Jonathan Liew
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Articles by Jonathan Liew
Chaotic state of football in Brazil epitomises a nation where greed has conquered glory
The right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro during a visit to a community club in São Paulo. Photograph: Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images Look, cards on the table: I don’t know for certain, and nor do you, whether Flávio Bolsonaro – the man widely tipped to become the next president of Brazil after Sunday night’s election – really did steal an island from Richarlison.
Chaotic state of football in Brazil epitomises a nation where greed has conquered glory
Look, cards on the table: I don’t know for certain, and nor do you, whether Flávio Bolsonaro – the man widely tipped to become the next president of Brazil after Sunday night’s election – really did steal an island from Richarlison. There are lawyers involved, claims and counter-claims, and in any case, adjudicating land ownership disputes between right-wing strongmen and Tottenham reserve-team strikers lies very much beyond this column’s spectrum of expertise.
Fadhlina’s ex-aide lambasts haze critics over school closure chaos: “Where’s the Environment Minister?”
A TOP Wanita PKR leader and former aide to Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek has come to the Education Minister’s defence amid mounting criticism over confusion surrounding haze-related school closures. Sangetha Jayakumar, the Wanita PKR secretary, posted on Threads: “You all keep attacking Fadhlina but who is the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister?
Martínez has drawn back the curtain on Manchester United's ruinous ownership
Heartbreaking: the worst defender you know just made a great point. And no, nobody would describe Lisandro Martínez as the ideal person to scrutinise Manchester United's indifferent start to the season , given that his high-profile defensive errors against Fulham and Tottenham are partly responsible for it.
With no time-frame for Bossku to start house arrest, shouldn’t UMNO return the SRC fine donations?
ON Sept 18, UMNO launched its solidarity fund for incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the quest to seek RM50 mil to settle the fine required under his conditional pardon. The aim was to enable him to serve the remainder of his SRC International Sdn Bhd conviction sentence at home until Aug 23, 2028. Based on the figure announced on Sept 27, RM9.25 mil had been collected. That left RM40.75 mil outstanding. Less than a fifth of the target had been reached.
Martínez has drawn back the curtain on Manchester United’s ruinous ownership
Lisandro Martínez has spoken frankly about the club’s ownership – perhaps more so than any other serving Manchester United player. Photograph: Sipa US/Alamy Live News. For those with no interest in engaging with what Martínez actually had to say, this alone will be sufficient grounds to ignore him.
This civil war on the British right is a charade – its politics are more united than ever
Kapow! In a warmly received conference speech, Kemi Badenoch turns her fire on Reform UK, describing it as “weird”, and ruling out an electoral pact. Slap! Not to be outdone, her former colleague Robert Jenrick derides Badenoch as a champion of the wealthy, which is quite rich for a guy who looks like he's just accidentally ingested a bundle of £50 notes through his sphincter.
This civil war on the British right is a charade – its politics are more united than ever
Kemi Badenoch is congratulated by Robert Jenrick after winning the Conservative party leadership contest, 2 November 2024. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Kapow! In a warmly received conference speech, Kemi Badenoch turns her fire on Reform UK, describing it as “weird”, and ruling out an electoral pact.
Is Fury v Joshua about meritocratic sporting excellence or just algorithmic celebrity power?
Tyson Fury (left) and Anthony Joshua at a press conference in London last month, promoting their fight at the Principality Stadium in December. Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP The 1912 Olympic marathon was held in a brutal Scandinavian heatwave, and before long Shizo Kanakuri of Japan was flagging. His journey to Stockholm had been debilitating; he had barely trained and struggled to sleep. At around the 16-mile mark he finally gave in.
How best to punish City? Restitution over retribution, then hand club to the fans
A 17-year transfer embargo. Replay the entire era with all the original players. Restore the 2009 squad and force them to mount a title challenge with Stephen Ireland, Martin Petrov and Richard Dunne. Force Ferran Soriano to drive a parade bus backwards through Manchester, once for every major trophy won. Ban the Poznan, or at least make City fans do it facing forwards.
Anthony Loke may never get to resign as Transport Minister; he could be in opposition by then
IT has been said that in Malaysian politics, one day can be like an eternity, what more 10. And in 10 days, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook was transformed from hero to zero. On Sept 19, after a pow-wow with top guns in DAP, of which he is the secretary-general, Loke offered to resign as Minister to take the fall for the party over disgraced former premier Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak being granted conditional house arrest.
The Manchester City case shows us how the global mega-rich now expect to operate with impunity
The cache of leaked emails and documents that would eventually lead to the crisis in which Manchester City are now embroiled was published by Der Spiegel in 2018 , and often it was the tone of the club's communications that was as startling as their content.
