'Sport is entirely different to war; it is not war remade and nor is it preparation for war'

This is a notion that is rooted in centuries of rhetoric that find their greatest exposition is phrases such as Duke of Wellington’s supposed claim that the Battle of Waterloo was really won on the playing fields of Eton.

Young boys play football in the town of Novoluhanske, eastern Ukraine on Saturday. Earlier today, Russian forces have launched a major military assault on Ukraine, with reports of missile strikes and explosions near major cities

Nobody wrote like George Orwell. And he was right about so much. But, of course, not about everything.

When it came to writing about the relationship between sport and war, he had astute observations to make, but his basic thesis was wrong.