💣 In a blockbuster offer, Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman personally told the Greek prime minister that his country would pay for all Greece's World Cup stadiums, in exchange for joining its bid to host the 2030 World Cup ... 🧵 1/5
Another shambles at Euro 2024 as German authorities facilitate a dangerous crush of fans at Cologne HBF, with alarming crowd control measures.
Left city center at 5:15pm (more than 3.5 hours before kickoff!) and haven't even gotten on a train yet.
Crushing, no trains; awful.
Major problems have continued for Romanian
#EUelections2019
voters in Brussels. Hundreds of people are chanting "We want to vote!" after they were locked out of a polling station at 9pm — despite waiting in line for hours. 🇷🇴🇧🇪
Six months and one day after we published this brilliant cover, Sebastian Kurz resigns as chancellor of Austria.
The incomparable artwork is by
@sleepcaptain
.
🚨 SCOOP: Saudi Arabia offered to fully pay for Greece and Egypt's sports infrastructure costs, for joining its 2030 FIFA World Cup hosting bid.
MBS personally made the offer of stadiums to Greece's PM, in a conversation being reported for the first time.
Don't need the 20-20 hindsight of Grigor Dimitrov's positive COVID-19 test, to say that Novak Djokovic had -- at very best -- a reckless attitude to the pandemic at his tournament in Belgrade last week.
People are NOT HAPPY at the Romanian consulate's voting station in Brussels. There are queues of up to 7 hours to cast ballots, and frustrated voters are chanting "Thieves!" at electoral officials.
#EUelections2019
🚨 New: UEFA is moving the Champions League final to Paris from St. Petersburg.
Scoopy detail: Emmanuel Macron was heavily involved Thursday afternoon in talks with UEFA chief Aleksander Čeferin about moving the final, multiple officials said.
💣 Excited to welcome a *whole new squad* of breaking news reporters to the POLITICO team in Brussels:
🇮🇹
@elenagiordano96
🇦🇺
@SebStarcevic
🇨🇿
@KetrinJochecova
🇭🇺
@krmcsngr
EU Bubble folks: plz invite them for coffees and lunches! We're hungry for scoops.
More
@POLITICOEurope
art. For this week's cover,
@EddyWax
went to meet Catalonia's separatist leaders in prison — and
@dave__murray
nailed the illustration. Also out front,
@LauKaya
interviews France's new European commissioner. Stories online soon.
Belated work update: Very excited to be promoted to News Editor at POLITICO, as of January 1.
Will be working most closely with ace reporters
@nicolas_camut
&
@chiappa_claudia
(+ others) on politics stories from far and wide.
Still watching the sports-politics file too.
5 years ago today, I walked into the
@PoliticoEurope
office feeling 100% intimidated.
That wasn't helped by asking fellow newbie
@joannaplucinska
where she worked before. "Time magazine in Hong Kong." 😳
But half a decade on, still surviving in Europe's most exciting newsroom.
🚨 Here's the press release from the CJEU's opinion on the Super League case.
Headline: The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law
It's not about sportswashing; it's much, much bigger than that.
“The multipolar staging of a World Cup with Egypt and Greece would be neither altruism nor largesse," says
@Prof_Chadwick
.
Saudi Arabia wants to be at the center of a new world order. 4/5
While my colleagues have been concerned with trillions of euros and the fate of the EU itself, I’ve done some 💥 proper journalism 💥
Who wore it best: EU leaders ranked.
Takeaway: It's a smart play.
But but but ... MBS’ megabucks offer to Greece, reported for the first time here, will fuel criticism that Saudi Arabia is effectively attempting to use its astronomical wealth to buy the World Cup.
Read the full story ⬇️ 5/5
You'll read many better-written tributes to Stephen Brown today. But, from my perspective, just to say how much I loved his sense of humor and self-deprecation (👇), and that even when he had to be tough, he was gentle with it.
In memory of a great boss:
🚨 Scoop: Boris Johnson slammed FIFA President Gianni Infantino over his stance on Russia, in a letter last week.
In blunt remarks, Johnson said the UK was dismayed to see Russian delegates at the FIFA Congress in Qatar.
Saudi Arabia will dip into its bulging coffers to “fully underwrite the costs” of jointly hosting the 2030 tournament with Greece and Egypt.
In return, 75 percent of the matches would be held in the Gulf state, a senior official with knowledge of discussions told POLITICO.
Why? Saudi Arabia is creating a trans-continental coalition with Greece and Egypt to take advantage of FIFA’s voting system.
If 🇸🇦 can get support from African federations, plus Asian countries — and siphon off some European votes — it will stand a strong chance of winning. 3/5
🚨 Breaking: The EU comes out against FIFA's biennial World Cup plan.
European Commission vice president says he "fully" shares European football's doubts about the controversial proposal.