Rangers and Ryan Naderi finish off Celtic's horror week with Old Firm victory
If ever a stadium can be rocked by silence, this was the moment. With no visiting fans allowed at any of this season's Glasgow derbies, Ryan Naderi's winning goal was met with nothing but the banging of fists of the clear plastic of the Rangers bench, and the shouting of the broadcast commentators. A screaming void of apathy and atrophy, the sound of a beckoning abyss, of a title race blowing open and a team slowly breaking apart.
Rangers and Ryan Naderi finish off Celtic’s horror week with Old Firm victory
If ever a stadium can be rocked by silence, this was the moment. With no visiting fans allowed at any of this season’s Glasgow derbies, Ryan Naderi’s winning goal was met with nothing but the banging of fists of the clear plastic of the Rangers bench and the shouting of the broadcast commentators. A screaming void of apathy and atrophy, the sound of a beckoning abyss, of three straight Celtic defeats and a title race blowing open.
Raheem Sterling's bleak tale a reminder of absurd path young footballers face
“What's your name?” “Raheem.” “What's your surname?” “Sterling.” This is how a story ends. At 9.13 on a glorious May morning, by the side of the A327, sitting in the passenger seat of a wrecked Lamborghini, feverishly stashing canisters of nitrous oxide into the back, having to recite one's name from scratch. A police officer asks him who was driving the car at the time it smashed into a metal pole on a country road in Hampshire. Sterling says nothing. There's nobody sitting in the driver's seat.
Raheem Sterling’s bleak tale a reminder of absurd path young footballers face
Raheem Sterling’s sporting career may have come to a hard stop at the age of 31. Photograph: Pro Shots/Alamy This is how a story ends. At 9.13 on a glorious May morning, by the side of the A327, sitting in the passenger seat of a wrecked Lamborghini, feverishly stashing canisters of nitrous oxide into the back, having to recite one’s name from scratch. A police officer asks him who was driving the car at the time it smashed into a metal pole on a country road in Hampshire. Sterling says nothing.
Polling turns politics into one big game. There are too many of them – and that does us no good
‘Polls encourage us all to see politics as a kind of game within a game’. Photograph: Sky News Solemn faces all round. We will listen. We will learn. We will hone and improve. Yes, it’s time for the latest bout of profound soul-searching in the UK polling industry following the allegations raised by the recent Channel 4 investigation that a polling firm reportedly failed to declare that three polls it published before the local elections in May were commissioned by Reform.
Is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a post-Test cricketer – or could he revolutionise the format?
The ball is short outside off. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi goes to pull it, hoiks it high to deep midwicket, is out for 44 off 37 balls. Almost immediately, a portion of the 12,000 fans who have risen at dawn to queue outside the Chepauk Stadium for free tickets begin to vacate their seats. The Duleep Trophy final in Chennai between East Zone and South Zone is scheduled for five days and has been going for barely an hour. But for some, the show is already over.
Is the inter-agency rural funding row a PMX-Zahid proxy war, a precursor to Madani gov’t collapse?
DISPUTES over government allocations usually remain behind closed doors. One recent disagreement, however, has erupted in public, drawing in senior civil servants and political aides from PKR and UMNO at a time when relations between the two parties are already under strain. Nevertheless, the public quarrel over payments to rural contractors appears to be more than an administrative dispute.
Lavish spending fails to fix Tottenham’s big issue – the lack of a soul or spine
Lavish spending fails to fix Tottenham’s big issue – the lack of a soul or spine
Lavish spending fails to fix Tottenham’s big issue – the lack of a soul or spine Original
Lavish spending fails to fix Tottenham’s big issue – the lack of a soul or spine A dejected Roberto De Zerbi trudges across the pitch after Tottenham's 2-0 defeat against Newcastle.Photograph: Shaun Brooks/CameraSport/Getty Images Time for Tottenham to start panicking? This is, of course, a subtle trick question. Tottenham is one of those clubs that never actually stops panicking. They panic when they concede and they panic when they score.
We have been staring at Phil Foden for close to a decade – how well do we actually know him?
Phil Foden says he is excited about working under Enzo Maresca, his new manager at Manchester City . We should call this exactly what it is: a very obvious barefaced lie. No doubt Foden is excited about playing football again, about challenging for trophies with his boyhood club, the new Premier League season, his new contract , a fresh start, etc, etc. But let's be real. Holidays are something you get excited about. Birthdays. Weddings. Amazon deliveries. The new Charli xcx album. Christmas.
Infantino is getting his karmic kicking, but why did football take so long to rebel against FIFA?
