Pep Guardiola is coming back to the Etihad, and the world has apparently cleared its diary. According to reports that nobody has bothered to verify, a delegation of heads of state, a minister for something unspecified and at least one hovering satellite are planning to attend. A foreign office has reportedly requested a seat near the tunnel. Nobody has explained what a foreign office does at a football ground, but we are assured it is important.
Let us be clear about the stakes. Manchester City have just lived through a guilty verdict. The man who spent a decade building the team has since backed the owners. And now the first home game since has become the only subject anyone wants to discuss. Climate talks have been postponed. A regional ceasefire is waiting on a press conference. Interest rates will be announced on Thursday, but only after the question of whether Guardiola will react to a VAR decision has been settled.
Here is the problem. Guardiola is an extraordinary coach, and his tactical brain deserves to be watched. But a man in a good coat walking down a touchline is not a summit, and a VAR screen is not a diplomatic table. The referee does not need an interpreter. The ticket office will not be handing out peace accords.
Sport has always been a stage for ego, and a club that wants to be global will always invite the world to watch. Still, if the rest of the planet is waiting on one man’s opinion of a replay, perhaps we should ask who decided that a fixture list should set the agenda for the free world.