Not every World Cup goal is a classic. Sometimes a half-hearted shot goes in as a result of little more than goalkeeper error. And on those occasions, goalies may be inclined to find an excuse.

During the 2026 tournament, some members of what is jokingly referred to as the “goalkeepers’ union” have pointed toward the performance of the ball. Joe Hart, a former England goalkeeper and serving BBC pundit, noted after one blunder: “The ball is coming into the keepers a lot faster than it feels when it comes off the foot.”

But are his concerns justified? The Conversation turned to John Eric Goff, who has been studying the physics of World Cup balls for two decades and previously wrote about what to expect from the Trionda ball being used at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

What did your lab tests predict?

Colleagues of mine at the University of Tsukuba in Japan took the World Cup ball, put a little hole in it, stuck it on a rod, attached force sensors and then set it up in a wind tunnel to obtain all kinds of aerodynamic data. They sent that data to me to look at what the trajectory modeling for the ball suggested about how it would perform in comparison to its predecessors.

Central to the performance is the airflow around the ball and how it changes as the speed of the ball increases. For the Jabulani ball used in the 2010 World Cup, for example, this airflow change happened at a speed that was right in the middle of typical free kicks and corner kicks. That caused problems for goalkeepers, as it moved in the air unpredictably as a result.

Among the recent World Cup balls we tested, Trionda has the lowest critical speed at which that airflow change takes place. That led us to predict free kicks and corner kicks with fairly consistent, stable flight.

But we also found that Trionda’s drag coefficient was slightly larger than that of its predecessors, which implied a slightly rougher surface. So there was a possible trade-off; it might fall a couple of meters short.

Has the real pitch experience followed those predictions?

It has depended a little on conditions. Take the Mexico vs. England game at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, which took place at high elevation.

That meant the ball had less air drag on it, so it could actually go farther than it would when kicked with the same launch speed in lower-altitude conditions. It also meant that because the sideways, or Magnus forces, are proportional to air density, it would curve less.

During the England vs. Mexico game, what I noticed, especially early on, was many of England’s kicks tended to go a little long. They would kick the ball down the pitch in those first 20 minutes and it would be just out of reach of teammates.

The sense I got was they weren’t quite adjusting for the higher elevation and lower air density.

Some have questioned the flight. Do they have a point?

I have heard the complaints by former England goalkeeper Joe Hart about the ball. But I haven’t heard a whole lot of detail about the substance of those complaints.

In other words, I’ve heard about the ball not being their favorite, but not why. The scientist in me really wants to interview a goalkeeper and find out: “Do you think it’s moving in erratic ways? Or is it something to do with the color scheme that’s flummoxing you on the pitch?”

I think goalkeepers are always going to complain about a new ball. But the Nike Flight, which was used in the 2024-25 English Premier League season, has an aerodynamic profile most similar to that of the current World Cup ball. So players who used that ball might already be somewhat familiar with the motion of Trionda.

As far as I can tell, the ball appears to be flying in ways that not only we predicted but that don’t look completely out of touch with what players would have seen with other balls.

As the World Cup has progressed, I’ve been watching the ball come in toward the goalkeepers, and it could be that the reds, blues and greens twirling in front of the goalkeepers’ eyes are confusing them.

There’s been talk of more long-range goals. Is the ball playing a role?

I have read there are more goals coming from farther out than in previous World Cups. But I don’t know if I could attribute it specifically to the ball.

It’s possible, of course. But I would really have to see what the actual number is and see what the percentage increase has been, because, for a sport like soccer where you only get two or three goals in a match, the sample size is so small.

It would certainly be a very interesting research question to pursue. But I don’t think the ball alone can be credited for these longer-range goals.

Overall, how has this ball performed?

I think the ball has been fine. It is an attractive ball, with the colors of the original version representing the three host countries – all of whom are now out of the tournament, so it didn’t bring them much luck, unfortunately.

John Eric Goff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/10/the-ball-is-round-and-contrary-to-some-keepers-views-in-this-world-cup-it-has-performed-just-fine/

There are plenty of British politicians who love talking about sport. It makes them appear normal, grounded and relatable to voters.

But it seems that not many enjoy talking about the political side of it – especially the concept of “sportswashing”, when sport is allegedly used by a country to deflect attention away from concerns over issues such as human rights violations it might be involved in.

My recently published research shows that UK politicians have been extremely reluctant to discuss this difficult subject. The term “sportswashing” has been uttered just 37 times in the UK parliament since its first mention in 2021 (that was in relation to the failed plans for a breakaway European super league).

Elsewhere, the idea of sportswashing has become widely discussed, as ever increasing levels of sporting investment are used by (usually authoritarian) governments as a form of global influence.

But even in 2022, referred to by some as sportswashing’s “biggest year” – because of the men’s World Cup in Qatar and the winter Olympics in Beijing – the term was uttered just five times.

This hesitancy to address the topic might appear strange when the UK is home to some of the most high-profile events and teams accused of being associated with sportswashing.

For example, the Premier League’s Manchester City is often cited as an example of sportswashing. It is owned by Sheikh Mansour, vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, which has been widely criticised for its record on human rights.

Some have argued that this kind of ownership transforms the club’s fans into “proxy defenders of the UAE government and Abu Dhabi royal family […] creating a halo effect whereby supporters conflate their joy over their club’s success with its ownership regime”.

Likewise, the Gulf State Bahrain essentially owns the UK-based Formula One McLaren team. Another Premier League side, Newcastle United is majority-owned by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund.

When the Saudi take over was finalised in October 2021, it was the subject of over 400 newspaper articles globally that month – all of which used the term “sportswashing”. But despite the international interest and the controversial nature of the deal, UK politicians decided it wasn’t worth talking about in the House of Commons.

No UK government minister has ever mentioned sportswashing in parliament, other than to confirm that the government does not have an official definition of the term. No official government documents or texts using the word, including research and policy papers, consultations and press releases, can be found on the official UK government website.

No Labour MP has used the term in the House of Commons since the party took office in July 2024, even when legislation on football governance was being passed. Yet part of that bill was designed to strengthen the “fit and proper persons” test for football club ownership.

There was one debate in the House of Lords in March 2024 however, which might help to explain why there has been such limited official discussion. That exchange included mention of the “benefits of inward investment” in the UK’s sports sector.

So perhaps the Conservative government of the time viewed foreign investment in UK sports as a positive development, and had no concerns about its source.

Human rights

Wider investments in other areas of the economy might also be a consideration. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman warned the then UK prime minister Boris Johnson in 2021 that relations between the two countries would be “damaged” if the takeover of Newcastle United was not permitted by the Premier League.

Bin Salman has previously said he does not care about the accusations, telling Fox News: “If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we’ll continue doing sportswashing.”

The recent announcement of a £3.7 billion trade deal between the UK and six Gulf States may also help to explain the apparent reluctance of UK politicians to raise the issue of sportswashing.

For sport and politics continue to be deeply entwined. This year’s men’s football World Cup, is a case in point. Human rights groups had suggested that the World Cup 2026 be a “bonanza of sportswashing” in the US, due to concerns about immigration and threats to press freedom.

In the event, politics has never been far from the action on the field.
To mention just a couple of examples, a tournament referee from Somalia was refused entry to the US, while Iran’s team had to move its training base to Mexico as conflict in the Middle East rumbled on.

So debates about politics and its relationship with sport will no doubt continue. But political inaction in sporting issues often represents a strategic decision to not intervene.

Keir Starmer may have felt comfortable calling for the recent Champions League final to be free to air or to ask Fifa not to change
the time of a match between Mexico and England.

But it would appear that he, his government, and many other politicians feel less inclined to get involved in the more difficult discussions relating to sport in the UK.

Stephen Crossley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/10/uk-politicians-dont-want-to-talk-about-sportswashing/

This summer, the National Year of Reading is teaming up with sporting figures including Joe Wicks, Clare Balding and Georgia Stanway to encourage people to read. The initiative, part of the campaign’s Summer of Sport programme, links reading activity to major sporting events including Wimbledon, the Fifa Men’s World Cup, cricket and Formula 1.

