The eyes of the world have been on Italy, and particularly the tiny Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, over the last week.
Bodies are still being recovered from the sea around Lampedusa of victims from the shipwreck in which over 200 people escaping from Africa lost their lives.
At stadiums across the Italy, football was asked to think for a moment about the tragedy. Mostly, the one-minute silences before kick off in memory of the dead were impeccably observed by crowds at Serie A arenas.
At Bologna it was not.
The images of Hellas Verona’s away fans singing when they had been asked to be respectful have now been broadcast worldwide. The sabotaging of the moment seemed concerted. The saboteurs appeared to be chanting, sarcastically, a well-known funeral dirge.
The match had started late, because of fighting between rival fans outside the ground. By the end of the game Verona, newly promoted, were celebrating a win that took them fifth in the table.
It is refreshing to see an upwardly mobile club succeed in a top flight dominated by big-city teams, but it would also be fair to say that not everybody welcomed Verona’s return to Serie A after an absence of 11 years.
Some of their ultras have a poisonous reputation, racist as well as delinquent, and the behaviour in the lead-up to the match was a stark reminder of why.
sports@thenational.ae
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Upcoming games
SUNDAY
Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton (5.30pm)
Leicester City v Everton (8pm)
MONDAY
Burnley v Newcastle United (midnight)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)