Neil McIntosh Editor of The Scotsman

Dear reader,

It's probably safe to say rugby is the sport of choice for many Scotsman readers. But you'll forgive me if I say that football, of the association type, is my first love. I played it - badly - until my knees gave up. I've watched my local team, wherever work has taken me, avidly. I've met some wonderful people, and formed lifelong friendships, through the beautiful game. I absolutely believe in the sport's ability to lift people up - especially the young, especially those from disadvantaged areas - and, yes, offer a distraction from an often difficult world.

But even avid football fans like me are approaching the Qatar World Cup with a degree of dread. The tournament, which starts a week on Sunday, should be a one-in-four-year highlight in every fan's diary. It's a sporting event to become immersed in, to wallow in the storylines of, to take inspiration from. Not this time. The game is brought into disrepute by being hosted in Qatar: every match will be sullied by the blood of thousands of migrants brought in to build the stadiums and infrastructure, and who died while working there.

So, at scotsman.com and in tomorrow's Scotsman, we will celebrate the sport - the chances of each nation, the players with Scottish connections who are taking part, the rich array of gloriously talented young men who will take to the fields for their nations in pursuit of one of the sporting world's greatest prizes. But we will also feature - in the same World Cup preview supplement - the story of the transgender Qatari who was arrested and told she would be "made a man again", alongside details of the widespread breaches of basic human rights in the country - and some claims things have been improved through reforms.

And our coverage will open with a brilliant, coruscating essay by my colleague Andrew Smith who captures my thoughts - and perhaps those of many other football fans - when he writes: "nothing feels right about the Qatar World Cup becomes nothing is right... The Qatar World Cup, chillingly, is the competition for our times as a consequence of migrants bearing its cost... of being considered utterly disposable".

Some will say we're being miserable party-poopers. Our view is that most Scotsman readers won't want to enjoy the sport without even thinking about the cost. Have we gone too far? Or not far enough? Do let us know your thoughts in comments, and letters.

Closer to home, our new health correspondent Joseph Anderson has been on the trail of accurate Accident & Emergency figures in Scotland: he reported, in an exclusive story, a whistleblower's accusation that thousands of patients are being "deliberately hidden" from A&E figures by the Scottish Government, in an effort to cover up the true scale of the crisis in the NHS. Off the back of that story, the Scottish Government has been referred to the UK's statistics watchdog, and more will follow from Joseph tomorrow on Scotsman.com and in the newspaper.

Finally, as a subscriber to The Scotsman you'll be aware of another of our reporters - deputy political editor Conor Matchett, who has turned up exclusive after exclusive on stories such as Covid deaths in Scottish care homes, and the Scottish Government's support of the Lochaber smelter. We're proud to say Conor was named Regional Journalist of the Year this week at the Media Freedom Awards in London, run by the Society of Editors, adding that award to a clutch of other awards he - and our newsroom - have notched up in the last year. We're very proud of Conor's achievement.

Thank you, as ever, for subscribing to The Scotsman. We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Best wishes,

Neil McIntosh

Editor, The Scotsman