Team captains like Wicks, Balding and Stanway will share book recommendations, discuss how reading has shaped their sporting interests, and encourage audiences to engage with reading in a range of formats.

The idea is simple. Millions of people already care deeply about sport. Rather than asking people to become interested in reading for its own sake, the campaign seeks to connect reading with interests they already have. It is a sensible approach, but it also raises a question that sits at the heart of many debates about reading today: what counts as reading?

Public discussions about reading often focus on quality. Debates about screen use, social media and reading habits frequently raise concerns about how much time people spend with long-form texts. We debate whether screens are replacing books. We argue about attention spans and “deep reading” (reading with intention).

Underlying many of these discussions is the assumption that some forms of reading matter more than others. But before we ask whether people are reading well, we might need to ask a more basic question: how do people become readers in the first place?

Becoming a reader

Readers often begin somewhere unexpected. A football annual. A manga series. A celebrity memoir borrowed from a friend. Reading rarely starts with abstract arguments about its value. It starts with something that catches our attention and makes us want to turn the page. For one child, that might be football statistics. For another, fantasy novels, romance or gaming magazines. Reading often begins with subjects that already matter.

This is something reading researchers have long recognised: motivation matters. People are far more likely to read when they can see a connection between what they are reading and their own interests, identities or experiences.

Yet these forms of reading are sometimes treated as lesser. There is a long history of drawing distinctions between “good” and “bad” readers, often based on what people read and how they read it.

Comics, popular fiction, romance novels and genre fiction have all, at different times, been dismissed as inferior to more “serious” literature. The result is that some readers come to feel that what they enjoy reading does not really count. If a teenager spends the summer reading football magazines, match reports and player biographies because of a sporting campaign, have they become a better reader?

The answer depends on what we think reading is for.

If the goal is cultural knowledge, we may value some texts more highly than others. If the goal is concentration, we may favour long-form reading. If the goal is empathy, we might point to literary fiction. But if the goal is developing a reading habit, building confidence, discovering pleasure or establishing an identity as a reader, the picture looks rather different.

A teenager who chooses to spend time reading about football is reading. More importantly, they may be developing a relationship with reading that will last long beyond a single sporting season.

Learning from non-readers

Much public discussion about reading comes from people who have always been readers. The focus is often on preserving a valued practice. My own research and author events have led me in a slightly different direction. Through work on reading engagement, including in prisons, I have become increasingly interested in people who do not identify as readers at all.

Again and again, I encounter people whose reading lives do not fit conventional expectations. In prisons, I have met people who describe themselves as “not a reader” while discussing the football biographies, newspapers or crime novels they have just finished.

Others read secretly, worried that reading marks them out in some way. Some stopped reading years ago and later returned to it. Some read only particular genres. What unites them is that their relationship with reading is often far more complicated than the label “reader” suggests.

Becoming a reader is often less straightforward than we imagine. The challenge is not always persuading people that reading is valuable. It is helping them find a form of reading that feels relevant to their lives.

Campaigns such as the National Year of Reading’s Summer of Sport recognise something important: people do not always arrive at reading through literature. They may arrive through football, celebrity interviews, magazines or the stories behind their favourite athletes. The route matters less than the fact that they arrive at all.

We often debate whether people are reading the right things. But the experiences of many reluctant, returning and self-described “non-readers” suggest a different question may be just as important: who gets to decide what counts as a reader in the first place?

Caroline Cauchi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/10/does-it-matter-what-children-read-as-long-as-they-are-reading/

The breakdown of the ceasefire between the US and Iran was perhaps the least surprising news this week. The 14-point plan – AKA the memorandum of understanding (MoU) – signed by Donald Trump in Versailles at the end of the G7 summit on June 17 and by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, the same day had always felt dangerously impermanent.

So the return to what analysts coyly refer to as “kinetic warfare” and journalists call “bang-bangs” seemed inevitable.

For Ben Soodavar, an expert in decision-making in war at King’s College London, the agreement was a “a ceasefire with a built-in detonator”, which has now “gone off”.

There was nothing in the agreement to resolve the underlying problems which had led to the war in the first place. The issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions has not been resolved, Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange strikes in southern Lebanon, and Iran has retained the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz and cause economic chaos whenever it chooses. This week it chose to do just that.

Read more:
Iran ceasefire was always going to break – here’s why

Trump, meanwhile, was attending the Nato summit in Ankara, surrounded by allied leaders who need the strait to be open as badly as anyone. Quite apart from losing face at the collapse of his much-vaunted deal, the incident will have provided a reminder, if Trump needed one, that America’s Nato allies declined to come to his rescue when he asked early in the conflict.

That’s not to say that all the pressure is on the US president. Iran’s leadership are also believed to be deeply divided over the deal, with the vice-chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, Mahmoud Nabavian, for example, warning in June that the deal would turn Iran into a “colony of the United States”.

Farhang Morady, of the University of Westminster, a long-time Iran-watcher, believes that hardline factions of both the clerical establishment and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remain resolutely opposed to doing a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.

These hardliners may have been persuaded to fall into line with the Obama administration over the 2015 joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA). But Morhady notes that powerful conservative factions conspired to block Iran’s compliance with international money-laundering conventions, meaning that much of the promised economic benefit of the deal to Iran never materialised. The same players have been behind the failure of talks in more recent years.

There are signs that the balance of power might be slowly shifting, Morhady writes. It will be a key power struggle to watch.

Read more:
Iran’s ‘hardliners’: who they are, what they believe and why they matter

But most of the images coming out of Iran this week have been of the estimated ten million people who attended the funeral of the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the opening day of the conflict. The event was carefully choreographed to project an image of defiance and unity, designed to bolster and the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.

Tehran will have hoped that the war launched by the US and Israel just weeks after that savage crackdown have served to unite the country. But Marzieh Kouhi-Esfahani, an expert in Iranian politics and foreign policy, believes there have been indications this week of schisms at the top of Iranian politics.

She sees the abrupt departure from the funeral procession of Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, and the conspicuous absence of former presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, as an indication of deep divisions. As are the continuing attacks, including from plenty of mourners this week, on Pezeshkian and his foreign minister Abbas Araghchi over the ceasefire deal.

Read more:
How Iran used Ali Khamenei’s funeral as a political and diplomatic tool

Putin under pressure?

To Russia, where the success of Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s energy infrastructure both in Russia itself but particularly on the occupied Crimean peninsula, are reported to be changing the public mood about the war. Fuel shortages, rising prices and talk of a recession are adding to the pressure on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

There have even been questions about Putin’s ability to survive if things don’t improve dramatically, and soon. But Alexander Titov, who has visited St Petersburg each year since the war began in 2022 doesn’t believe the Russian president is in any real jeopardy at present.

Such has been Putin’s capture, over nearly three decades, of Russia’s state institutions, its media and big business that his position remains pretty much unassailable, Titov believes. And Russia’s ability to launch massive strikes against Ukrainian cities and their civilian populations can be in no doubt after the savage bombardments of the past week.

Read more:
Ukraine war is not going well for Russia – how dangerous is this for Vladimir Putin?

All that said, there are fears that the Ukraine war may be recreating the conditions in Russia that gave rise to the period of lawlessness which followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Then it was Russian veterans returning from Afghanistan to find economic and social turmoil who fuelled a dramatic rise in organised crimes. Now it is veterans of the Ukraine war, including large numbers of convicts who were pardoned in return for enlisting.

Adrianna Marin, who studies criminal gangs and has seen similar phenomena in post-conflict societies such as Colombia, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, believes that even if just a small percentage of the veterans coming home to unemployment and a lack of state support turn to crime, then their skill sets acquired from their military training could make them formidable recruits to Russian crime groups.

Read more:
Ukraine war sparks fears of an organised crime resurgence in Russia

Fifa farce

Much has been written in recent weeks about the enormous soft-power potential attached to hosting the football World Cup – the biggest sporting event on the planet.

