The China Syndrome

With just a few months to go until the opening ceremony, the decision to award China this year's Olympic Games is starting to look like a monumental mistake.

At the time, the move was controversial in the extreme, yet there was one reasonable argument in its favour. With the world's attention on China, it would have little choice other than to clean up its human rights record.

Like many others, that is exactly what I hoped would happen. Under the microscope of the international media, surely China would do everything in its power to show it was now a responsible and valuable member of the international community.

Sadly, circumstance has dictated that any positives that may have come out of the decision to let China host the Games have been diluted in a sea of negatives.

The run-up to the August 8 kick-off has been dogged by problems, some undoubtedly of China's own creation, others a direct result of the increased attention the country is receiving as the Games approach.

It all started to go pear-shaped almost from the moment China won the bid when hundreds of thousands of people were forcibly relocated to make way for new stadiums. Not a move in keeping with the spirit of the Olympics, to say the least.

On top of that, there has been the issue of pollution in the increasingly prosperous Beijing where, on a bad day, the smog is so bad it's hard to see the end of your chopsticks.

This has obviously not gone down well with the athletes who, quite rightly, don't want to be running through thick clouds of exhaust fumes as they hunt for medals.

Then there was the Steven Spielberg incident when the American director withdrew as artistic consultant over China's refusal to use its influence to stop violence in Darfur.

I don't profess to know enough about Sudanese politics to say whether Spielberg had a point, but generally people like him only take a moral stand if it is justified. And if it doesn't involve America.

But all of those problems pale into insignificance in comparison to the current situation in Tibet.

As you are no doubt aware, for the past couple of weeks there have been pro-independence demonstrations in the region which have left, depending on which side you believe, between 10 and 200 people dead.

And this is where the decision to award the Games to China has really backfired.

I don't want to get into the pros and cons of the Tibet situation. That can, and should be, left to political commentators. Yet I can't help but feel that the protests are only taking place because the world's media spotlight is trained on China in the run up to the 29th Olympiad.

What better way to draw attention to your cause than to take to the streets when you know the world is watching? The protestors saw an opportunity to bring their situation to the top of the world's agenda and they grasped it - with fatal consequences.

Although I cannot condone the heavy-handed approach taken by the Chinese government, it's not hard to see why they were so desperate to deal with the situation quickly.

If things had been left alone, the protests and the violence would have escalated, more people would have been killed, and full-scale civil war could have been underway by the time the Olympic torch reached Beijing.

I'm not for one second justifying the actions of the Chinese authorities. Just saying I can understand the fears that prompted them to intervene so desperately.

I've been to China and I have to say I love the place. It is a fascinating country packed with culture and tradition and brimming with warm, friendly people.

But the men who run the country stubbornly refuse to accept things which we Westerners take for granted, like freedom of speech, democracy and, especially, public displays of dissent.

Anybody who thought that would change just because they are going to host the Olympics was sadly mistaken. Myself included.

So what have we learned from this increasingly desperate situation? Something we all knew before. Politics and sport don't mix.

And nobody should ever attempt to combine them again.

Megson's massive mistake

Bolton Wanderers are in freefall.

When Sam Allardyce departed at the end of last season, they were in good health having finished in the top eight four years in a row. On top of that, they were in Europe for the second consecutive season and had a squad of players easily capable of maintaining their top flight status. Sadly, two poor managerial appointments later, and the club find themselves embroiled in a desperate fight for Premiership survival. A fight they look increasingly like losing.

Sammy Lee was never ready to fill the bigger Sam's boots, and his stint as boss early in the season left them in a precarious position. And Gary Megson has shown he too has the managerial skills of a tadpole.

But the worst moment for the club in their season of horror has to be their recent last-16 match against Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup. Megson, a man for whom the word 'dull' was invented, decided it would be best to play his reserves to save the first team for the relegation battle.

What a pathetic move.

By leaving seven first team regulars back home, he effectively knocked his own team out of the UEFA Cup despite them having a decent chance of going through after a 1-1 first leg draw.

Luckily, the plan backfired and his well-rested first team players slumped to defeat against 10-man Wigan last weekend and then Manchester United mid-week, cementing their place in the bottom three. Poetic justice.

Apart from the fact that professional footballers should be more than capable of playing three tough matches in a week, Megson also failed to realise that making it through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup would probably have given his players the confidence boost they needed.

By fielding a weakened side, Megson blew his club's chance to put its name on a trophy alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. And that is both disrespectful and unforgivable. I appreciate that top flight survival is now worth so much money that other competitions become secondary for struggling. But surely any decent manager would realise that winning matches becomes a habit, just as losing does.

As much as I like Bolton and admire what they have achieved over the past decade, I would be perfectly happy to see them relegated just to ensure Megson achieves everything his managerial talents deserve.

Super Sunday

By the end of today we will probably know where the Premiership title is heading. It won't be definite, of course. There is still enough football left in the season for one or two upsets.

But with Manchester United playing Liverpool and Chelsea taking on Arsenal, it could all be over bar the shouting by dinner time. For us neutrals, I suppose the most important thing is that we have two good games of football, full of incident and goals.

Sadly, the opposite is normally true of these so-called 'Super Sundays' with all four teams opting for caution rather than aggression culminating in 180 minutes of tedium.

My predictions? 2-1 for United and a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

But don't take my word for it. My crystal ball is almost invariably useless...

Your say

"I am a keen Liverpool supporter so I was doubly pleased with your observations about the LFC goal-scoring machine.

As you know Torres wears no. 9 and it is fitting for the finest striker in the Premier League in my opinion. If he were our penalty taker (like Ronaldo for United) he'd be well on his way to 30 league goals this season. He's awesome, but it's not just Torres, but also the players who feed him. Also Torres is class without being temperamental; he is the real deal, the complete package.

I agree with you about some mediocre players like Harry Kewell (who I believe will soon leave Anfield), and Andriy Voronin. However, Liverpool makes up for them with Steven Gerrard, Ryan Babel (who needs more experience), Javier Mascherano and Daniel Agger who has been out since September and was terribly missed. Even our new signing Martin Skertel has adapted after that first game against Havant. And barring spending on Torres and Mascherano, LFC do not have a bottomless kitty like some other clubs we know.

Rafa the Rotator is very tactically aware and astute. He has now also found the right ingredient with Torres by having freedom up front. And would Fernando Torres be so settled now if he had played him in earlier games? Top class managers like Rafa need to be given time and resources. Given these, he will bring the title to Liverpool. Time like Ferguson was given at United. Winning the Champions League in his first year was no fluke like some believe.

Benitez and Liverpool are a team without hype and showboating, but I am sure we'll see more from them in the near future."

F. Caruana, via e-mail sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com