The best and worst of 2021 – featuring the culture war, dogs and a phenomenal third leg
Lee Anderson MP, shrugging off the critics in July after his boycott of England didn’t catch on. Anderson, who called players taking the knee at the Euros “an attack on our very way of life”, said he wasn’t bothered about being mocked: “I don’t go on Twitter because it’s full of idiots.”
Boris Johnson, rejecting England players’ anti-racist “gestures and symbols” in June before they started winning – then posing on a giant anti-racism cross of St George in July with extra England bunting.
Priti Patel, backing the booing of knee-takers in June due to players’ cheap “gesture politics”, then putting on England kit in July to slam the “vile” racists.
And Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, comparing England players taking the knee to players performing the Nazi salute in 1938 – then showing off his C’Mon England wallchart on Twitter.
Uefa – moving to “send a clear signal” in April by banning Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela for 10 games for racism, and Rangers’ Glen Kamara for three games for reacting to it.
@BorisJohnson – left reeling again in November by news that, in the past, people had used offensive racist language. “Brave testimony from Azeem Rafiq. I commend him for speaking out. There is no excuse for racism anywhere in society.”
Juventus Women saying sorry in August after tweeting a photo with matching emojis of defender Cecilia Salvai using her fingers to narrow her eyes. Juve clarification: “This tweet was not meant to have any racial undertones.”
And Serbia’s Volleyball Federation apologising after Sanja Djurdjevic did the same thing in a game against Thailand, four years after the whole team posed for a photo doing it in Japan. “We apologise sincerely. But please, don’t blow this out of proportion! Sanja didn’t mean any disrespect.”