But the US president squandered all goodwill this week when it was revealed that he had intervened to put pressure on Fifa, which runs the global game, to bend the rules to allow USA’s star striker to play in Monday’s match against Belgium. Folarin Balogun had been sent off in his team’s previous game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which carries a mandatory one-match suspension.

But after lobbying from the White House, including a phone call from Trump to Fifa president Gianni Infantino, that suspension was itself suspended, and Balogun was cleared to play.

For Josh Bland, who researches football culture at the University of Cambridge, part of the great appeal of the beautiful game is that, on the pitch certainly, everyone plays by the same rules. In one fell swoop the US president threw that into jeopardy.

For the record, the USA were soundly beaten by Belgium, four goals to one.

Read more:
World Cup’s credibility in question after Fifa volte face following call from Donald Trump

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/10/us-iran-ceasefire-had-a-built-in-detonator-this-week-it-went-off/

A football player standing over a penalty in a hot, high-altitude stadium is dealing with more than pressure. His body is trying to keep cool. His heart and breathing may be working harder. Less oxygen is reaching his muscles. One poor decision can end his team’s World Cup.

The 2026 men’s World Cup has made fatigue harder to ignore. Some matches are being played in heat and humidity, while Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium sits more than 2,200 metres above sea level. Heat and altitude make sport uncomfortable, and they also change how the body and mind work under pressure.

Heat makes the body work harder to keep its core temperature stable. Humidity adds strain because sweat does not evaporate as easily, making it harder to cool down. At altitude, lower air pressure means less oxygen reaches the blood and muscles. Together, these conditions can affect endurance, recovery between sprints, concentration and decision-making.

Fatigue is not one state. Sport science is good at separating different kinds of fatigue because performance depends on knowing what is going wrong. Our research emphasises this point. Is the athlete slowing because muscles are tired, heart rate is high, body temperature is rising, sleep has been poor or concentration is slipping?

The answer changes the response. Heavy legs may call for pacing, which means slowing down or spreading effort so the body can cope. Fluid loss may call for cooling and replacing what has been lost through sweat. Slipping concentration may call for a mental reset, such as slowing breathing or refocusing on the next action. Dizziness or confusion means stop.

This is where sport offers a useful public lesson. The same run, tackle, pass or decision can feel much harder when the body is also fighting heat, humidity or thinner air. Research on footballers shows that heat exposure can reduce physical and cognitive performance.

The same principle applies beyond sport. Delivery drivers, nurses, teachers, care workers, chefs, builders and cleaners may also have to think, move and make decisions while working in difficult conditions. Fatigue is sometimes treated as weakness or lack of motivation. Preparation, fitness and recovery may be part of the story, but fatigue is usually more complex.

It is best understood by bringing together psychology, physiology (how the body works), medicine and neuroscience (the study of the brain and nervous system). Fatigue emerges when the body signals that effort is becoming costly, while the person still wants or needs to keep going.

In sport, this is well understood. Coaches do not usually tell players to “try harder” in extreme conditions. They plan through training, recovery, hydration, cooling, clothing, timing and warning signs.

They also train psychological skills. Players learn how to pace effort, control attention, manage emotions and use self-talk. These skills help them decide whether a sensation is expected discomfort, a cue to adjust, or a warning sign.

That distinction can decide performance. Heavy legs, a racing heart and discomfort may be expected in the heat or at altitude. Treating every unpleasant sensation as failure can damage performance. Some discomfort may need to be managed.

But discomfort is different from danger. Dizziness, confusion, nausea, clumsiness or feeling faint are warning signs. These are not signs to push through. The skill is knowing when to keep going and when to stop, cool down and get help.

Athletes playing in difficult conditions will usually have prepared, or at least they should have. Staff may monitor body weight, sweat loss, sleep, mood, soreness and running data. Players may use cooling towels, cold drinks, shaded recovery areas, pacing plans and mental routines.

Even then, fatigue can still bite. A match that goes to extra time adds another layer. A team that survives extra time and wins may carry that physical and mental cost into the next game.

Lessons beyond football

This is where the football example becomes useful beyond sport. The lesson is not to demand toughness every time. It is to judge when effort is useful, when it is costly and when it becomes unsafe.

In sport, that might mean staying composed when the body is screaming to stop. In other settings, it might mean a nurse finishing urgent care, a firefighter rescuing someone or a worker completing a task that cannot safely be abandoned.

But effort in heat has a cost. Athletes know this. Extra effort is followed by recovery: cooling, fluids, food, sleep, lighter training and monitoring. The hard effort is not ignored once the competition is over.

Workplaces should treat heat in the same way. If people have to push through because the goal is urgent, the organisation should carry the recovery cost. That may mean cover from colleagues, longer breaks, shorter exposure, lighter duties later and permission to report symptoms without being seen as weak.

This is also a productivity issue. Research on occupational heat exposure links workplace heat with health risks, reduced productivity and greater strain on workers. The basic protections are familiar: water, rest, shade, cooler work areas, adjusted schedules and sensible task planning.

The lesson is not that workers should act like elite footballers. It is that if people are expected to work in athlete-like conditions, organisations need athlete-like planning.

Practical coping still helps. A person working in heat could drink before thirst becomes intense, use shade early, slow the pace where possible, share heavy tasks, check on colleagues and use a phrase such as “slow down, cool down, reset”.

These strategies do not replace safe working conditions. They are ways of coping when heat has already arrived and perfect protection is not available.

In the World Cup, teams that measure fatigue well, adapt their tactics and recover properly may gain an advantage. Teams that misjudge heat or altitude may find tired legs and slower decisions appearing when pressure is highest.

For everyone else, the lesson is closer to home. Fatigue is information. But information only helps when people can interpret it, and when they have the power to act before the heat has already taken over.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/what-world-cup-football-can-teach-us-about-managing-fatigue-in-extreme-conditions/

A 2021 Pew Research Center study on where people in different countries find meaning in life revealed something interesting about Taiwan.

In most countries surveyed, family came first. In Taiwan, the most common answer was society, places and institutions.

The finding provides a helpful starting point for understanding Taiwan’s democracy. It connects public life and shared institutions to the everyday experiences that people in Taiwan find meaningful.

Embracing democracy

Taiwan is also one of the clearest democratic success stories outside of traditional western democracies. It now stands among the freest democracies in Asia. These achievements were not handed down by an international organization or bestowed by a great power — the Taiwanese did it themselves.

After the Second World War, Taiwan came under the control of the Republic of China following Japan’s surrender. Nearly 40 years of authoritarian rule and martial law followed. Many Taiwanese lost their lives, freedom and some overseas Taiwanese were blacklisted from returning home.

Read more:
Hidden women of history: Hsieh Hsüeh-hung, communist champion of Taiwanese self-determination

By the 1990s, after decades of authoritarian rule and martial law, Taiwan had begun its transition to democracy. It transitioned peacefully into a multi-party democracy, holding its first direct presidential elections in 1996.

Much of Taiwan’s social energy was directed toward building civil and political rights at home: freedom of speech, open elections, the right to organize, women’s rights and Indigenous movements for land, recognition and self-determination.

But Taiwan’s international position remained constrained, even as Taiwanese society was becoming more democratic.

Isolated

Taiwan’s democratic culture relies on civic participation, public debate, electoral engagement and institutional change through public pressure. Generation after generation, Taiwanese people have committed to civic movements. This history echoes a common value in Taiwan: what citizens receive from society should be returned to society.

From its own history, Taiwanese people learned that social and political institutions cannot be improved by waiting for a perfect outsider, a foreign country or a strong leader.

Taiwan, however, remains blocked from the United Nations, its specialized agencies and many other international organizations and political forums out of deference to China.

Yet Taiwan has incorporated major international human rights conventions into domestic law. It has also created its own review process and invited experts to examine how these conventions are being implemented.

In a world where many states sign human rights treaties with little genuine will to carry them out, Taiwan’s voluntary embrace of international norms is rare.

