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BBC School Report

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Athlete of Sierra Leone Arrested
Twenty-year-old Jimmy Thoronka, who vanished after the Commonwealth Games says he can’t go home because Ebola has wiped out his family. Like seven other athletes Jimmy Thoronka failed to return home after the Glasgow Games last summer. At approximately 7pm on Friday, Thoronka was arrested for overstaying his visa. A police spokesman said last Friday, that “He will be held here (the police station) overnight.”

When interviewed, Thoronka confessed to his feelings. “I’m very frightened of what will happen to me. Life here is very bad for me but if I return to Sierra Leone then I don’t think I will make it.” He has also admitted to feeling suicidal at times. In a small rucksack, he carries his phone, an old toothbrush, a spare pair of underwear and trousers and a packet of paracetamol, purchased in a pound shop, which he uses to starve off the aches and pains. His foster mother, a nurse in the police service, died last summer at the Rokupa government hospital. His birth parents, he assumes, died in the Spanish civil war.

Offers to provide a home for Thoronka are coming in all the time. The first came less than five minutes after the story went online, from a man volunteering to meet him at King’s Cross and hand over provisions. The second call was from a London designer offering Thoronka his sofa. Richard Dent, a Cambridge phD student, has set up a “gofundme” campaign for Thoronka which raised more than £2,000 in two days. An appeal to raise funds for his career has also been set up by Dent.

After jogging in parks, Thoronka feels eager to resume his running career. He told “Today”, that “I want to be a star and also continue my education. I want to be a sprinter. My dream is to become the fastest sprinter in the world– one of the fastest”. The appeals are supporting Thoronka to achieve these life goals.
Lily G


Qatar World Cup 2022
The FIFA world cup is set to be hosted in Qatar in 2022. They are the first Arab state to host the World Cup. The FIFA president Sepp Blatter thought that hosting the world cup in Qatar is an amazing idea, he also states that the Arabic world deserves the World cup as they have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organize the tournament.

However there is a lot of controversy around the results as there has been alleged bribery involved so the votes could have been biased in favour of Qatar. Also there has been questions asked about the safety of Qatar, there has been many threats of terrorism and cases of extremism in recent years so it has been criticised of not being the best place to host such an extensive and popular event.

On 24 February 2014, FIFA proposed that the tournament be played in the winter; from late November to late December 2022 to avoid the intense heat in the moths of May to September. Also so it wouldn’t clash with the winter Olympics in February and Ramadan in April. However this has been argued as a poor idea by many as it disrupts the season of many European leagues, for example: Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La Liga, along with many more. Also the FIFA world cup is a traditional event hosted in the summer every four years. Furthermore many questions have been asked about the conditions of the builders who are constructing the stadiums and the facilities. According to multiple reports the workers are not getting paid and not obtaining any food or water.

Many students have different opinions on the situation. Dan W states, “By the fact Qatar have never qualified for the World Cup before, they should not be able to get automatic entry. Also Qatar is not a very well located place to host the tournament as many people are poor in the country and it will surely ruin peoples lives and football is supposed to bring people together. A country should not be able to host a World Cup just because they have a lot of money as this ruins the game.”

Harry P thinks, “Every country should get their chance. However I don’t think it should be hosted in the winter as it disrupts the premier league and many other European leagues. It is normally hosted in the summer and that is the tradition. It is ruining the reputation of FIFA.”

In conclusion, the Qatar World Cup 2022 is still going ahead and there are plenty of positives that Qatar will get out of hosting a major event. However there are many reasons why it is a dangerous and poor decision to host the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. For example the questionable safety and fairness of the workers, the voting being allegedly biased in favour of Qatar and the chance of it being hosted in the winter.
Joshua, Dan and Harry