12/06/2026
Bloody hell.
The Pope has just appointed himself coach of the world.
And the position was vacant.
He’s right, too. Football is collective, like life.
Nobody wins alone.
The striker who won’t pass — however gifted — hasn’t understood the game, and the nation that won’t share hasn’t understood the world.
And look at the state of the league. We need these messages simply because so few leaders can deliver them. With their ideological blinkers and financial and lobby influences, most politicians can’t think about togetherness, let alone advocate for it.
They’re referees who only blow the whistle against one team. And a game where the rules apply to some but not others isn’t football.
It’s cheating everyone.
We are killing each other — finding ever more innovative machines to do it remotely — while tearing up the only pitch we have. Hoarding possession. Playing the man, never the ball.
Scoring own goals against our own habitat and celebrating them as growth.
To stretch the metaphor: we are a fractured team, fouling our own teammates, shredding the laws of the game, and burning down the stadium — through corruption, division, hatred, violence, selfishness, exploitation, extraction.
The fix is what the Pope is preaching. Play for each other, not just yourself. Respect the rules — and apply them equally to every player and every nation, no exceptions, no favourites.
And protect the pitch, because there is no replacement venue.
Pass the ball. Walk the path together. Protect your teammates. Achieve as a collective. All messages direct from the beautiful game.
Pope as world manager of the year.
Nope. Didn’t see that one coming.