This exclusion also follows Taiwanese people abroad. Though Taiwan is frequently barred from international forums, its vibrant society, resilient people and democratic practices are authentic. In many places, Taiwan is still placed under “China” via forms, institutions, events, databases and public assumptions.

The Taiwanese have to stand their ground each day and tell others who they are, where they come from and why they should not be considered Chinese. In doing so, they push back against an authoritarian vision of international order that allows dictatorships to decide who’s allowed to be seen, named and heard.

The role of the diaspora

These daily experiences give the Taiwanese diaspora a political role. When Taiwan’s voice is constrained by formal diplomatic exclusion, the Taiwanese diaspora supports its democracy through institutions and public spaces.

Taiwanese Americans offer one example. Through organizations like the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, they have built long-term channels with the United States Congress, the media and the broader public.

Their advocacy has helped keep Taiwan visible in U.S. politics and contributed to measures that include the Taiwan Travel Act, the TAIPEI Act and other initiatives concerning Taiwan’s international participation.

The Taiwanese diaspora, therefore, helps fill the gap left by limited diplomacy when it advocates for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, urges legislatures to pay attention to the Taiwan Strait, asks the media to describe Taiwan accurately or explains Taiwan’s history in schools, workplaces and at community events.

Democracy under pressure

Taiwan’s situation raises important questions about how democracies respond when an authoritarian state tries to erase, absorb or silence another democratic society.

China has long suppressed Taiwan’s international participation and continues to interfere with its democratic system. Living on this front line gives Taiwanese people deep familiarity with China’s political language, tactics and information control. Taiwan’s proximity to China and ongoing cross-strait exchanges also give Taiwanese people insight into realities that are otherwise suppressed, censored or kept under wraps inside China.

These experiences make Taiwanese people especially alert to threats against their democracy. When China deploys similar tactics against other democracies, Taiwan often warns those societies that seemingly isolated incidents are frequently part of a broader influence campaign. Over time, as the cumulative effects become visible and harder to reverse, these warnings are increasingly recognized as hard-earned insights born of long experience.

Taiwan’s experience shows that democracy does not maintain itself. It depends on institutions, civic participation, public vigilance and international support. For Taiwanese people living abroad, supporting their homeland acknowledges the country is still being pressured, excluded and misrepresented. This support from the diaspora helps Taiwan remain present in the world, even when formal international spaces try to keep it out.

Hokbi Tiunn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/democracy-from-the-front-lines-how-taiwan-and-the-taiwanese-diaspora-combat-global-isolation/

Whether it’s at practice or during a Fifa World Cup match, football players could unknowingly be putting their brain health at risk every time they take to the field.

Studies suggest that retired football players have a higher risk of developing dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, compared to the general population. It’s currently thought that this increased risk is partly being driven by performing one particular skill: heading the ball.

Research testing the effects of repeated heading impacts during a training session or game found immediate but short-term changes in markers of brain health. This included reduced cognitive function, lower capacity to control brain blood flow and increases in blood biomarkers indicating neural damage.

These observations suggest that brain function may be temporarily compromised immediately following a single training session or game involving heading. Additionally, football players with a history of heading the ball are found to have reduced brain blood vessel function compared to people with no history of football heading. This suggests that heading the ball reduces brain vascular function, which is thought to be an early indicator of neurodegenerative disease.

But while there are links between heading a football and increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases, actually proving that this skill directly causes dementia or Alzheimer’s is difficult.

This is partly because detecting subtle changes in brain function remains challenging. Even with sophisticated imaging techniques, small alterations in brain function may go undetected until it’s too late.

Football heading also rarely causes signs and symptoms of concussion (traumatic brain injury), which has also been linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. As such, it’s unlikely that a few headers during a match or training session will cause visible harm. Yet side-effects may still occur even without causing obvious symptoms.

Over time, these repetitive, “sub-concussive” ball-to-head impacts may cause cumulative damage to the brain. So the more headers that are performed across a person’s career, the greater the risk of problems.

In fact, longer professional playing careers and playing in defensive positions (where heading is more frequent) were linked to higher rates of neurodegenerative disease. It therefore seems plausible that the risk of football heading is dose-dependent and accumulates over time.

No safe limit

Like with alcohol consumption, there is probably no amount of heading that would be defined as safe.

This is why the Football Association (FA) has banned heading in grassroots youth football matches for children under the age of 12. The FA also recommends that heading remains a low priority in training for those under 18 – with recommendations that heading is limited in training even after players turn 18. However, some feel this is not enough and are calling for a total ban until the age of 18.

Read more:
Football and dementia: heading must be banned until the age of 18

These changes in regulation have been introduced to improve player welfare. However, they are arbitrary. They also don’t do much to protect professional players, who might head the ball every practice or match.

While banning heading in football altogether could be viewed as the most effective risk-reduction strategy, heading is an integral component of the game and has been embedded within football for over a century.

This is why more research needs to be done to understand head-impact exposure from a performance perspective as well as a health perspective.

If heading exposure is associated with acute alterations in cognitive, neurovascular or neurological function, this may have implications not only for long-term brain health but also short-term player performance and decision-making. Understanding these relationships could therefore inform both player welfare initiatives and performance optimisation strategies within football.

Another major contributor to the safety of heading is the ball itself. Research shows the ball’s material can strongly affect the transfer of energy from the ball to the brain. Working to develop safer playing balls would surely reduce the risk to players’ brain health.

Additionally, the use of foam balls or virtual reality in training may provide an opportunity for developing players to improve heading technique without undue risk.

Samuel Francis Leaney receives funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Tiago Pecanha receives funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/football-headers-growing-evidence-suggests-this-skill-is-damaging-to-brain-health/

Anthony Gordon – one of the stars of England’s football team at the 2026 World Cup – surprised many when he was presented as a new Barcelona player at the end of the 2025-26 domestic football season: he answered a question at the press conference in confident Spanish. Gordon explained that he had been learning the language for years with the hope of one day playing for Barcelona.

I research motivation, particularly when it comes to learning languages. Gordon’s ambition to learn Spanish was fuelled by what motivation researchers would refer to as an intrinsic goal.

Intrinsic goals include skills development (for example wanting to get better at Spanish), the development of positive personal relationships (such as wanting to form close bonds with team-mates) and long-term personal fulfilment. This is where Gordon’s motivation appears to sit.

Learning Spanish was something he was able to sustain because it supported him in achieving a long-term personal goal. This type of goal is generally associated with more positive forms of motivation, because they are better aligned with things we personally value. Extrinsic goals, such as appearing impressive to others, tend to be much less sustainable and less strongly associated with high-quality motivation.

Conceptualising motivation like this is part of a psychological concept called self-determination theory. This tells us that the more an activity is aligned with the things we value and the more free we are to undertake it in ways that suit us, the higher quality our motivation, and the stronger the link with positive outcomes and sustaining the activity over time.

Self-determination theory includes the idea that growth – such as learning a language – is supported by a number of basic psychological needs. One of these is “relatedness”, which means having positive, supportive relationships with those around us.

It seems that this need for relatedness was satisfied for Gordon. An interesting nugget from his Barcelona press conference was the role of the people around him in sustaining his interest and supporting his efforts. Gordon mentioned practising Spanish with a physio at his former club Newcastle. His former manager at Everton, Rafael Benítez, has also said that Gordon would speak Spanish with his coaching team.

Another basic psychological need is autonomy. This means being free to undertake an activity that we can personally endorse in a way that suits us (think of how much keener you are to do weekend activities such as gardening or visiting friends, compared to writing reports for work). There is no suggestion that Gordon was under pressure to learn the language; it seems to have been something he did because it was important to him. This makes it likely that he experienced learning Spanish as autonomy satisfying.

The third basic psychological need is competence: the perception that we are good at the task we are engaged in, or capable of achieving it. Crucially, we don’t actually have to be good at it. You can still perceive yourself as competent even when you are a beginner, if you start to see success.

