International spectators banned from entering Japan for Olympics March 20, 2021 International spectators will be barred from entering Japan during this summer’s Olympic Games amid concerns over the pandemic, the organisers said today. Officials met earlier today to discuss whether foreign visitors would be allowed to travel into Japan after about 1m tickets were sold abroad. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organising Committee said tickets purchased by [...]
Falcon and The Winter Soldier Episode 1 review March 19, 2021 *** WARNING: this review contains spoilers for Falcon and The Winter Soldier *** Just a couple of weeks since we said goodbye to Westview, Marvel is back with another series to follow up WandaVision’s success. Falcon and The Winter Soldier puts Captain America’s (Chris Evans) best buddies in the spotlight – Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), [...]
Women’s rugby has just showed it is streets ahead of the men’s game with new competition WXV March 19, 2021 “It’s not as good as men’s.” That is such an obvious response to any number of women’s sports. As if to evidence such a lowly perception of women’s sport, the recent announcement of the Women’s Six Nations postponement was met with a deluge of misogyny and comments from men who said they simply “don’t care”. Initiated by Stef Evans of Bristol Bears, the women’s rugby community countered in [...]
Ollie Phillips: Angry France will keep Six Nations in balance by unpicking Wales; England must reproduce last week’s brilliance to win in Ireland March 19, 2021 England’s win over France by the width of a blade of grass last weekend was the best match of this Six Nations by a country mile. The quality and intensity of rugby, especially in the first half, were world class. France were phenomenal, as they have been throughout this tournament, and England finally performed as [...]
Dale Vince interview: Forest Green Rovers chairman and green energy tycoon on climbing the football leagues while saving the planet March 19, 2021 With a large green Union Jack behind him and a casually dishevelled appearance, Dale Vince brings to mind the leader of some rebel republic when he appears on the Zoom call. Being cast as a revolutionary is nothing new to Vince. In business, the former New Age Traveller has turned once-leftfield ideas about green energy [...]
Justice League review: The Snyder Cut is a cut above March 18, 2021 There have been many ways in which films have found a new audience over the years. We’ve had director’s ruts, R-rated cuts, special editions with updated effects, all of which take the theatrical release and shake it up, adding bits and perhaps re-ordering in a way that fits the original creator’s vision. However, none of those [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Tokyo 2020 Olympics hit by another sexism scandal; World Rugby boosts women’s game; LaLiga brings tiki-taka teachers to East Sussex March 18, 2021 “I would like to show a new direction,” said Seiko Hashimoto upon taking over as president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the wake of a sexism storm last month. Four weeks later, Hashimoto’s hopes have been torpedoed by revelations that another senior male official for this summer’s Games made derogatory comments about women. Tokyo [...]
Creation Stories review: A familiar, nostalgic Britpop biopic March 18, 2021 Modern movies have a habit of romanticising the generations before it. The 80s pined for the 50s with Back To The Future, Diner, and Stand By Me, while the 90s longed for the 60s with My Girl, Forrest Gump, and Austin Powers. As we venture into the 2020s, it’s the turn of the 90s to [...]
Assassins film review – N Korea murder doc is an unbelievable hit March 18, 2021 A controversial hit at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Assassins has had a bumpy road to the screen, but those who seek it out will discover an unbelievable tale. Assassins follows the trial of Vietnamese citizen Đoàn Thị Hương and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, for the 2017 murder of Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of North [...]
Why the Premier League TV rights bubble really might be about to burst this time March 18, 2021 The Premier League TV rights for 2022 to 2025 will go under the hammer in the next few months. The outcome of that process could put the competition’s very existence at risk. In 2018, the UK segment of the Premier League TV rights sold for £4.5bn, down from a £5.1bn high in 2015. The rights [...]