Any large organisation has its responsibilities, and that counts double for organisations in the public eye. It is important to do things right, it is important to be seen to be doing things right. The way a large organisation deals with its responsibilities to the environment matters, and to a very high degree, which is another way of talking about responsibilities to the human race and its future.

Some organisations deal with these matters in a sincere and dedicated fashion. Others look for short cuts and cosmetics, of the type technically known as greenwash. But some organisations are so insufferably arrogant and so impossibly remote from the real world that they simply don't give a stuff. Uefa is right at the top of that last category.

You may have noticed that the Champions League final was held in Moscow. It was a local affair between two English clubs: Birmingham would have been a logical halfway point. Wembley would have done. But no, everyone had to fly out to Moscow instead. Now Uefa could argue that it didn't know who the finalists were when it fixed the venue. But the finalists were almost certain to be from England, Spain or Italy, or maybe Germany. Moscow was always going to be a hell of a journey for both sets of supporters, no matter who contested the final. It's part of a pattern - other extravagant and unnecessary journeys for two sets of supporters for recent finals include Istanbul and Athens.

So let's see how this works out in terms of carbon debt. My friends at the World Land Trust (WLT), an organisation deeply involved in carbon sequestration, tell me that the tonnes of carbon dioxide resulting from the return flights of 20,000 supporters from Manchester and another 20,000 from London adds up to 54,433 tonnes. To offset this, the WLT would need to convert to tropical forest an area equivalent to 547 Luzhniki Stadiums in order to sequester the 54,433 tonnes over 20 years.

It is a devastating figure, a shocking indictment of an organisation that cares for little beyond money and its own prestige. Sport is low on the priority list, but not half so low as the future of the human race. So here is a message to Michel Platini, the Uefa president: if I give you Rebecca Absalom's telephone number at the WLT, you can tell her you want to get in touch with 547 stadiums-worth of forest.

When did “to become the greatest” stop being enough?

I honestly believe that football has finally lost it’s grip. Not on reality, that went decades back. I mean, it's grip on football itself. Or am I just terribly naive? I always thought that the point of sport was to be the very best that you possibly could be, and that if you were considered the best footballer in the world, well, it meant that there was a chance for you to become the greatest footballer of all time. Who wouldn’t want that? People would say, he won this, he won that, he was the man at the heart of the legendary team that did this, and did it again and then again.

Isn’t that the point of it? If you have even a chance to have your name muttered in the same breath as, say, Ferenc Puskáas, Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer, wouldn’t you think it was rather a good plan to try your best to get there? But no, apparently not. Cristiano Ronaldo’s response to winning the Champions League with Manchester United was to start dickering about money. He dropped hints about Real Madrid and maybe I’ll stay, maybe I’ll go: and who knows what the future will bring?

In other words, he will either leave Manchester United and turn his back on the chance of establishing a winning dynasty, or he will destabilise the club by forcing a salary way beyond everybody else’s. He’s just been given something precious, so now he tries to break it. And for what? For even more money than he’s already got.

Let me pass on a word of advice. Nobody looks at the career of Pelé and says: wow, he really did make a lot of money. There are no legends to be created about the richest footballer that ever lived. Everybody blames agents: but it’s players that have the power of decision-making. All the same, agents, advisoers and loved ones all need to point out that what matters most, in any task you take on — whether it’s writing War And Peace or writing about a football match played in Russia — it’s not the reward that matters but the achievement itself. Money is a a bonus and a lovely one, but if ever it becomes more than a bonus, you are not doing the task itself right. What would you rather be: Pelé, or just another vulgar little billionaire?

Time for Moores to conjure up some managerial magic

I am beginning to wonder if there isn’t something seriously amiss with the England cricket team. In this current series against New Zealand, they have consistently laboured, struggled, and failed to impose themselves. New Zealand have turned out tougher than expected; more fool those who underestimated them. But the point is not that England have done less well than hoped; rather, it is that they haven’t looked like a side with a sense of purpose and direction.

The batting collapse traditionally indicates a side’s ills. So, for that matter, does a bowling collapse. But it is when a side has a fielding collapse that you know something is seriously and deeply wrong, and that’s what happened with England on Saturday. Nothing speaks more eloquently of a team out of sorts with itself, the game and with life.

The side lacks inspiration and you can’t spend all your life waiting for Andrew Flintoff to get better. True, the weather hasn’t helped I wonder why for a century and more they never played Test cricket in May — but England have been without any sense of swagger, not giving any impression that they were spoiling for another go at those Australians.

Matters like such as this are elusive and complex, but it all comes down to the head coach. The atmosphere around the team has not been good and Peter Moores is in charge. Therefore, he must take the blame. And relishing the good news that Simon Jones is back and bowling at 90mph is not enough. At the moment, the team is simply not functioning.

Now all these things are hard to pin down. But every coach must work is in the area of intangibles. Technical stuff about getting the wrist behind the ball and left elbow high (though not at the same time) is no more than a helpful bonus for a cricket coach. It’s in the area of unseen and the the unreachable the unseen and the unreachable that a great coach excels. No doubt Moores possesses this magic in vast quantities. It’s time we saw it.