Mayo were Gaelic football champions having overturned the second-biggest deficit in the history of All-Ireland finals. Fifteen days after the 2021 final, Paddy Prendergast died, the last of those who had played in the 1951 side. Only Mick Loftus, an unused substitute, remained, and when he died in 2023 Mayo fans hoped the curse had also expired. We saw it at the recent football World Cup when a witch doctor claimed before Ghana played England that he had used his magic to prevent Harry Kane from scoring. During the 2019 cricket World Cup final, Mark Wood sat on the washing machine in the laundry room at Lord’s for 30 overs in case moving brought bad luck.