Soccer: England did not deserve victory against Russia

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The BBC, politics, sport and lies

Mainstream media has a lot to answer for in the way it propagandises everything: including sport. There used to be a policy to try and keep politics out of sport. But when the main defaulter in this policy is the BBC it is little wonder that the fans follow their lead. This is a page I came across when trying to select which matches I wanted to watch. It relates to promoting last night's match between Germany and Ukraine.

What alarmed me with this page was the top story under Headlines: MH17 Prosecutors want Russian answers. Remember this is a sports page. It is concerned with Ukraine and its match against Germany. But the first headline is reinforcing a meme which the BBC, and other mainstream outlets, have adopted as their mantra - blame Russia, blame Putin. They have perpetuated this ever since the western-sponsored coup to remove the legitimately-elected government of Ukraine. Click the link and you can learn how certain Australian lawyers are trying to get compensation for MH17 victims - nothing to do with football, nothing to do with Europe.

The irony here is that Russia is being called upon to provide evidence about the shooting down of MH17. Russia was the first to provide evidence. Countries withholding evidence are the USA (its alleged satellite images) and Ukraine (its air-traffic control records for the day). Not that that will bother the BBC which used to have some credibility but has sold itself so far down the road of perfidy there can be no turning back. In Ukraine for months before the coup the BBC covered street protests on the Maidan. When the overthrow took place and Poroshenko started a civil-war in which 10,000 have been killed the BBC virtually clammed up.

With street-fighting back in the international football frame, and FIFA threatening to ban Russia and England from the tournament because of fan behaviour, it is time to take a measured response to what is happening. Not all football followers are fanatical. Not all regular match-goers are fanatical. I enjoy watching a game of football myself and I agree it can get emotional. Drumming up hatred is something the mainstream media should not be doing. It should instead present unbiased politics-free sport. But even in the sport itself there is blatant disinformation.

A dubious foul that led to England's goal

I watched the England-Russia match (ITV1) with interest and am pleased to say that England had much more possession, especially in the first half, and more scoring opportunitites. That is not to say the Russian defence was shoddy, just that England were good. They passed well and showed the speed a young side should be able to show. Russia defended most of the attacks well and even put one or two together themselves.

Then came the so-called foul that led to England's goal. While England had been pressing it was becoming ever more evident they would not score from open play. In the 72nd minute Dele Alli ran into Georgy Shchennikov instead of around him. For some unaccountable reason, and right on the edge of the box, the referee penalised Shchennikov, yellow-carded him, and awarded a free kick in a very dangerous position. The goal that followed was superbly executed from a set-piece.

I thought at the time that it was never a foul. But ITV1 continued as though it was. No replay of the 'foul' was shown, and even after the match, when the talking heads summed up a match that Hodgson claimed should have been a victory but seemed more like a defeat because of Russia's late equaliser from open play there was still no replay. Because I did not believe it was a foul I tried in vain to get footage of the 'foul'. Google is crap. In the end I had to go to a Russian broadcasting station, Вести, to see the alleged foul. You can judge for yourselves. It starts three and a half minutes in. However many times I have watched this it is not a foul in my eyes. But the deceit, this time ITV1, is what most concerns me. As with the BBC over the non-reporting of the Ukrainian civil war they indulged in what Catholics call a sin of omission.

Poroshenko - how wrong can you get?

Follow @JohnPlatinumG Yesterday, not waiting to see what happens in the legitimate Ukraine, I gave Petro Poroshenko the benefit of the doubt and hoped he would try to reunite the people of his country. To my shame, I once did this with Tony Blair. We in the UK have had chocolate manufacturers, mostly Quakers, like the Fry family, the Rowntree family in York and here in Birmingham, the Cadbury family, and I was rather hoping he could have been added to the list. These families went into chocolate and sweet production as a passive rather than military-based industry, probably not knowing the real detrimental effect their products can have, and death by chocolate is a slow process. But they did not set out to kill people.

Poroshenko is clearly no different from the other thugs that have taken power in Ukraine. Having been in office not more than twenty four hours he has already engaged in greater military action against a largely unarmed population of the breakaway regions of East Ukraine. Because of its irrecoverable economy the USA needs to involve the major powers, Russia and China, in a major conflict so that the collapse of its currency can be blamed on war. We may never get to learn what the US has offered this man to wage war on his own people. Civilians are being killed from the air by Ukrainian forces and the country could become the failed state that no decent people want to see, and you can bet few of the electorate cast their votes for.

The people of Eastern Ukraine have also voted, in a much bigger turn out than in the Kiev elections. I cannot see the present situation improving and Vladimir Putin, who has stood back throughout may have to intervene to protect the innocent civilians who have voted in a referendum to become part of the Russian Federation. This is what the US wants, military action everywhere except in the US. Unfortunately I made a big mistake yesterday and apologise to anyone I misled.