The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Thursday, September 17

Hello, all!

I must ask: If a certain long-haired Welshman does end up signing for Spurs, would you want another one of those Hoddle-made playlists to go along with it?

Ramble of the Day

Back in July, the BBC did a short video with Kadeena Cox and Kare Adnegan, two Black women are parasport athletes for Great Britain. They touched on a range of topics, from the small niche they have as disabled women of color to the range of discrimination they face. It’s an impactful video worth the three minutes for a few reasons, but I also found that in some ways, the video offered a simple reminder. Cox said, just this year, she had a fellow athlete tell her racism doesn’t exist.

Before our World Championships this year, one of my fellow athletes said to me, “We’re in 2020. Racism doesn’t exist.” I was just like, “Are you actually serious?” It baffles me because I’ve experienced racism in some form throughout my whole life.

All it took was three minutes for Cox and Adnegan to outline some of the simple sources of racism in their work: Cox said cycling has more white athletes than athletes of color, and both Cox and Adnegan talked about the roadblocks that face people of color, mainly the cost of wheelchairs. Cox said this is why she speaks out about racism, and it’s clear that a lot of people need the education. (That includes French Football Federation president Noël Le Graet, who yesterday also denied the existence of racism because people celebrate when Black players score goals.)

It is always worth remembering, and repeating to anyone who needs it, that racism exists in almost every facet of life. Systems aren’t currently designed to include them — there’s a reason Cox and Adnegan outline the financial difficulties for people of color and people in lower-class communities to enter parasports. Celebrating people of color doesn’t just cancel all of it out, either; people remain on the receiving end of discriminatory treatment because those of us celebrating athletes of color haven’t always done more than that.

I come back to this a lot — listening to others when they speak about their experiences of being in discriminated communities and attempting to understanding their realities will only help us. In the end, that’s the main reason why I recommend the BBC video.

Links of the Day

Manchester United’s Katie Zelem tested positive for COVID-19.

France’s Professional Football League will investigate Neymar’s racism claim against Álvaro González, while Neymar will be suspended for two matches for hitting González.

Macclesfield Town has been wound up.

Transfer updates: Aston Villa signed Emiliano Martínez from Arsenal; Villarreal signed Pervis Estupiñán from Watford

A longer read: Andy Hunter on the latest in Everton’s attempt to build a new stadium, as a debate over the historic value around the stadium site becomes part of the discussion for The Guardian