Voice of the Mirror has its say...
FIFA must not be sold off
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino has become a danger to the game he was elected to protect. His proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors would reduce football’s greatest tournament to a financial asset, carved up by people interested in profit rather than passion. England will not take part. Neither will France, Germany, Spain, Italy or Europe’s other leading nations. They are right to threaten a boycott and must stand firm.
Without Europe, the World Cup would be a sham: a gutted tournament missing many of its greatest teams, rivalries and supporters. Infantino knows this, yet he has still offered national associations £30 million to back his scheme. That is no way to run world football. It is an attempt to buy compliance while selling off the game’s crown jewels.
The Mirror says Infantino has forfeited the right to lead FIFA. He should resign now. If he will not, he must be removed before his greed leaves football permanently poorer.
Wildfires expose the climate crisis
For weeks, Britain has watched in horror as wildfires tore through Europe. Now our own countryside is alight. More than 100 firefighters are battling flames across Suffolk heathland covering an area the size of 140 football pitches, while families have been forced from caravans and holiday parks.
Their courage is extraordinary, as is the kindness of neighbours opening their homes to evacuees and their pets. Yet this cannot be dismissed as a freak disaster. We are heating the planet, drying the land and creating the conditions in which fires spread faster and burn harder.
Andy Burnham must give crews every resource they need. But, despite the deniers, we all must act on the climate crisis with the urgency it demands. Europe’s nightmare is reaching our shores. Without change, this terrifying summer will become the new normal.
Ivor Parker turns poker into a profession
At 100, Ivor Parker has finally turned a lifelong poker hobby into a job. After 86 years at the tables, he has been signed as the world’s oldest paid professional.
His secret is patience, nerve and knowing when to hold ’em. Retirement, clearly, was never really on the cards.
