It is the final evening of the year. Darkness begins to gather. Fires burn in some places, while masked figures move through the streets. According to an ancient belief, on this night the invisible boundary separating the worlds of the living and the dead becomes unusually thin.
Who will wear the crown of individual excellence in football — Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé or Harry Kane? The wait for an answer is set to end tonight as the 70th edition of the Ballon d’Or ceremony takes place. Across the football world, speculation is mounting over which star will emerge on top.
Allegations are supposed to be heard in a court of law, and punishment imposed by the state only after guilt has been established. Yet an increasingly troubling pattern is emerging in Bangladesh.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has failed to escape criticism despite apologising amid the controversy. He expressed regret to the FIFA Council over the scrapped “FIFA Forward Enterprise” (FFE) project, but representatives of two of Europe’s most influential football nations, England and Germany, were not satisfied. They said the necessary administrative reforms of world football’s governing body cannot be achieved under the current leadership.
Prison walls are meant to keep inmates behind bars, but overcrowding is stripping away even their last measure of comfort. Facilities intended to hold people awaiting trial have become places where finding room to sleep is a daily struggle. Burdened with more than twice their intended population, Bangladesh’s prisons have become a stark reflection of a growing humanitarian crisis.
The season is changing, but winter appears to be taking its time. The familiar signs of autumn—white clouds drifting across the sky, dew settling on grass at dawn and a coolness in the air—have arrived unevenly across Bangladesh. While early mornings are beginning to carry a hint of winter, the heat of the day has yet to fully retreat.