Ideal conditions

All of this acts as a perfect illustration of the ideal conditions for successful language learning – an activity we might describe as being perceived as need-supporting (in other words, which allows us to feel autonomous and competent, supported by those around us) undertaken by someone who sees its value for them personally, and who has sustainable intrinsic goals.

Although Brits are regularly maligned for their poor language skills, footballers often present us with useful examples to the contrary.

Gordon is not the only player in the England team to have shown willingness to learn the language of the clubs they play for. Jude Bellingham, for instance, took German lessons when playing for Borussia Dortmund and has shown his skills in Spanish since signing for Real Madrid.

My research has shown the value of being, or considering yourself to be, multilingual. Among adolescents, this belief can be held even when the level of language skill obtained is quite low. It may be that this carries forward into adulthood, supporting players’ perceptions of their linguistic competence as they find themselves being able to be understood, and encouraging them to continue learning. Where team mates are supportive, this will also have a positive impact.

Anthony Gordon’s success in meeting his long-term goal to speak Spanish can serve as an example of ways to support our own language learning. Finding a reason to learn that comes from within ourselves – intrinsic motivation – is key.

Seek help from others to support you, and feel proud of your growing competence.

Learning because you want to is likely to be more successful than learning because someone told you that you should.

Abigail Parrish receives funding from University of Alberta Prince Takamado Japan Centre for work on language learning goals.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/personal-goals-motivated-footballer-anthony-gordon-to-learn-spanish-a-recipe-for-success/

The World Cup has entered its quarter-finals, and so far the tournament has had it all: a strong team ousted early (Germany), debate over whether an ageing superstar (Lionel Messi) still “has it”, and an underdog in the form of a tiny nation (Cabo Verde) making it through to the knockout stages.

But by far the biggest off-field talking point has centred around the United States vs Bosnia and Herzegovina game. After the match, US President Donald Trump personally intervened to ask FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the red card shown to US striker Folarin Balogun that brought with it a one-match ban.

Shockingly, FIFA sided with the US and reinstated Balogun two days before the US’s next match.

While much of the debate around the incident has centred on Trump, there are also questions to be asked about Infantino’s actions, FIFA’s politics, and whether the World Cup still has its gleam.

An independent decision?

FIFA’s judgement has raised questions about Infantino’s close relationship with Trump. FIFA has mechanisms – labyrinthine and hidden inside its own Disciplinary Code – to settle disputes between players, federations and teams. FIFA officials insisted the Disciplinary Committee acted independently, and denied Trump’s phonecall had any impact.

Even Infantino took the extraordinary step of issuing his own denial.

Friends in high places

Trump clearly felt conformable reaching out to Infantino because the two leaders have a strong relationship.

In December 2025, Infantino awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, a decision that seems to have been a unilateral one by the FIFA president.

In the six months since, the Trump administration has launched a war on Iran that has killed thousands of innocent civilians.

The love seems to go both ways: after the Balogun red card decision, Trump lauded Infantino, saying:

He’s a smart, tough man, and his stock has gone through the roof because the job he has done has been great.

Infantino has made a habit of buddying up to authoritarian leaders. He has played favourites with them in the past and even ignored when their policies interfered with significant football matters.

In the run up to the 2026 World Cup, Infantino remained remarkably quiet about US travel bans that have affected fans and players alike. The US has banned travel from a quarter of the qualifying countries, many fans (and at least one referee) have been turned back at airports.

Infantino was forced to accept American restrictions to the travel of the Iranian National Team. Following the outbreak of the Iran war, the team was forced to relocate their homebase to Tijuana in Mexico. The players were only able to travel to the US for games the day before the kickoff and were subjected to sustained examinations by immigration officials.

After Iran’s opening draw against New Zealand, Infantino visited their locker room. Iran’s coach offered a withering critique of the competition’s fairness. link pls? The Athletic labelled Infantino as being reduced to the role of the “court jester”, unable to challenge Trump’s power.

He has form kowtowing to bullies. In 2014, the Russian armed forces seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Infantino was the General Secretary of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and while he banned Crimean clubs from competing in Russian competitions, he also oversaw the formation of a local league that separated those clubs from Ukraine too.

In 2018, he was FIFA’s president when Russia hosted the World Cup, an event he called “the best […] ever”. The following year, for his service to Russia, Putin awarded Infantino with Russian Order of Friendship. Infantino has also been on the record supporting the reintroduction of Russian athletes into FIFA competition despite the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

He was similarly supportive of Qatari officials in 2022. When the Qataris faced criticism for their labour practices, a brutal system of forced work that resulted in roughly 6,500 deaths in the years leading up to the World Cup, Infantino defended the hosts.

An anti-corruption campaign?

Infantino’s closeness to authoritarian leaders such as Putin and Trump might surprise some football watchers, because Infantino only became FIFA’s president as part of a reform process. In May 2015, US federal prosecutors indicted 14 football bureaucrats with crimes including wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering. The scandal implicated the then president, Sepp Blatter, who was forced to resign in December 2015.

Infantino was a member of the 2016 reform committee, and was supported by European and North American federations as an anti-corruption candidate. His narrow victory over Jordanian Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa was lauded as a victory for real change in the footballing body.

Ten years into his presidency, however, Infantino has become increasingly authoritarian and less transparent. He has ended the reform processes that brought FIFA’s poor governance to light. He has fired officials involved in the ethics investigations.

Infantino’s tit-for-tat style allows for close rapport with autocrats and has had benefits for FIFA. In 2026, US investigators ended their probe into financial fraud in global football, saying it “no longer fits the Trump administration’s priorities”.

FIFA’s financial resources have been buoyed by support from US television dollars and Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Funds.

Infantino has a close relationship with Saudi Arabian ruler Mohammed bin Salman. Eager to repay favours, Infantino oversaw the process to award the hosting right for the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia despite the regime’s poor human rights records. The other possible bidder – Australia – was blindsided by backdoor manoeuvring between FIFA, Saudi Arabia, and the Asian Football Confederation.

Pressure to resign?

Blatter, the man Infantino replaced, was sharply critical of Infantino and Trump’s conduct. On X, he wrote:

Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls. They are overturned by rules, evidence, and independent bodies.

With the fiction of FIFA’s neutrality now visible, the pressure is mounting for the executive committee to replace Infantino. Calls for him to resign are coming from football insiders in Europe: Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling labelled it an “absolute disgrace” and called for Infantino to resign.

German manager Jürgen Klopp also called for his resignation, as did British journalist and former England captain Gary Lineker.

UEFA officials have reportedly been discussing possible alternatives to Infantino. North American football leaders seem to prefer the Canadian Victor Montagliani, who might have some support beyond the Americas given Canada’s handling of the 2026 World Cup.

Likely more troubling for Infantino are demands for an investigation by 72 European lawmakers in the European parliament. His predecessor was also seen off by an external legal probe.

Even so, despite some in the press seeing his position as “untenable”, the twice re-elected FIFA President will likely be able to see off threats to his rule, unless the European Union (and potentially also North American) officials can put financial pressure on FIFA.

Infantino is well-liked by sports officials in the global south, who have benefited from the money he brings into the game. The most important federations for voting purposes – the African and Asian confederations – seem likely to back him for an unprecedented fourth term.

What goes unsaid is that FIFA cannot be and has never been politically neutral. Tensions remain between the global north and south inside of the organisation.

Yet the bigger problem is the concentration of power inside FIFA, and how it exercises it on the outside. The organisation’s connections to government are essential to hosting an increasingly complicated global tournament. Infantino’s global game runs on money and power. As they become increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer individuals, the possibility for challenging his leadership diminish.

Keith Rathbone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/after-the-red-card-scandal-has-the-shine-come-off-gianni-infantinos-world-cup/

By Johnny Blades of RNZ Pacific

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/09/palaus-president-warns-of-rising-nuclear-anxiety-in-the-pacific-after-china-missile-test/

Adapting canonical literary classics into cinema is an inherently difficult task, as it requires walking a razor’s edge between remaining faithful to the text and translating it into another medium.

