OpEd - SubScribe14

The commentators 26-06-14

...on Luis Suárez

He did not fix a match, which strikes at the very heart of sport. He did not use performance-enhancing drugs, which is the most insidious form of cheating. He did not go over the top and break an opponent’s leg, or shatter an opponent’s nose or cheekbone with an elbow. He did not attack a referee (he has done that, head-butting an official...) What he did was disgusting and horrible, sets a terrible example and would be deeply unpleasant to be a victim of. But Giorgio Chiellini played on. Suárez needs psychiatric help, not a jail sentence.
- Glenn Moore, Independent

Suárez feels he punished England with the goals that ended this country’s World Cup ambitions. He feels he was avenged. Yet avenged for what, exactly? Everything he despises about the English game is what keeps him in check.
If Suárez plays no further part in this World Cup, or in football for many months to come, it will be because he failed to learn the lessons of his brief exposure to the standards of the English game. If only he knew it, we’re the best friends he has.
- Martin Samuel, Daily Mail

What made Luis Suárez’s attack so shocking was not just his play-acting afterwards – he fell to the ground clutching his mouth as if he were the victim (he has denied the incident and claims Chiellini “bumped into me with his shoulder”) – it was that this is the third time in a high-profile match that the Uruguayan has used his mouth as a weapon.
- Harry Wallop, Daily Telegraph

Vote for your favourite commentators

Stevie Spring

The annual Editorial Intelligence comment awards were officially launched yesterday with the announcement of the seventy-strong panel of judges to be led by Stevie Spring, chair of Children in Need.
They include Lorraine Heggessey, Nihal Arthanayake, Karren Brady, Damian Barr, Lynne Franks, Nicky Gavron, Laura Kuenssberg, Adrian Monck and Kirsty Lang.
Anyone is invited to nominate their favourite commentators for the awards, which are divided into 16 categories. There is no charge for entry.

The categories