While you're waiting Down Under for the Djokovic decision, read
@zoyashef
on why Australia's government has been paralyzed by whether to deport him — or not.
In short: The four-day standstill is the logical outcome of government by opinion poll.
🚨 SCOOP: France is moving to kill the Super League for good.
Paris has drafted a document, backed by 20+ EU countries, looking to ensure a link between domestic performance and qualifying for all European football competitions.
Story w/
@nicolas_camut
.
Perhaps my favourite front page of 2018. Brilliant to work with the genius
@staufferstudio
on this week's environment special edition. Brian produced amazing art to go with
@MaKaOro
's story about, err, why we're all doomed 🌍🔥
🌈 Reaction to the Germany-Hungary Munich stadium outcry, after UEFA bans rainbow lights.
Bavaria's top politician: "A shame."
German Europe minister: "Bitter."
Hungary's foreign minister: "Common sense prevails."
Story with
@LaurenzGehrke
here 👇
🎨 I was briefly lured out of design retirement to work on this year's Politico 28 magazine, which came out last night.
Just want to praise some of the amazing artists we had the pleasure of working with, starting with
@sleepcaptain
who designed a stunning front cover.
🚨 New
@POLITICOEurope
cover: Major investigation by
@vmanancourt
into Amazon’s data security. (Spoiler: 😬) Free to read tomorrow.
🎨: James Dawe (cover) and Rupert Gruber (inside). Shame neither are on Twitter to receive praise, as both were brilliant to work with.
🚨 New cover: Austria's former golden boy, Sebastian Kurz, is losing his shine. Top profile by "Deadline King"
@MKarnitschnig
, with an assist from
@NetteNostlinger
.
🎨: Amazing to get the brilliant
@sleepcaptain
on the front page again, after way too long a gap!
France's government wants to make things right with Liverpool fans by offering them tickets to ... the Rugby World Cup 😂
Hard to imagine a more out-of-touch attempt at an olive branch.
Details here from
@ElisaBraun
⬇️
City deserved to go out for this "celebration" alone. Not exactly limbs all over the show. It's a 94th-minute winner! (Or it was, at least, for a few seconds.)
🚨 New front page — After Corona: Inequality.
@swheaton
and
@paola_tamma
dive into what the pandemic aftermath will look like for restaurants, young people and society at large.
Amazing to have the unique
@noma_bar
illustrating the cover for us.
🚨 Spanish football president Luis Rubiales will resign on Friday, as first reported by
@partidazocope
and now confirmed to
@POLITICOEurope
.
Rubiales sparked an international outcry by giving Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso an unwanted kiss on the lips after the World Cup final.
After six months of being digital-only, we are BACK in print in Brussels tomorrow 🙌
Featuring a special report by
@elineschaart
&
@l_guillot
on why recycling is a big fat myth. Includes great graphics from
@VollCornHirsch
.
Art by the brilliant Daniel Garcia and Moron Eel.
First
@POLITICOEurope
issue of the year and we've got some cool illustrations. Here's the great
@emilianoponzi
with the front cover, on Europe's struggle to compete with established space powerhouses.
⚡️ Greece faces a backlash for partnering with Saudi Arabia and Egypt on a bid for the 2030 football World Cup.
Criticism has been fierce, as the Saudis' repression of human rights is infamous — and Egypt isn't much better.
Story here with
@nstamouli
⚽️ I spoke to Ukraine's Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Shevchenko for
@POLITICOEurope
today.
They're organizing a charity match to send the world a "powerful message" about unity.
Shevchenko: “We have to defend our country and we never give up.”
This week was my print design swan song (for now, at least … ) so I got some of my favourite artists from the past four years together, for our special coverage of the COP26 climate summit. Will Glasgow be blah blah blah?
On the cover, it's the always-brilliant
@lukebrookes_art
Just wait until you see tomorrow the incredible job
@tball
has done with this year's
#POLITICO28
magazine. It's a stunning achievement of design work 🔥
So much cooler to see your byline in print than on web 🤩
Here's a condensed version of my chat with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin in Nyon for
#POLITICO28
➡️ Super League "betrayal"
➡️ Biennial World Cup "populistic bullshit"
➡️ Slovenian politics "never been so divided"
Our new Coronavirus in Europe hub is online now at
@POLITICOEurope
. Live updates, live graphics, plus news stories, data and analysis on the world's pandemic response. See it here 👉
Coronavirus has come for Europe. For the front page, we needed an artist to meet a huge moment — and
@danielhertzberg
delivered in buckets. Illustration goes with
@swheaton
's story, online here: (€)
My lame Maradona story 👇
Sneaked in to the Argentina team hotel in Glasgow in 2008, hoping Maradona would sign my Napoli 10 shirt.
