratic forces are pulling apart the fabric of what football should be. When the balloon eventually bursts with communities crippled and fans abandoned, remember that books like this foreshadowed it.

I was lucky enough to see the great investigative journalist Andrew Jennings give a lecture about FIFA’s corruption in 2011. The best compliment I can give States of Play author Miguel Delaney is that I’m sure Andrew would endorse this book.

Wherever and however it all ends, I would welcome a sequel to read.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A question in the final chapter sums up the state of football: “Is football a net good for humanity?”

So long as these autocratic states pour in money then their negative impacts on humanity are overlooked.

With the scale of sportswashing in football from the highest level of the game, the game has become a business in this hyper-capitalist system. Club football at least has turned into an equation where the money buys the best players and the equality of competition has gone. Take PSG as an example, Ligue One has become meaningless and a procession each year.

No wonder why people are returning to their community clubs for football enjoyment. Local clubs bring people together for enjoyment, unpredictability and a connection to the game. Women’s football is the same.

It is becoming harder and harder to enjoy modern football as the bad stuff is harder to ignore. Basically… support your local clubs.

[Jono Suter · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good however a lot of missed opportunities to talk about the worldwide impact of sportswashing and across different sports. The whole pif golf debacle is 1 sentence, I think the F1 is mentioned in passing but these are sports being absolutely run by sportswashing at this point. in the case of F1 it is actively making the sports more dangerous with A LOT of money involved, why doesn't delaney take a chapter to discuss sportswashing in context other than football. idk. anyway it's a great read, really well researched and detailed, would recommend it to anyone remotely interested in the topic but you can skip some of the wanky beautiful game stuff and when he randomly starts talking tactics, like cool you've played football manager or w/e but I don't think it's relevant, great read

[Richard Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The States of Play is a brilliant, eye-opening book that really lays bare how sportswashing and politics have shaped modern football. Miguel writes with clarity and passion, blending sharp analysis with compelling storytelling.

As a football fan, I found it both fascinating and sobering. It made me think more deeply about the game I love, who controls it, and what role fans can play in shaping its future. Far from being a dry account, it’s packed with insight and examples that kept me gripped from start to finish.

It’s left me inspired to get more involved and to look for ways to help counter corruption and protect the integrity of the sport.

Highly recommended for anyone who cares about football, politics, or the intersection of the two.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched and thoughtfully presented, but it's hard to care about how the incompetent millionaires can't compete with the greedy billionaires who can't compete with the murderous trillionaires.

As someone who likes watching the occasional football game but has never been a fan, my reaction is to declare a plague on all their houses and walk away. Based on the Amnesty International worker who just can't give up his lifelong fandom of Saudi-owned Newcastle, though, it seems certain that the vast majority of football fans will happily follow whichever thug can promise them wins. I wish I could say I found that surprising.

[Muiris Breathnach · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love sport, not just football this is a must read. It is upsetting as it is revealing. In a world where “greed is good “ and if you have thought of it, it has been tried, Delaney’s breakdown of how sports washing has become a norm is truly shocking.
I hope someone will write a better book than “States of Play”, and I hope I’m alive to read it but it will be a big ask.
I’ve no real interest in boxing but Mike Winters “I only talk winning “ with Angelo Dundee still remains one of my favourite sport biographies
This book stands alongside it

[Rebecca Calderon · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all know that football has got out of control but do we know all the details as to why? Do we believe the gossip? Do we, as loyal fans, turn a blind eye to our own clubs who revel in silverware due to being owned by a state? This book has all the history and facts surrounding sportswashing and other dodgy practices now ruining our beautiful game. But there's hope! Miguel Delaney drags us through a depressing account which will make the reader angry but he also shows us how things could be turned around. Read the book and take action!

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a good account of how football has not just lost its way, but been eaten by geopolitics and hyper-capitalism. At times it can be a bit broad brush-strokes, and feels it dots about rather than carving out a singular narrative, but that’s all in service of how comprehensive it is. There’s a clarity to the way it frames something everyday which all journalism should aspire to. Plus there are fun anecdotes about Jack Grealish.

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

A combination of late-stage hypercapitalism and petrostate ownership of football clubs has led to the increasing mess described in this book. While at times it reads like an extended rant of a fan whose anger has gone over the top, this book helps encapsulate the many problems football faces and the unwillingness of leadership (both political and in UEFA and FIFA) to do anything about it. It is sad, and the final chapter about where football is going doesn't give a lot of hope.