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You're listening to the Men in Blazers media network, Sir Bob Timor Radio.

It's Roch with the Men in Blazers pod special one that comes at the time of evil and fear and chaos as we all watch in agony at events and falling in Ukraine.

And in moments like this, Yurgen Klopp's insistence that football is the most important, least important thing.

Well, those words have never felt true as the world is plunged into darkness.

I felt like on the yesterday that I spent a month in Ukraine covering the 2012 Euro's, which was split if you remember with Poland and were hailed at the time of us showing in a new world order.

I've put in Ukraine on the map globally, I was split between Donetsk and Kiev bouncing back and forth between the two and reveling in all the history, the cosacs, the boreshed and delirious Spanish football in equal measure.

Everything felt so positive, so joyous, so full of possibility until it wasn't.

And everything we thought was behind us has laid itself cruelly, barely in front of us as our future.

One quick caveat, at the risk of stating the obvious, when Russia invades Ukraine, the best geopolitical analysis is shocker, not on men in Blazers.

We don't pretend to have the subject matter expertise to unpack global conflicts. And so in moments of terror like the one we're living, this is not the first podcast you probably should be listening to.

If you want a deeper understanding of the whole story as it plays out, there's so many great podcasts like our good friends at Podsave the World.

God bless you, Tommy Vito, Podding right now.

All of this reminds us of that classic Dave Chappelle bit where he lamented MTV calling up Jarl Rule during 9-11 coverage and wondered who gives an F about what Jarl thinks at a time like this.

I want some answers that Jarl might not have right now. I don't want to dance. I'm scared to death. And in this situation, we acknowledge we are Jarl Rule.

However, also in moments like this, football always seems to offer so much possibility. Doesn't always deliver.

But it can offer the nourishment and lift we need right now. But more importantly, as we've always said, football is always just the mirror that reflects the world surrounding it.

It's true in times of light and it's exponentially true or in times of darkness. And I do think we have to begin to process some of the incredible complex questions that the global game faces immediately at all levels.

It's the Premier League, the European club competitions right through to the World Cup and Russia's participation in it. A World Cup in Qatar, it goes without saying is one set to be soaked in blood.

And it's becoming increasingly clear to us for all of us who love the game, exploring and confronting the intersection of football and politics.

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