A couple of bad-faith arguments to debunk in light of PSG reaching the Champions League final, I think.

Firstly, if there is ‘bias’ or ‘an agenda’ against Man City and Newcastle in football’s ownership debate based on British journalists wanting to protect the domestic status quo, unclear why there is similarly fierce criticism of a comparable situation in France.

What credible reason is there for the British press to have an inherent bias against PSG as a club? We’re all crypto-communist Marseille fans? Weekend ultras at Olympique Lyonnais? It’s not about that and it never has been.

Then there are the bizarre accusations that certain sports journalists are proxies for one Gulf State or another depending on who is being criticised. Qatar now getting as much flak for their appalling human rights record as bitter regional rivals Saudi Arabia, or the UAE.

Another thing worth noting is that this is not about some chauvinistic dislike of the Gulf States. I’m not even sure it’s really about “oil money”, though it’s obvious that flooding football with near-limitless cash has a distorting effect on competition.

Fundamentally, it’s about autocratic regimes using football clubs as vehicles for their political aims and ambitions. It’s about football being used as a smokescreen for human rights abuses on a massive scale. It really is that simple.

The people who suffer most under those regimes are the people who live under them: people who don’t have freedom of speech, who don’t have free and fair elections, who aren’t allowed to join a trade union and who can be arrested, tortured and imprisoned arbitrarily.

If you have a problem with journalists calling that out, you do not understand what journalism is for or why it’s a worthwhile endeavour. Whether people want to hear it or not, European football is being hijacked for geopolitical purposes and it’s our job to draw attention to it.