Will Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey be up to the task? The trailer has viewers divided.

No matter how noble the attempt at an adaptation is, it’s impossible to please everyone. And arguably the older the work, the more ways its retelling can enrage audiences.

Perhaps older classics are simply harder to adapt due to how drastically storytelling conventions have changed over the centuries.

Today’s audiences demand insight into what motivates their heroes and villains. But this nuance in storytelling, for the most part, only became common in the Middle Ages with the rise of Arthurian legends and the like. Earlier characters from ancient myth such as Gilgamesh and Beowulf were (with some exceptions) relatively “flat” archetypal figures: they slayed dragons because that’s what heroes do.

20th-century Hollywood often treated source materials liberally, oscillating between looseness and outright contempt. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein still suffers to this day for its halcyon adaptations. Even the best in their own right leave viewers with little understanding of the original text.

For those who prefer to watch

I’ve rounded up eight of the most faithful literary adaptations to grace our screens. While they may or may not be the most cinematically impressive, they do stick to the source material.

1. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)

How might an atheist director adapt a canonical gospel faithfully? With striking fidelity, as Pier Paolo Pasolini demonstrates.

Though polarising on its release, the film later achieved widespread acclaim for its artistry. Its visuals draw from centuries of religious art, rather than strict historical realism.

Remarkably, the film’s dialogue does not alter a single line from Matthew’s Gospel. Nearly half the original verses are retained verbatim. As such, any interpretive bias appears through emphasis, rather than textual alteration.

2. The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic The Godfather is praised as one of the greatest films of all time. Critic Ambrose Tardive goes even further to flatly declare it “the greatest book-to-film adaptation of all time”.

Coppola does take some liberties in the form of omission. Some of the more gratuitously violent and salacious parts of Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel are left on the cutting room floor. Nonetheless, what remains in the film is faithful to the source material.

Scenes and episodes often feel like they’re transposed directly from the pages, despite the epic scope of both.

3. The Exorcist (1973)

Based on the 1971 novel by William Blatty, and with a screenplay written by Blatty himself, this tale of demonic possession went on to eclipse its literary origins in influence.

Director William Friedkin’s The Exorcist would go on to form the blueprint of the religious horror henceforth. It fed directly into the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and, according to research, even shaped modern beliefs about demonic possession worldwide. It might well be the most influential work in horror cinema.

There are some cinematic adjustments between novel and film. The exposition on religious and medical topics in the novel is reduced for pacing, with the overall narrative slightly accelerated. But apart from this, the film remains strikingly faithful to its source material.

4. The Outsiders (1986)

The adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, features an exceptionally star-studded young cast, including a young Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise. And the film’s fidelity to its source material is just as notable as its performers’ later fame.

The novel’s first-person narration by Ponyboy Curtis posed challenges for cinematic translation, as his internal monologue couldn’t remain omnipotent throughout the film. Despite this, the original plot is kept almost entirely intact – with the choice to begin the film with the book’s opening passage emblematic of Coppola’s approach.

Most iconic scenes and dialogue are preserved verbatim. Coppola’s prior experience with The Godfather likely contributed to this precision. He translates Hinton’s vision to the screen as faithfully as possible.

5. Middlemarch (1994)

It is remarkable BBC’s Middlemarch adaptation works at all, let alone so effectively.

George Eliot’s original 1871 epic spans more than 300,000 words across eight volumes. It follows literally dozens of intersecting storylines in a fictionalised rural English town, perhaps best summarised by its subtitle: “a study of provincial life”.

Assessing the fidelity of Andrew Davies and Anthony Page’s adaptation is difficult, given the complexity of the original text. Few readers could recall every detail with precision. Yet surprisingly little seems missing from the miniseries’ extensive six-and-a-half-hour runtime. Its completeness is impressive.

According to New York Times critic Elizabeth Kolbert, the film’s careful fidelity even helped renew interest in Eliot’s novel.

6. Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Debate persists over which is the “better” Jane Austen adaptation between the 1995 BBC adaptation and Joe Wright’s 2005 Hollywood film.

Either way, the 1995 BBC series is unquestionably more faithful, described as a “masterclass in adaptation” by critics.

The series’ episodic format enables a detailed, beat-by-beat rendering of Austen’s original story. It seldom, if ever, takes liberties to appeal to modern audience, although it does lack the stylistic flair of later adaptations.

7. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Unlike the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice, this film by Ang Lee, starring Emma Thompson, lacks the luxury of a five-and-a-half-hour runtime. It therefore can’t replicate the same number of verbatim moments.

Yet critics and fans almost unanimously agree it still captures Austen’s spirit and tone. Most dialogue remains intact, with care taken for abridged sections to mimic Austen’s style.

The only barrier to perfection is the absence of Austen’s own quippy style of narration.

8. No Country for Old Men (2007)

This film by Ethan and Joel Coen ranks among the greatest films of the 21st century. It also stands as one of the most accurate and accomplished adaptations ever made.

Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel, which the film is based on, was originally written as a screenplay, making it ideal for cinematic translation.

The Coen Brothers adapt the novel almost perfectly, beat-for-beat. Some critics argue its fidelity is excessive and it shouldn’t have been so devoted to the source. Then again, the film is an undisputed classic.

Debates continue over the feasibility of adapting McCarthy’s magnum opus, Blood Meridian (1985). After years of failed attempts under different directors, the current project headed by John Hillcoat was tentatively scheduled to be released this year – but that’s now also looking unlikely.

However, this film, and The Road (2009), show how inherently cinematic McCarthy’s novels can be.

Benjamin D. Muir does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/08/from-the-godfather-to-middlemarch-8-of-the-most-faithful-adaptations-ever/

When former All Black Sonny Bill Williams spoke from hospital before his recent neck surgery, his message was not simply about pain. It was a warning to young athletes and their parents about the physical price that can come with a professional sporting career.

The professional boxer and retired dual-code international player was preparing for his fourth neck operation, but made a wider point that health consequences don’t always end after a career playing sports.

While he had no regrets, acknowledging that a rugby career provides income, identity, opportunity, community and pride, he said no organisations were checking in on him or paying his bills for health consequences from his playing days.

His comments point to a question sport is yet to answer: who carries the cost when an athlete’s body keeps paying after the final whistle?

The health cost of playing rugby

Concussion usually dominates the discussion about long-term player welfare. That attention is justified and concerns about repeated head impacts have reshaped rugby’s safety debates.

But concussion is only one part of a broader picture. Retired athletes can also live with osteoarthritis, chronic pain, reduced mobility, hip replacements, back pain, mental health challenges and the loss of identity that can follow a career in elite sport.

Research suggests these problems are not isolated. A New Zealand Rugby health study found former rugby players reported more serious injuries, higher rates of osteoarthritis and higher levels of hazardous alcohol use than former non-contact sport players.

International research points in the same direction. A scoping review found retired male elite rugby players had higher prevalence of osteoarthritis, mild cognitive disorders, depression and hazardous alcohol use than control groups. A 2025 study also found each previous shoulder or knee surgery was associated with roughly double the odds of osteoarthritis in that joint later in life.

Many former players transition well and value what the game gave them. The broader consideration must be how sport can keep its benefits while taking seriously the long-term harms some players experience.

Mental adjustments to sports retirement

There is also the psychological side of retirement. Professional athletes can lose structure, status, income and a sense of belonging and who they are. A recent study of retired elite rugby players found athletic identity and psychological flexibility were linked to wellbeing after retirement.

New Zealand is not starting from nothing. Professional players are life members of the Rugby Players Association, with support during their careers, while overseas and in long-term retirement. Services include mental wellbeing, career advice, financial education, retirement services and professional networks.

The new 2026–28 agreement between New Zealand Rugby and the Rugby Players Association also expands medical, life and trauma insurance for players in Super Rugby Aupiki, New Zealand’s premier professional women’s rugby union.

