Quote of the day

"I feel absolutely ashamed of what he's done; there's not just me, there's been other people who've been supporting him. But what he's done now, seeing him in the casino, even if he wasn't gambling, I think this gives a wrong message. People will say, 'Look, this is Islam, they can pick and choose whatever they want', and Islam isn't about picking and choosing."

Newcastle city councillor and Muslim Dipu Ahad on the revelations that Papiss Cisse is "an occasional visitor" at Aspers Casino, where Jabba infamously lost £1m in an evening. Like Ahad, I've been defending Cisse's stance with regard to the Wonga-branded shirts as a matter of principle for some time now (though also querying why he didn't have a similar problem with Virgin Money), and have been inclined to be dismissive of persistent suggestions that his behaviour was cynically motivated by a desire to engineer an improved contract. Now that his nocturnal activities have come to light, I'm afraid those suggestions look to have a lot more weight.