INSIDE SPORT: Jude Bellingham chucks more darts at the English press as he opens up on his YouTube channel
Members of the media covering England at the European Championship were amazed to see Jude Bellingham happily throwing darts at the Three Lions press facility in Germany, which he apparently avoided for the entire tournament.
Bellingham remains an elusive figure when it comes to England duties, much to the dismay of everyone involved – including some of his teammates – as Mail Sport revealed in the aftermath of the tournament.
In the latest episode of what was an entertaining and revealing four-part series on his YouTube channel, the Real Madrid star also took a series of swipes at the press, claiming that on the rare occasions he does have to deal with them (such as he was obliged to do after a man of the match performance against Serbia) they ask a question and then put their heads down and write down his answers instead of maintaining eye contact.
Elsewhere in the episode, Bellingham also says he feels like some of the media are like ‘vultures’, waiting for him to make a mistake, which is a shame as the vast majority of people in Germany firmly wanted the brilliant playmaker and his teammates to would do that. making history.
This is a situation that provides no benefit to anyone involved, especially given the improvement in relations with the press under Gareth Southgate’s administration. It is hoped that a solution can be found soon, as Bellingham is set for a long – and hopefully brilliant – international career.
Elsewhere, there were further raised eyebrows when a member of the Republic of Ireland communications team broke protocol and held up a flag in the press box at Wembley for the Irish national anthem, before sitting down for the English anthem.
Members of the media covering England at the European Championship were amazed to see Jude Bellingham happily throwing darts at the Three Lions press facility.
Bellingham remains an elusive figure when it comes to England duties, and that has not gone unnoticed
It turns out the FAI asked the FA for permission because the Irish team would like to be in an elevated position looking at the tricolor when the national anthem is played and the giant one on the ground in front of the group wasn’t sufficient. That permission was subsequently granted.
The Carrow Road Pantomime
There are plenty of giggles in Norfolk, where Norwich City have announced that Carrow Road will play host to a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk. Many have made the obvious joke that the Canary Islands home is the venue for a weekly pantomime, while some wonder why there is a traditional Christmas show on January 2.
No word yet on whether former co-owner Delia Smith will plant the beans, with the stalk taking the Championship side to the magical land of the Premier League and all its gold coins.
The British Olympic Association appoints a female president
History will be made this week with the appointment of the British Olympic Association’s first ever female president. The role is also guaranteed to go to an Olympic rower, with both Katherine Grainger and Annamarie Phelps vying for the job, both having previously competed for Team GB at the Games.
Members of the National Olympic Committee – largely made up of presidents and CEOs of national governing bodies of Olympic sports – will vote at a meeting on Thursday to decide who will take over from incumbent Sir Hugh Robertson.
Phelps is the current vice-chairman of the BOA and is highly regarded in Olympic circles, while Grainger is currently chairman of UK Sport, the government funding body for Olympic sport.
Katherine Grainger (pictured above) and Annamarie Phelps are vying to become BOA president
Cape Town is bidding for the 2036 Olympic Games
After the opaque process by which Brisbane won the 2032 Olympics, seasoned observers of Olympic politics will be forgiven for thinking it is Groundhog Day with Cape Town’s announcement that it will bid to host the 2036 Games.
Brisbane’s bid was submitted by John Coates, a long-standing political ally of outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach. And Cape Town has the full support of another very close Bach loyalist, the South African Olympic doyen, Sam Ramsamy.
Cynics say it would not be a surprise if Cape Town gained momentum before Bach leaves office in June next year.
Cape Town has announced it will bid to host the 2036 Games
Rochdale’s postponed derby brings back memories
The late postponement of Rochdale’s big derby with Oldham on Saturday – with less than two hours to go before kick-off – brought back memories of a humorous story from former referee Kevin Lynch.
Years ago, Lynch canceled a lucrative Boxing Day match at Spotland with Halifax Town as visitors. On the way back to his car, the former Premier League whistleblower was blocked by an irate individual in a flat cap, who revealed he was the ‘Rochdale Pieman’ and explained he had 5,000 meat and potato pies in his van. and a wife and four children to support.
Words were exchanged, with Lynch responding that at least the family wouldn’t go hungry for a few days.
After the match was replayed on a rainy evening in April, the same man came to the referee’s room and told a delighted Lynch that there were no hard feelings and that he had brought four pies for him and his assistants to warm them up before they went home. .
With a soaked Lynch ready to go to sleep, the pieman turned around and delivered the killer payoff: “They’ve done pretty well since f*****g Boxing Day…”