Conference news

The 2011 Play the Game conference concluded with a call to the International Olympic Committee to organise a world conference before the end of 2012 in order to draft a code and international standards for good governance in...[more]

Two veteran investigative journalists, Jens Weinreich from Germany and Andrew Jennings from the United Kingdom, receive the 2011 Play the Game award in recognition of their tireless work documenting and bringing the enormous...[more]

The contrasts between football’s multi millionaires and its less powerful stakeholders were highlighted on the third day of the Play the Game conference. Through research, documentaries and investigations, a number of filmmakers...[more]

In a sensational session at Play the Game, FIFA’s new communications director, Walter De Gregorio, confronted Andrew Jennings during a session on corruption in FIFA and refuted the veteran investigative journalist’s claim that he...[more]

The “most extraordinary story I ever worked on” is how sports writer James Corbett described the bidding procedure for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Corbett followed the process closely through his involvement with World...[more]

After years of trying to engage FIFA in open debate about issues of governance in world football, organisers of the Play the Game conference were surprised to learn that FIFA's new Director of Communications and Public Affairs...[more]

Why are so many sports governing bodies based in Switzerland?[more]

Whilst WADA is well-established, there are still a lot of challenges in anti-doping work. The cheats are getting better all the time, and international federations lack resources for quality testing. Meanwhile athletes believe...[more]

What should decide whether an athlete can take part in a female sports competition? A test for levels of androgen? Or should the athlete be allowed to make the decision personally by signing a self-declaration of gender?[more]

The governing body of aquatic sports is getting richer and becoming less unaccountable, a former Olympic swimmer told Play the Game.[more]

Are the security measures implemented at sports events always in proportion to the threat? Or are security issues being used to protect narrow business interests and profitability?[more]

UEFA revealed fresh details on the woeful state of European club football to Play the Game ahead of the introduction of the new Financial Fair Play measure that aims to curb the game’s endemic losses.[more]

“We’re breeding white elephants. There are herds of them”, a leading stadium consultant has told Play the Game. Ian Nuttall, a consultant at stadiumbusiness.com, was referring to the underused mega-stadiums that are the legacies...[more]

Mega-events may trigger the building of iconic stadiums and plenty of promises about a sparkling future. But in reality the result is often oversized, expensive structures that turn into financial burdens. A new, on-going study...[more]

An acceptance of hooliganism is growing and fuelling both right wing extremism and corruption, warned a trio of academic researchers at Play The Game 2011. In Argentina, clubs pay fans not to cause trouble whilst in Germany...[more]

Bloggers from different countries are following Play the Game. Blogs in English: American Professor Roger Pielke, Jr., from the University of Colorado, is blogging from the conference. You can read his blog here Blogs in...[more]

The Military Academy Stadium in Cairo, Egypt looked as though it was on fire. Sizzling flares peeked through the smoke at intervals. A closer look at James M. Dorsey’s video presentation at the 2011 Play The Game Conference...[more]

Few people can be unaware that 2011 has been a momentous year for the many Arab nations. Successful uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and ongoing conflicts in Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere have made headlines across...[more]

Presentations and images from the conference are now available. Play the Game 2011 in Cologne kicked off yesterday with a number of great speakers. You can see PDFs of their presentations here You can...[more]

Match fixing is going through the same transition as popular music sales went through in the 1990s when it went online, author Declan Hill told delegates at the 2011 Play the Game conference. Asian sport is already much...[more]

The IOC should take the lead in mobilising sports organisations to deal with corruption. Although sports organisations are unable to fight corruption without the help of authorities, it would be wrong to expect governments to...[more]

FIFA has lost all public confidence that it is willing to, or even capable of, handling the problems of corruption that the organisation is currently facing. So blunt was the assessment from long-term IOC member, Richard W....[more]

With 330 participants and 140 speakers, Play the Game 2011 has opened in Cologne. It is the largest conference since Play the Game started focusing on sport's most urgent challenges 14 years ago.[more]

Sports journalism focuses almost exclusively on results, tournaments and top athletes. According to new research on sports coverage in 80 newspapers from 22 countries presented at the Play the Game conference in Cologne on 3...[more]

Sport is huge business and the influence of the underworld is getting greater by the year. The threat is so acute that it needs to be addressed head on, argues David Howman, Director General of WADA, in the fifth contribution to...[more]

In the third contribution to Play the Game’s series on corruption and good governance in sport, Swiss journalist Jean François Tanda looks at the recent problems in FIFA and argues that the main problem is the lack of willingness...[more]

After two successful visits to Iceland and the United Kingdom, Play the Game is now returning to the European mainland. Last week an agreement was settled by which the German Sport University Cologne – the biggest of its kind in...[more]

Premature deaths, overproduction and lack of transparency taint the racehorse industry in the U.K., reveal three experts. Through exclusive research into the facts and figures of the industry, the experts prove how horses are...[more]

After five days of debate, discussion and constructive engagement, Play the Game 2009, the sixth world communication conference on sport and society came to an end in Coventry, UK.[more]

The Coventry Declaration was approved by conference delegates at Play the Game 2009, the sixth world communications conference on sport and society. The declaration calls upon the Canadian Government and Olympic authorities and...[more]

Should Oscar Pistorius have been allowed to compete at the Beijing 0lympics? Mike McNamee, Professor of Philosophy at Swansea University, thinks not.[more]

Public sector debts are swelling due to institutional deceit about the hosting of mega-events such as the Olympic Games, a leading Canadian academic told Play the Game.[more]

Canadian investigative journalist, author and academic, Declan Hill receives the Play the Game 2009 award in recognition of his groundbreaking research and documentation of the realities of match fixing.[more]

Diego Maradona's infamous ”hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup is the most famous picture from one of football's fiercest clashes. But was Maradona's hand ball the act of a genious or a cheater? Can sportsmanship and fair...[more]

Claims that the youth systems at Premier League football clubs in England are being flooded with overseas players are wide of the mark according to new research.[more]

The continued embargo on Kosovo playing international sport is seriously damaging sport in the former Yugoslav republic, a trio of Kosovans told Play the Game.[more]

Have we reached a stage where criminals have more privacy rights than athletes?[more]

One of Play the Game’s most eagerly anticipated speakers , Mario Goijman, has been prevented from leaving his native Argentina to attend this week’s conference.[more]

Top Swedish handball referee and administrator Christer Ahl was supposed to fly to last weekend’s International Handball Federation (IHF) congress in Cairo. However, an increasing disillusionment with that body led to him...[more]

Dick Pound, former WADA boss and leading IOC reformer, told Play the Game about the changes brought in by the IOC in the wake of the Salt Lake City bribery scandal.[more]