In recent decades the city of Salé, just across the river from Rabat on Morocco's Atlantic coast, has undergone a remarkable transformation. At the start of this century it was a gritty working-class area, whose old town was still weathered enough to serve as a body double for the Somali capital Mogadishu in the film Black Hawk Down. But in recent decades, under the country's autocratic government, the area has been transformed beyond measure, and largely beyond control.
Ceuta ha sido un carnaval de contenidos para los odiadores de la derecha... y una lección para la izquierda
Las transmisiones en vivo continúan con sus cámaras en la playa de Ceuta, donde no pasa nada. Los autodenominados periodistas ciudadanos siguen patoneando las calles, capturando imágenes con sus teléfonos inteligentes. Zia Yusuf, de Reform UK, estuvo allí el fin de semana, vistiendo una camisa blanca y nítida y pantalones elegantes a medida, para que nadie lo confundiera con las otras personas morenasí. La mala gente morena.
Ceuta was a carnival of anti-migrant content for hateful opportunists on the right – and a lesson for the left
Migrants being escorted in Ceuta, Spain, 1 August 2026. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters The live streams are still running, training their cameras on the beach at Ceuta, where nothing is happening. The self-styled citizen journalists are still pounding the streets, capturing their shaky smartphone footage. Zia Yusuf of Reform UK was out there at the weekend, wearing a crisp white shirt and smart tailored trousers, lest anyone confuse him with the other brown people there.
Ceuta was a carnival of anti-migrant content for hateful opportunists on the right – and a lesson for the left
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Double tops: Littler and Pogacar in a class of their own, but nothing lasts for ever
Jonathan Liew Treble-20. “Ohh, he couldn't.” Treble-19. “Oh, you spiteful young man.” Bull. “You spiteful person! That is ridiculous! ” As ever, Wayne Mardle – commentating on the World Matchplay final for Sky Sports on Sunday night – put it most succinctly of all. The great individual champions require a vindictive streak. The ability not just to harness their own strength, but to tessellate it with their opponent's moment of greatest vulnerability.
If we can accept Rae Lil Black’s new beginning, why can’t we give Ms PuiYi a second chance?
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Don't like the result? Don't worry, sport no longer ends on the field of play
Jonathan Liew A funny and very small thing happened at the Formula Two race at Spa on Sunday. Noel León, of Campos Racing, carved his way through the field to finish seventh, earning himself six points in the drivers' championship, and promptly left the circuit to go and do whatever it is Noel León likes to do after a race. Take a nap, hit the Belgian brews, congratulate himself on his palindromic name – whatever.
What’s left after this World Cup? A kind of messy hope
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What’s left after this World Cup? A kind of messy hope
A boy in an Argentina jersey looks at a mural in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 27 June 2026. Photograph: Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock It’s the World Cup final, so you pick a side. And don’t worry if you happen to be part of the 98.9% of the human race that is neither Spanish nor Argentinian – just make something up. Maybe you like the Spain kit. Maybe you’ve always been an admirer of Lionel Messi.
What’s left after this World Cup? A kind of messy hope
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Tuchel would rather put down the English game than admit to his own cowardice
Thomas Tuchel speaks to his England players during a hydration break in the semi-final defeat by Argentina. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA How we talked. On late-night news shows, disembodied heads above a rolling yellow banner. On planes and trains, at bus stops and flower shops and kids’ birthday parties, trying desperately to connect the ennui of the now with the vividness of the later, trying on some level to anticipate the feelings, the blood surge, the heart rush.
Love and hate collide: England v Argentina is not simply a grudge match
It's about the ball, right up until the moment it isn't. On Sunday afternoon Godoy Cruz played Defensores de Belgrano in Nacional B, the second division of Argentinian football, and among the sea of blue home banners were two crosses of St George, apparently expropriated from England fans at the 2014 World Cup.
Fleeting window slammed shut as Zverev gets lost in the Sinner zone
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Fleeting window slammed shut as Zverev gets lost in the Sinner zone
Jonathan Liew at Wimbledon Shortly before 7pm, a full 162 minutes into this match, Alexander Zverev got his first break point on the Jannik Sinner serve. With the score still one set apiece and tied like a knot, this felt like a kind of hinge point. A humongous chance in a match preciously short on them. Sinner faulted. A priceless second serve for Zverev to look at. The serve was a little safer than usual and Zverev returned it with interest.
No more Fery-tales: fantastical fever dream is over and now the hard work starts
Well, we were beginning to run out of ferry puns anyway. Arthur Fery’s run to the semi-finals of Wimbledon always had a kind of glazed and surreal quality to it, a shaggy-dog story that kept adding more and more unbelievable layers: the fling that ended in marriage, the picnic that turned into an all-night rave, Super Hans accidentally running to Windsor. When reality finally bit, it bit slowly and then all at once.
