Sensible ideas

When you think of all the great things of Turkey, topics such as workers' rights and the general state of the health system don't normally spring to mind.

It is thus with absolutely no surprise that I read on a web forum that Denizlispor players have been ordered not to catch a cold this year.

According to the story, Denizlispor General Manager Can Cobanoglu has told the players they must take care.

"We have important matches. Our footballers must look after themselves. For this reason we took the decision that any players who get ill will have to pay a fine of 2,000 TL (1,073 euros)," Cobanoglu is quoted as saying.

Here, here!

But surely this isn't going far enough. There should also be other fines and perhaps we should expand this system to the entire population.

Leaving the house with slightly wet hair: 1,500 TL
Opening a window on a smelly bus: 1,000 TL
Having children who catch a cold: 500 TL
Sneezing: 250 TL

We could possibly wipe out all forms of the flu. At least until those damn birds figure out how to drive us to extinction.