Irish Examiner view: When actions speak louder

World Cup protests

Iran's Ehsan Hajsafi during a press conference at the Main Media Centre in Doha, Qatar.

The World Cup has begun in Qatar, which means that debates about the appropriateness of staging the tournament in that country are now moot. It’s happening, so it doesn’t matter how well reasoned or closely argued the case against it happening.

That does not mean there are no lessons to be learned, however. Amid the whataboutery and rationalisations, and the stunning stupidity on show from various cheerleaders and mouthpieces, some stark binaries stand out as instructive.