The Predictions Episode

The Predictions Episode

Sinéad and Gavin nail their colours to the mast as they debate their big sporting predictions for the rest of 2026 and beyond. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What is the deal with Gianni Infantino?

Sinead and Gavin discuss the Fifa president: where did he come from and how long does he plan to stick around? Infantino was elected as Fifa president in February 2016. He showed a supposedly new, more humble version of Fifa when he flew EasyJet to an IFAB meeting in the UK, saying “We are normal people and we have to behave like normal people.” He now travels on a private jet provided to him by Qatar. And Fifa recently requested a motorcade escort for their annual congress in Vancouver similar to the kind usually reserved for the Pope or the US president. Why has the head of a sporting body come to regard himself as worthy of such a show of deference? Does the Fifa presidency essentially guarantee a level of hubris, as the occupier of the office becomes further and further detached from the real world in which 99% of football supporters live? Can steps be taken to assure greater accountability for those in the role? Or are we destined to have a succession of egotistical characters speaking on behalf of the global game, while those who play, watch and love the sport roll their eyes? ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Munster’s leadership crisis evident in Randle U-turn

Sinéad O’Carroll is joined by Niall Kelly to discuss the fallout from Munster’s appointment of Roger Randle as attack coach, and the subsequent “mutual agreement” that the deal will not go ahead. Randle was accused of raping a woman in South Africa in 1997 when he was there as a player. Randle denied the allegation and has always maintained his innocence. He was initially charged with the crime, but that charge was later dropped. In today’s episode, Sinéad and Niall consider whether Munster’s hierarchy properly thought through the likely backlash to Randle’s appointment. Committee members and commercial advisors have walked away, relations with the IRFU have been strained, supporters have been left with questions, sponsors were feeling uneasy and players have been put in an impossible position of having to answer media questions on the appointment. And now, head coach Clayton McMillan is disappointed that the coach he wanted and backed will not join him at Munster What will be the lasting consequences for the province - once the biggest brand in Irish sport - both on and off the field? ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Why sports tickets have become a rip-off

Gavin and Sinéad discuss the inflation-busting prices of attending matches and other big sports events. Ryder Cup ticket prices for Adare Manor raised eyebrows, but are such levels now becoming the norm, especially for high-profile events which attract interest from the corporate and influencer world. If so, what does that do to the atmosphere at big occasions, when the committed supporters who have given sports their flavour and colour are excluded? Where will the next generation of fans come from if the price of entry is so high? And in the GAA, does removing cheaper prices for children for stand tickets put unnecessary pressure on parents, or even discourage them from attending games as a family? How has the World Cup become such a price-gouging exercise? What will the competition look and sound like as a result? Also in the pod, Gav tells us he has become a Hurling Man now, and explains why Tipp are Tipp, Cork are Cork, Kilkenny are Kilkenny, but Limerick are not Limerick. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What Irish sport tells us about our rural/urban divide

In the aftermath of the fuel protests, Leo Varadkar decided it was time for urban Ireland to do some straight talking to rural Ireland, saying that “we are the ones paying the bills and you’re the ones in receipt of a lot of subsidies and tax benefits that other people don’t get.” The comments provoked a huge reaction, with Varadkar eventually apologising. He made the mistake of pressing his thumb on a great cultural fault line of Irish life - the rural/urban divide. On this week’s podcast, Sinéad and Gavin use Varadkar’s comments as a jumping off point to assess the rural/urban divide in Ireland, and how it is articulated in Irish sport. Do we see it in the Split Dublin debate, or in the League of Ireland, or in the GAA’s demographics report sounding the alarm about rural depopulation? In what other ways do we experience the divide in a cultural sense? Meanwhile, what if we do as Varadkar suggests, and follow the money? Do we really see a divide between rural and urban areas where it comes to funding? Or by talking so much about rural versus urban, are we in fact ignoring the real divide? Get in touch - sinead@thejournal.ie [sinead@thejournal.ie] and gavincooney@the42.ie [gavincooney@the42.ie] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.