Gary Lineker has been prompting meltdowns from all the usual suspects again, this time because he retweeted a call for Israel to be banned from international football “until it ends its grave violations of international law”. Sundry Tories, The Daily Mail, GB News and the like flipped their lid. “To a certain segment of the right, there is nothing more egregious, more irritating, more treacherous than an uppity former footballer, a footballer who thinks and has opinions, a footballer who is articulate,” writes Johnny Watterson, who reckons the fact that Lineker’s generally moderate views are “considered subversive” tells us “how far the cultural dial has moved”.
We’ve been having our own meltdowns of late too – on the matter of stadium naming rights. Gordon Manning takes a look at the thorny issue which becomes an “emotional tinderbox” when there’s talk of legacy names being replaced by the names of sponsors, eg Páirc Uí Chaoimh becoming SuperValu Páirc.
Gordon also talks to Kerry football captain Síofra O’Shea ahead of the opening round of National League matches, her county travelling to Parnell Park on Saturday to take on Dublin, who beat them in last year’s All Ireland final. And Seán Moran hears from Roscommon’s Brian Stack in the build-up to Sunday’s All-Ireland club final, his St Brigid’s side meeting Derry’s Glen.
In rugby, Gerry Thornley previews Connacht’s crucial Champions Cup game against Bristol at the Sportsground tonight, and also talks to Munster’s Tom Ahern who was named this week as one of the three uncapped training panellists in Andy Farrell’s Six Nations squad.
Meanwhile, Professor Éanna Falvey, Chief Medical Officer at World Rugby, writes about the efforts being made to reduce head impacts in the sport. “It is incumbent on us as its ultimate custodians to ensure that the laws of the game protect all players.”
In hockey, Ireland’s women suffered the agony of a penalty shoot-out defeat at their Olympic qualifier on Thursday, but they have one more chance to book a place in Paris, the men in action this morning in their semi-final against Spain.
In basketball, Clíona Foley looks ahead to what could be a monumental weekend for Cork club Brunell who are not only seeking their first senior title at the National Cup Finals, they’re chasing a treble having also made the Under-20 and Under-18 deciders. And Shane Stokes catches up with cyclist Megan Armitage who is about to start her season in Mallorca, the Offaly woman coming off the back of a 2023 that was packed with highs and lows.
Irish golfers had a bit of a rollercoaster of a day on Thursday too, none more so than Rory McIlroy who began his defence of his Dubai Desert Classic title in fine style, tying for the lead with five holes to play, only to suffer three successive bogeys on the home stretch. Philip Reid brings you all the gory details.
TV Watch: There’s live coverage of both the Australian tennis Open (Eurosport) and golf’s Dubai Desert Classic (Sky Sports Golf) up until 1.30 this afternoon, and this evening Connacht are badly in need of a win when they host Bristol in the Champions Cup (TNT Sports 1, 8.0).
