In Burma, military operations have caused the flight into Bangladesh of 700,000 Rohingya Muslims in what the United Nations has described as “a textbook case of ethnic cleansing”. Yet, ignoring the objections of MPs and human rights groups, and dispensing with the best travel advice from the Foreign Office, Leeds United propose to head there for a two-game post-season tour next month. It’s Roy of the Rovers stuff, and no mistake. Those familiar with the history of the greatest comic-strip hero that football has produced will recall Melchester Rovers’ virtually annual summer trips to despotic and unstable regimes, normally in South America, where Roy would not infrequently get kidnapped. The price of his freedom would then be an agreement to stage an exhibition match, even…

Source: The Times April 27, 2018 23:03 UTC