Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, is believed to have said, ‘I will either find a way or make one.’ And it is in tribute to that can-do attitude, that The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland awards a weekly Hannibal Prize for unorthodox leadership. The award is given to an individual who, unable to find a way, has indeed put in a valiant effort to make one.
This week the award goes to England football captain Harry Kane.
Before all football matches were suspended, Mr Kane, through a combination of bad luck, injuries and poor performance, watched his Tottenham Hotspur side slip to eighth in the league, seven point off the all important fourth place that would see them qualify for next season’s Champions League.
With only nine games remaining, the odds of Tottenham cutting the deficit, when the league resumes, look slim.
But this week, Mr Kane laid out an ingenious scheme to secure his club a place in European football’s elite club competition. Quite simply, we should scrap the 2019/20 season altogether, with Champions League qualification decided by last season’s standings.
And, what do you know, one of the teams who would happen to benefit from such an eventuality would be Harry Kane’s Tottenham who, having finished fourth last year, would reluctantly do their civic duty and step up to represent the nation on the international stage once more, at the expense of Leicester City who currently sit twelve points and five places above them.
Of course, Mr Kane didn’t express his scheme in such tones and it is for this ingenious subtlety that we award him the Hannibal Prize.
In a frank and heartfelt Instagram interview with Jamie Redknapp, Mr Kane said that of course all efforts should be made to finish the season.
And yet….
‘There needs to be a point where enough is enough and we say, “Look, we cannot finish it”. Obviously I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and what it means financially for certain clubs. But from a player’s point of view, by all means we need to try to finish it as much as possible but there needs to be a limit.’
Such noble, selfless words from the Spurs striker.
When asked what the limit was, you got the distinct impression he had to stop himself from saying ‘next Tuesday.’
But, displaying a tactfulness that would have made Hannibal blush, a pained Mr Kane reasoned, ‘the limit for me is the end of June. Otherwise I feel it would have such a knock-on effect for next year and the Euros and the World Cup in 2022.’
With representatives of the twenty Premier League clubs meeting today, and resumption date of 30th April set to be extended yet again, it would appear to be a very tall order indeed to pack in ninety fixtures before the end of June.
Which would mean that, if Mr Kane has his way, the season will indeed be scrapped and he’ll spend the summer with his feet up, listening to the Champions League anthem playing on loop.
It’s innovative, it’s unorthodox, it’s subtle, it’s daring, it’s genius. Harry Kane, you are a worthy recipient of this week’s Hannibal Prize.