These are important developments, but gaps remain in the current system to help players living with osteoarthritis, chronic pain, repeated surgeries and mental health challenges that may appear years after a contract ends.

Getting cover for gradual conditions

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) plays a major role in New Zealand’s sport injury system. It covers accident-related injuries and can help with treatment, rehabilitation and financial support.

But ACC does not cover everything. Gradual conditions can be more difficult to get cover if they are treated as age-related, degenerative, pre-existing or not clearly linked to a covered injury. Some work-related gradual injuries can be covered – including tendinitis from overuse caused by heavy lifting at work or knee osteoarthritis caused by carpet laying – but each claim requires evidence that work tasks or the work environment caused or contributed to the injury.

Private health insurance is not always a fallback. Pre-existing conditions are commonly excluded unless cover is specifically agreed. Some policies never cover pre-existing hip, knee or back issues, nor reconstructive or reparative surgery.

This creates a grey zone. A retired player may have pain and need surgery or joint replacements connected to years of professional sport, but these may not fit ACC requirements, private insurance or player-welfare systems.

A recent article develops an ethical framework for asking when, if ever, society is justified in tolerating foreseeable sport-related harm because sport is considered to be in the “public interest”.

This does not mean athletes should simply put up with the harm. Rather, it asks what responsibilities sport has if it relies on public-interest arguments to accept risks that would be unacceptable in other settings, especially when those risks are known and can affect players long after retirement.

Rugby brings people together and the benefits of professional sport are shared widely. However, we should also be asking how the ongoing costs are shared.

The question is not simply whether rugby can ever be safe; collision sports will always involve risk. A better question asks what long-term player welfare should look like when some risks are foreseeable, repeated and increasingly well documented.

This might mean stronger transition planning, long-term health monitoring, clearer medical support or case management to help retired players navigate ACC, insurance and public health systems.

Rugby does not need to be risk-free to be ethical. But if the game continues to provide entertainment that generates revenue and national pride, it is reasonable to ask what responsibilities remain when the playing days are over.

For some athletes, the bill arrives long after retirement.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/08/many-elite-athletes-live-with-health-impacts-long-after-they-retire-should-they-carry-all-the-costs/

The horror series Evil Dead, first brought to the screen in 1981 by director Sam Raimi, is in its healthiest state for decades. The 2023 film Evil Dead Rise was a financial success, and 2026 will prove to be a huge year for the franchise, with the release of new film Evil Dead Burn. The next film, Evil Dead Wrath, is already in post-production and due for release in 2028.

Yet like any successful franchise, Evil Dead has always been bigger than just films. It has appeared in a variety of media forms including video games, comic books, television series and board games.

This is not uncommon for a franchise, and is often part of what researcher Henry Jenkins termed a transmedia storytelling strategy. The fundamental idea of this strategy is that one singular story is told over multiple different media forms. These integrated narratives can be seen in contemporary franchises such as the Matrix or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

However, while Evil Dead has certainly appeared across different media forms, it has lacked a sense of singular narrative. As a result, there are several narrative inconsistencies seen throughout the series, with scenes from previous movies reshot, recontextualised or erased from the narrative entirely in later entries.

This lack of a unified story ultimately comes down to the creative and financial realities of the Evil Dead’s series origins. The first film, The Evil Dead (1981), was a low-budget horror, made by a group of friends with no aspirations of building a huge media franchise. It took six years for a sequel to be made. That sequel was produced by a different company entirely, meaning even if the filmmakers had wanted to reference the first film, they legally could not.

For decades, the crucial unifying component of the Evil Dead series has been Bruce Campbell’s portrayal of Ash Williams, the protagonist across the original film trilogy. The cult fandom of around Campbell in this role has powered the series for most of its existence – Campbell became synonymous with the Evil Dead franchise.

Campbell has reprised his role across multiple different media forms. Though these contain the character of Ash, they are entirely incoherent as a singular narrative, often contradicting or erasing different entries to tell their specific story. While Ash seems to act as a signifier for an “authentic” Evil Dead entry, his appearances do not seem to delineate which entries in the series can be seen as part of a coherent transmedia fictional universe.

This decision to foreground an actor and character as the foundation of a franchise could now be problematic, as Campbell announced his retirement from playing Ash in live action after the cancellation of the television series Ash vs The Evil Dead in 2018 This left the franchise in flux. How do you move forward with Evil Dead when the main character is removed?

Unifying a fractured franchise

The promotional material around the release of Evil Dead Rise (2023) suggested a new franchise strategy that looked to the original trilogy for inspiration.

In the third Evil Dead film, Army of Darkness (1993), Ash is sent on a quest to retrieve the Necronomicon, a cursed book that has unleashed evil across the previous films. As Ash approaches the book, he sees that there are three on the podium. The two other books ultimately act as decoys, resulting in a slapstick sequence where Ash is repeatedly attacked by the decoy books.

Although this scene is short and played for laughs, for the promotion of Evil Dead Rise, Campbell (a producer as well as the series’ former star) highlights it as centrally important to the franchise’s future. In an interview with Collider in 2023, Campbell suggested a new key focus – the Necronomicon. Campbell noted that “the only thing that connects everything now is the book. There are three of these books out there … So, this story is really ‘where is the book now?’”

This discourse surrounding the importance of the three books was also echoed by the director of Evil Dead Rise, Lee Cronin, who made it a central part of his pitch to producers, as a way of opening up “multiple avenues for where Evil Dead can go”.

His pitch, that Sam Raimi’s original trilogy featured one book, the 2013 remake featured another and his film would feature the third book, retroactively unified the Evil Dead narrative onscreen, putting it more in line with contemporary franchises that engage with transmedia storytelling.

Specifically, the 2013 Evil Dead – developed and produced as a remake at the time of its release – was folded into continuity and as a result became part of the fictional world of the original films. By merging these supposedly disparate parts of the series into one continuity, Evil Dead Rise (or specifically the promotional discourse around it) brought the franchise closer to Jenkins’ idea of a transmedia storytelling strategy.

While Campbell will continue to be an active part of Evil Dead as a producer (and even has a voice cameo in Evil Dead Rise), this new emphasis on the fictional world of the series presents new avenues of continuity and expansion. It will be fascinating to see how Evil Dead Burn, a new chapter in the 45-year-old franchise, responds to this new strategy.

Kieran Foster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/08/evil-dead-burn-could-breathe-new-life-into-a-fragmented-horror-saga/

The clock reads 2:13am. You are exhausted. Your eyes ache, your body feels heavy and the alarm is already beginning to loom over the night, yet your brain refuses to let go. Instead, thoughts arrive in waves. Did you send that email? What if you forgot something important? Perhaps now is also the perfect time for your mind to replay a conversation from 2017 with forensic precision.

Many people recognise this frustrating state of being “wired but tired” – the paradoxical feeling of being physically exhausted but mentally unable to switch off. Surely tiredness should produce sleep automatically, but the brain does not simply fall asleep because the body is fatigued. In fact, under stress, exhaustion and sleeplessness often occur together. Part of the reason lies in the biology of survival.

The human stress response evolved to deal with immediate physical threats. For most of human history, danger tended to be extreme and short-lived – a predator nearby, an environmental hazard or conflict with another human group. In those moments, the brain’s priority was not rest but survival.

When the brain detects threat, a region called the amygdala initiates the body’s classic fight-or-flight response. Stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol are released. Heart rate increases, breathing quickens and attention sharpens. Energy is diverted away from long-term maintenance tasks towards immediate action.

This response is extraordinarily useful – if you are trying to escape a sabre-toothed tiger. It is much less useful when the “threat” is an overflowing inbox or mounting financial pressure.

Modern stressors are psychologically powerful but biologically peculiar. Unlike predators, they rarely resolve quickly. Emails continue arriving. Work follows us home through smartphones and laptops. Social media creates a constant stream of social comparison and low-level vigilance. Even leisure time has become strangely porous, interrupted by notifications, messages and often the expectation of permanent availability.

