Instant Opinion: Uefa ‘must not fail’ black footballers

The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion pieces from across the British and international media, with excerpts from each.

1. The editorial board in The Times

on the endless saga of racism in football

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The ugly game

“Action should also be taken against the individuals involved. It will not take extraordinary detective ingenuity to identify the culprits who were filmed on television at the time. This should be a matter for the Bulgarian police. Uefa should certainly ban them from football for life. The England team, its manager Gareth Southgate and the members of his support staff, all carried themselves with dignity during an upsetting evening. They did their country proud, not just in the relatively trivial matter of winning the game 6-0, but by their calm reaction to the abuse they were receiving in the stadium. The authorities must not fail them now.”

2. George Monbiot in The Guardian

on Extinction Rebellion’s last stand

Today, I aim to get arrested. It is the only real power climate protesters have

“I cannot help who I am. I accept that the costs of arrest for people like me – a white, middle-class man with an established career – are lower than for other people. But this means I have a moral duty to use my privilege. The victims of climate breakdown have so far been mostly voiceless and invisible to us. But we know that, even with just 1C of global heating, climate chaos is already a bigger cause of forced migration than either poverty or political oppression. Large numbers of people in Somalia, Mozambique, Bangladesh, the Caribbean, Central America and many other parts of the world are already losing their homes and livelihoods. The poor parts of the world are the least responsible for climate disaster but the most likely to suffer its effects. They carry the cost of our consumption. We have imposed this crisis on others, and must do what we can to curtail it.”

3. J.D.M. Stewart in The Globe and Mail

on the dark reality behind Canadian leadership

Trudeau’s bulletproof vest is nothing new – PMs have always been under threat

“Many Canadians were alarmed, dismayed and gravely disappointed when they heard that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was forced to wear a bulletproof vest at an election rally last Saturday in Mississauga, Ont. In front of a crowd of about 2,000 people, Mr. Trudeau was not only wearing the vest but also was surrounded by much heavier-than-usual security. Many on social media have been asking: What’s wrong with the country? Are there people so filled with hate that Mr. Trudeau must wear a protective vest? The truth of the matter is that all prime ministers – from John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau – have always been under threat.”

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4. The editorial board in The New York Times

on betrayal and brutality in the Middle East

Trump just created a moral and strategic disaster

“A few days ago there were valid options to answer the question of what the United States could do in response to the invasion. Harsh sanctions and other actions might have compelled Turkey to pull back, allowing for American troops to restore the status quo. Now the only alternative to Turkish control of the north is Mr. Assad’s control of the north. America’s alliance with Kurdish forces is probably dead, and it’s hard to see what role the United States can play in Syria or in the fight against the Islamic State. They say if you break it, you own it. But maybe all the United States has done is break it.”

5. Sandra Wisner on Al Jazeera

on a nine-year catastrophe in Haiti

As the UN leaves Haiti, its victims still wait for justice

“Perhaps most damningly, the UN took more than five years to publicly admit a role in Haiti's devastating cholera epidemic, which has claimed over 10,000 lives and infected more than 800,000 people since 2010, despite numerous scientific studies from 2011 onwards establishing that the disease was introduced as a result of reckless disposal of human waste from a MINUSTAH [UN Stabilisation Mission] base. By its own admission, this response left ‘a blemish on the reputation of UN peacekeeping and the organisation worldwide’.”