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The Beijing Olympics and class struggle

20 Mar 2008 |

Paul Hampton

The Olympic spectacular in August this year is likely to be another step on China’s march towards great power status. For sure the media will marvel at the incredible stadia, the clean streets of the capital and the immensity of the country. So spare a thought for the workers on Beijing’s Olympic construction sites, working for about US$5 a day, often not getting paid until the end of the year and sometimes not at all. To bring the sporting showpiece to the world, workers are toiling at least ten hours a day. They don’t get weekends off, nor any paid holiday, and most have no contract or...

Olympic Games Displace Millions

15 Jun 2007 | Blog post

Here's an interesting source of information. Apparently, the Olympic Games and other 'mega-events' have displaced some 2 million people from their homes over the last two decades, disproportionately people who are poor, vulnerably housed and/or ethnic minority.

Safe standing

09 Jun 2007

By Matthew Thompson The publication of a report by the Football Supporters’ Federation calling for the reintroduction of standing areas at grounds has been criticised by the Hillsborough Families Campaign, a group representing relatives of the 96 Liverpool fans crushed to death in 1989. The problem at Hillsborough, however, was not standing but a lack of crowd control by police, and terraces divided into pens and fenced at the front, allowing no escape. The implementation of the resulting Taylor Report that stipulated all-seater stadia for the top two divisions of English football coincided...

Ferenc Puskas and the revolution in football

20 Nov 2006

The Hungarian footballer Ferenc Puskas who has died aged 79, fifty years after the Russian invasion which drove him from his homeland, was a key member of the Magnificent Magyars, the national team who revolutionised football in the early fifties. A seminal event occured in November 1953 when they became the first overseas side to beat England at Wembley. Playing a flowing, short passing game, they won 6-3 (they would win the return match in May 1954 7-1). While England stuck rigidly to the 'W-M' or 3-4-3 formation invented by Arsenal in the 1920's, Hungary lined up in a system later known as...

Clissold Leisure Centre - Still Sunk

30 Sep 2006 | Blog post

This one's for Hackney locals (including you Stoke Newington types who don't like to admit you live in Hackney), swimmers, and followers of useless local Councils and "Labour" politicians who fail working-class communities.

As you may already know, the Clissold Leisure Centre was Hackney Council's...

England Out of the World Cup

01 Jul 2006 | Blog post

The pundits have thus far interpreted the game. The point, however, is to win it.

For sixty minutes, England appeared to have a strategy of losing the ball as soon as they reached the final third of the pitch. Then a petulant lad thought it was acceptable to push your opponent in temper. (Just like...

Run a Mile

28 Jun 2006 | Blog post

BBC TV is plugging the Sport Relief mile. Among the array of sporty types encouranging us to canter for charity, one said, "If you can't run just one little mile for Sport Relief, you should be ashamed of yourself."

Excuse me, but what?!? There are plenty of people who can not run a mile because of...

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