Speechification

More great behind the scenes stuff from Radio 4. This time looking at the world of Olympic judges and adjudicators. I love the contrasts between the passions and angsts of the athletes and the calm, necessary pernicketiness of the judges. Nicely presented by Allison Curbishley. MP3 here.

A really vivid and exciting half-hour about the journey of Togo and Arsenal footballer Emmanuel Adebayor to Ghana and Togo. He’s 24 but so mature and comfortable with his fame and the quite awesome responsibility that goes with it. A remarkable man (MP3).

It’s all gone quiet over here hasn’t it? Maybe all the speechification contributers are glued to Euro2008. Probably. Well this’ll be right up their street. Danny Robins investigates the Clericus Cup, a football tournament for Catholic priests, particularly interesting in the wake of recent Italian football tragedies and scandals. And their trouncing by the Dutch this week. MP3 here.

Is African football any good? How much does a Ghanaian Premiership player earn? Will a team from the continent ever win the World Cup? The World Service is going large on the Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off in Ghana this weekend. Here’s 8:14 of the kind of stuff only the World Service can do: wide-ranging, authoritative commentary on stuff that happens in foreign places. (MP3).