The result is that the parts of the brain responsible for keeping us alert can remain partially activated for long periods. This matters because sleep is not simply the absence of wakefulness. Falling asleep requires the brain to actively reduce alertness. A network of arousal centres in the brainstem, hypothalamus and forebrain normally keeps us awake and attentive during the day. To transition into sleep, these systems must quieten down.

Under long-term stress, however, the brain can become stuck in a state of hyperarousal. Even when the body is exhausted, the brain continues scanning, anticipating and rehearsing. From an evolutionary perspective, this makes a certain kind of sense. If the environment feels threatening or uncertain, being fully offline may not seem safe.

One reason this state feels so unpleasant is that physical exhaustion and mental arousal are controlled by overlapping but partly separate systems. Your muscles may desperately need rest while your brain continues producing stress-driven alertness. The result is the strange mismatch many people know well, a tired body and racing thoughts.

Cortisol also plays an important role. Under normal circumstances, cortisol follows a daily rhythm. Levels rise in the morning to promote wakefulness and gradually decline towards night. Chronic stress can disrupt this pattern, leaving the body activated later into the evening.

Some studies suggest that people with insomnia show elevated metabolic and neurological activity even while trying to sleep – almost as though the brain is idling too high. Modern life may amplify this problem in ways our nervous systems did not evolve to handle.

Why the modern world makes it worse

Artificial light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate sleep timing. Smartphones provide endless cognitive stimulation at exactly the point the brain should be winding down. Doomscrolling combines emotional arousal, uncertainty and novelty – three things human attention systems find almost impossible to ignore.

Then there is rumination: the repetitive mental replaying of worries and problems. Humans possess a remarkable ability to mentally simulate the future and revisit the past. This capacity helps us plan, learn and avoid danger. But it also means the brain can continue generating stress responses long after any immediate threat has disappeared.

The cruel irony is that the more exhausted we become, the harder emotional regulation often gets. Sleep deprivation itself increases amygdala reactivity while reducing the moderating influence of the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain involved in rational control and perspective.

A tired brain becomes more emotionally reactive, which can make worries feel even louder at night. In other words, being overtired can make the brain less capable of calming itself down.

This helps explain why “just relax” is usually terrible advice for insomniacs. Hyperarousal is not simply a failure of willpower. It is a deeply biological state shaped by stress systems, hormones, attention networks and learned patterns of vigilance. That does not mean the situation is hopeless.

Sleep researchers often emphasise that rest and safety are closely linked in the brain. Consistent routines, reduced evening stimulation, exercise, daylight exposure and limiting late-night screen use can all help reinforce the signals that night is a time for recovery rather than alertness. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia has also proved remarkably effective, partly because it targets the cycle of anxiety and sleeplessness itself.

Perhaps the most important point is broader. Feeling “wired but tired” is not evidence that your body has failed to rest properly. Often it is evidence that the brain has become too good at staying alert in a digital world that never really stops.

Michelle Spear does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/08/how-can-you-be-tired-yet-wired-blame-your-stone-age-brain/

At every Football World Cup and any other major football tournament, it is not only Les Bleus performances on the pitch that come under scrutiny, but also the players’ identities, their migrant backgrounds and the extent to which they represent France and French society. This recurrent question speaks to unresolved issues and questions about France’s collective national identity, long-standing debates about immigration, and how France views itself. Above and beyond the team’s line-up, the unresolved question of the country’s postcolonial identity and what it means to be French in the 21st century is replayed at every tournament.

When head coach Didier Deschamps unveiled the starting XI for France’s 2026 World Cup campaign, one of the first questions he was asked concerned the inclusion of players from France’s overseas territories in the official squad. In response, Deschamps emphasised that the national team reflected both French society and its history. This statement quickly sparked widespread debate, particularly on social media, where it became apparent that, for many, the team’s composition did not match their vision of France. Like many of his predecessors, Didier Deschamps had, in fact, just announced a squad predominantly made up of players from immigrant backgrounds. And, like his predecessors, he found himself confronted with a question that has long dogged the French national team: do Les Bleus truly represent France and French society?

When France won its first World Cup in 1998, the celebrations were widely interpreted through the prism of national identity. The slogan “Black-Blanc-Beur” (“Black, White, Arab”) emerged as a symbol of a multicultural France. Conversely, when things went wrong for Les Bleus, for instance, during the 2010 World Cup scandal in South Africa, marked by a players’ strike, criticism was also framed in terms of identity, French values and what constitutes an authentic representation of the nation.

The reason this question resurfaces at every World Cup is that it goes far beyond football. Why does a team, most of whose players were born in France, continue to be questioned about its ability to represent the nation? To answer this question, we must look back at France’s long history, from its colonial empire to the model behind its broader sports training programme.

A team shaped by history

Why do Les Bleus have so many players from migrant backgrounds? The answer lies, in particular, by looking at several intertwining historical trends.

Waves of migration from France’s former colonies have tended to form clusters in deprived neighbourhoods.

At the same time, the French government and the French Football Federation developed, particularly from the 1980s and 1990s onwards, sports facilities in these areas to provide young people with structured activities and combat marginalisation, which sometimes took the form of youth crime in these neighbourhoods. Football therefore became an affordable pastime for children from working-class areas, many of whom came from immigrant families from former French colonies.

More than just a hobby, for many it became a path to empowerment, offering a chance to escape poverty, social exclusion and marginalisation. For many young people, it provided a space for social integration, but also an opportunity for economic mobility and a way out of poverty.

It is therefore not surprising that French football’s main talent pool is now largely concentrated in these areas.

This reality is reflected in the line-ups of the national team and many other European countries with a colonial past, such as England and the Netherlands.

However, within the French national team, issues relating to identity and representation appear to remain unresolved. France is currently producing an exceptional number of world-class players across France’s suburbs.

With 99 players born and trained on French soil among the 1,248 players taking part in the 2026 World Cup, France is the tournament’s leading exporter of talent. While 23 of them wear the Les Bleus’ shirt, the other 76 represent other national teams, including Haiti, Senegal, Morocco and Algeria.

The influence of the national imagination

Taken together, France’s colonial legacy, migration patterns and the training policies implemented by the French Football Federation since the 1990s have helped to create one of the world’s most successful incubators for developing football talent.

These factors help to explain why the French national team looks the way it does today. They do not, however, explain why its composition continues to be contested. To answer this question, we must shift our focus from the pitch to representations of the nation.

Colonisation did not merely transform the identity of colonised peoples; it also profoundly reshaped the identity of the colonising societies, which today continue to grapple with their legacies and contradictions. In France’s case, ingrained tensions remain over what truly represents France.

On the one hand, there remains a pre-colonial or nostalgic view of the nation, according to which a symbolically “correct” representation of France would be that of a country that is essentially ethnically white. On the other hand, there’s the view that France’s imperial history has helped shape a multicultural nation, diversified by migration, while remaining founded on the universalist principles of the Republic. These two standpoints continue to coexist and are sometimes at odds with one another. This tension, which remains largely unresolved, pops up again during events like the World Cup, with the recurrent and sensitive question of who can truly claim to represent France.

Understanding contemporary identities requires recognising the forms of cultural hybridity that are a result of the colonial experience. France is a hybrid society: a nation shaped by its colonial history, but which remains, at times, uncomfortable with portrayals of the nation that deviate from a traditionally white image of France.

Thus, the problem seems to lie less with the French team than with the national psyche. This mindset sometimes appears to be stuck in a pre-colonial image of a “white France”, without fully recognising that contemporary France is the product of a complex, multicultural history.

Are Les Bleus French? Without a doubt. Do they represent a France shaped by its colonial history? Yes. But do they represent the idealised image that some continue to associate with the French nation? Probably not.

Ultimately, the recurring debate over whether Les Bleus truly represent France perhaps says less about those who wear the French national team’s shirt than it does about the persistent tensions between France’s colonial legacy and the enduring national narrative based on a white identity.

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Tapiwa Seremani ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/07/08/world-cup-2026-are-les-bleus-a-true-reflection-of-french-society/