Muchova into Wimbledon final after nailbiting tie-break defeat of Coco Gauff
She finds a first serve on match point and the contact is perfect : 117mph, punched hard down the centre line, and from the moment her hand receives the message from her strings, she must know this is it. Of course the ball may come back, and indeed the ball does come back, but only barely. And in those few seconds as it arcs over the net, springs back up off the grass and hangs there like a beautiful sweet fruit, Coco Gauff has a Wimbledon final in her grasp.
Team for now, not a squad for later – Spurs are spending big but what is it for?
A couple of weeks ago, Sotheby's in London concluded one of its biggest art auctions. In all, the sale of 25 modern and contemporary works raised almost £300m. Seated Nude With Necklace, by Modigliani, went for £41.5m; La Belle Promenade, by Magritte, went for £13.5m.
British wildcard Arthur Fery fights back to beat Zizou Bergs in Wimbledon epic
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British wildcard Arthur Fery fights back to beat Zizou Bergs in Wimbledon epic
Arthur Fery collapses on the court after his five-set victory against Zizou Bergs. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian This place has always been home for Arthur Fery. He grew up a mile away from the Wimbledon grounds and went to school nearby. His mother, a former tennis player, is a member here. As a child he would spend his summers strolling the grounds: watching and wishing, inhaling this rarefied air, dreaming of the day when everyone here knew his name.
British wildcard Arthur Fery fights back to beat Zizou Bergs in Wimbledon epic
Arthur Fery defied persistent nosebleeds to win a five-set epic against Zizou Bergs and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time. The 23-year-old wildcard needed treatment three times for the problem, which has dogged him throughout the tournament, while he was 4-1 down in the fourth and fifth sets. But Fery showed huge courage and belief to fight back both times before claiming a 2-6 7-5 2-6 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5) victory after four hours and 38 minutes.
British wildcard Arthur Fery fights back to beat Zizou Bergs in Wimbledon epic
Arthur Fery collapses on the court after his five-set victory against Zizou Bergs. Arthur Fery collapses on the court after his five-set victory against Zizou Bergs. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Arthur Fery defied persistent nosebleeds to win a five-set epic against Zizou Bergs and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time.
British wildcard Arthur Fery fights back to beat Zizou Bergs in Wimbledon epic
Arthur Fery defied persistent nosebleeds to win a five-set epic against Zizou Bergs and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time. The 23-year-old wildcard needed treatment three times for the problem, which has dogged him throughout the tournament, while he was 4-1 down in the fourth and fifth sets. But Fery showed huge courage and belief to fight back both times before claiming a 2-6 7-5 2-6 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5) victory after four hours and 38 minutes.
João Fonseca departs Wimbledon with a whimper but deafening hype army roar on
The first chants of “FON! SE! CA!” started up shortly before noon, and it's fair to say João Fonseca was in need of all the encouragement he could get. For half an hour the Brazilian No 24 seed had been slapped around to the point of mockery. The world No 132 Roman Safiullin of Russia, a quarter-finalist here in 2023, was standing daringly close to the baseline, taking the ball early, teasing him with immaculate drop shots.
Bazball ends with a whimper to expose emptiness of English men’s cricket
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Bazball ends with a whimper to expose emptiness of English men’s cricket
Ben Stokes announced his retirement from international cricket during the third Test at Trent Bridge. Photograph: Philip Brown/Getty Images By the very end, Trent Bridge was practically empty. This felt bleakly appropriate.
Tennis has moved on but Serena devotion at sporting vigil is still at a high
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Tennis has moved on but Serena devotion at sporting vigil is still at a high
The shapes and the silhouettes are the same. The movements are effortlessly familiar. The way she gathers the ball before she serves: not so much bouncing it as toying with it, batting it around her ankles, as if considering what an appropriate punishment might be. All this is as it ever was, like the words of a song you know by heart. So why does it still feel so strange? It is a little before half past seven on a warm Wimbledon night when Serena Williams comes back from the dead.
Tennis has moved on but Serena devotion at sporting vigil is still at a high
The shapes and the silhouettes are the same. The movements are effortlessly familiar. The way she gathers the ball before she serves: not so much bouncing it as toying with it, batting it around her ankles, as if considering what an appropriate punishment might be. All this is as it ever was, like the words of a song you know by heart. So why does it still feel so strange? It is a little before half past seven on a warm Wimbledon night when Serena Williams comes back from the dead.
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