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Playing football 2,500 metres above sea level can be a shock to the system if you’re not used to it. But, argues Chris Taylor, FIFA’s ban on internationals is a victory for double standards and the major powers

You would think that FIFA’s medical department would have better things to do. Player burn-out, drug-taking, even dangerous play – all are areas where world football’s doctors might have something useful to chip in. Instead, they have provided the justification for FIFA’s executive committee to announce on May 27 that henceforward all international football above an altitude of 2,500 metres would be banned.

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Dear WSC
Why does Andy Gray keep saying “pick the bones out of that”? It’s an expression he’s come to use in every post-match analysis he does on Sky, usually in relation to a slow-motion replay of a goalmouth incident. But it’s become so frequent that it’s almost a verbal tic, as though he doesn’t realise he’s saying it. This suggests a deep-seated trauma. Could it be that he is haunted by an incident when he failed to pick the bones out of a fish, say, and consequently nearly choked while in a packed restaurant? Either that or he’s replying a vivid and unsettling dream. But it could be worse. Imagine the look of alarm on Richard Keys’ face as Andy stares into the middle distance and mutters: “The defence was as exposed as someone standing naked in front of everybody they went to school with, plus their mother and other female members of the family.”
James Potter, via email

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Simon Tyers watches Sky's top pundit at work

Nearly two years into his time as Sky’s Super Sunday expert-in-residence, it’s hard to pin down what exactly Jamie Redknapp has brought to television punditry. He has simply made an art form out of being there, telling us exactly what we’ve just seen and how both teams might be trying something different in the second half. The conviction with which he relays his beliefs is such that Richard Keys and the other guest often seem overawed by the rapid flow of homilies and overuse of the descriptive phrase “top, top”.

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Thursday 1 Emre is accused of having racially abused Ali Bangura of Watford; the Newcastle player was previously charged with insulting Everton’s black players in December. Anton Ferdinand will face trial for alleged assault over an incident at an Essex nightclub last year. Alan Knill is dismissed by Rotherham, who are without a win in 14 games.

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Seven years after England’s last bid to host a World Cup failed, along comes another one, with the plans so far to go it alone once more. Mark Perryman thinks it’s the wrong bid at the wrong time

Few England fans would pass up the chance of their country hosting the 2018 World Cup. But why is the campaign drum being beaten now, when the 2014 hosts are yet to be selected and doubt is being heaped on South Africa’s abilities to hold the next one?

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