ANOTHER RON TURN

FIFA absolving Trump's buddy CR7 latest step in football losing identity as a sport

- BY MARK MCCADDEN

As football fans, we have learned to live with our sport's lurch towards sports entertainment.

We like and repost the bite-sized rows and debates that accelerate through social media at a faster rate than the goals scored that night.

What is concerning, however, is that the line over what can be glamorised and given the WWE treatment appears to be shifting.

The inception of a new Club World Cup has raised serious questions about player welfare, as well as the oversaturation of football - fears long-held within the sports entertainment industry.

And now we have a 48-team World Cup to look forward to.

There are pros and cons to this development. Would we still be in contention if it was still a 32-team tournament, with just 13 slots for Europe, as opposed to 16 next summer? So we'll give that one a pass. For now.