How long is the stench of the “sham” going to corrode the meaning, worth, and very essence of the Premier League? Listening to commentary about Manchester City’s players matching the defiance of their ownership and triumphing in adversity. Listening to fans chorusing the names of the men running the club, wearing masks or displaying banners of their faces and jibing: “We’re Man City, we’ll cheat when we want.” Victory being framed as “a lovely moment,” a show of togetherness as though some grave injustice has been imposed on City, rather than their hierarchy being found by an independent commission to have orchestrated financial doping on an industrial scale. Their opponents and the rest of us wondering if any of this actually matters now and how much of it ever did? There can be no business as usual pretence. We need a full stop to the absurdity.