Squad came out of the dining room. Spotted Maradona. He took one look, grunted and walked off.
I ended up getting a picture with Gabriel Heinze.
5 lessons from the world's worst diplomat.
🔸 Don’t let Russia mock the EU
🔹 Don’t reveal secret war plans
🔸 Don’t say the world is a jungle
🔹 Don’t patronize women footballers
🔸 Don’t tweet confidential docs
Sage advice here w/
@chiappa_claudia
What an honour to work with
@noma_bar
— of Murakami book cover fame — on this week's
@POLITICOEurope
front page. His beautiful art goes with
@hclae
's story about Europe's homelessness crisis (online tomorrow).
🚨⚽️ NEW: The European Super League judgment will be delivered by the Court of Justice of the EU on December 21 at 9:30am, per senior official familiar.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
It's the amazing
@staufferstudio
with the cover art for this week's
#EUelections2019
special edition of
@POLITICOEurope
. The issue — out tomorrow — is absolutely crammed full of election analysis, news and infographics.
In special coverage, a silver medal goes to
@POLITICOEurope
for their coronavirus pandemic line of coverage.
"Through art direction, photo editing and illustration, there is a sense of isolation that permeates the entire collection."
💥 Fully updated European travel guide 💥
A Herculean effort from too many reporters and editors to name (seriously, they wouldn't all fit in a tweet 😅) to keep you looped in on Europe's travel restrictions.
Here's the front page of this week's
@POLITICOEurope
non-paper (online tonight). I asked
@baileywatro
at very short notice for an illustration about European food supplies — and she answered the call in stunning fashion. Includes a possible record number of bylines on the cover.
I met Linda Helleland (
@Lindacath
) for
@PoliticoEurope
. She wants to reform the global anti-doping regulator, WADA. She has support from athletes, watchdogs and Russian whistleblowers — but the sports establishment is resisting her vision of change
🚨 New cover: How the pandemic changed the world for health care.
🎨
@page_stamp
has done brilliant work this year for us, so it was a joy to get her on a front cover. As you can see, she's nailed it again.
🖊️ Ace reporters:
@swheaton
,
@ashleighfurlong
,
@carlomartu
&
@hcollis
Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid are still fighting for the Super League — and Messi's transfer explains why.
Scoop: The Super League clubs have hired Flint Global to represent them in Brussels, a key theater in the ongoing legal and political battle.
Final
@POLITICOEurope
front page of the year. Beyond Belief — a package on religious faith in an age of political polarization. Artwork by the genius (and sadly Twitter-less) Zach Meyer.
🚨 New cover:
@MKarnitschnig
and
@LaurenzGehrke
dive into Germany's unexpectedly exciting "super election year."
🎨 Awesome to have
@jasonlyon_
on the front page, with this amazing art to illustrate the uncertainty that comes with Angela Merkel's exit.
Got a bit over-excited this week and commissioned artwork for print like it was going out of fashion.
Some highlights … 🧵
It's
@maxomatic
on the front cover, beautifully summing up our comprehensive and insightful German election package.
🚨 The inside story of how politics killed the Super League, based on interviews with senior football and political officials.
Within European football, the odd couple of Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron are getting much of the credit 👀
I'm biased, of course, but the
@POLITICOEurope
live blog really is the only place to follow today's
#EUelections2019
. An amazing resource with insight and analysis from whip-smart people based right across Europe.
Pressure grows today on Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales, after he was condemned by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for kissing World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso on the lips.
Sánchez said it was "unacceptable" and that Rubiales' apology was inadequate.
What's the word for the specific relief you feel when an artist agrees to illustrate your front cover at very short notice? 😅
And then, of course,
@alexandraespan
did an incredible job with this piece to go with
@jacopobarigazzi
's story on the people who really run the EU 👀
A Brussels-centric front page of
@POLITICOEurope
this week.
@maiadelabaume
looks at whether the EU Quarter is dead.
And
@laurenscerulus
casts an eye over the EU-China Friendship Group … 👀
Great illustration by the wonderful
@claremallison
, who was a delight to work with.
Here are some of my favorite
@POLITICOEurope
front covers from 2020.
🚨 Always looking to add new artists to my database, so if you'd like to collaborate with us on editorial artwork in 2021, then drop me an email (address in bio) with your portfolio so I can take a look.
A really proud day for Martin especially, but also for the Isle of Lewis generally.
Delighted for Kenny John and Dano and all the folks who put so much time into youth football development down in Back. (Okay, that's enough praise for the Bacachs for at least a decade 😬)
🥳"It's one of these things that won't sink in until you look back on your career. I'm still absolutely buzzing."
Martin MacLean's winning goal helped part-time
@brorarangers
stun Hearts in the Scottish Cup. He's back at work today but joined us earlier to reflect on that win!👇