NEWSLETTER 25 OCTOBER 2005

1) Match fixing is everywhere and a major threat to the credibility of sport

2) Winter Games is new focal point for anti-doping fight

3) DR Sport is host broadcaster for Play the Game – order pictures and interviews

4) Third Greek sports journalist assaulted within one year

5) Special theme packages for participation in Play the Game

6) Parallel seminar on Sport and Development for Danish aid sector

1) Match fixing is everywhere and a major threat to the credibility of sport

Match fixing scandals are popping up everywhere. In Germany, a football referee has just gone on trial for match fixing, in Portugal, Poland and Italy police is investigating large scale match fixing, and even in Nordic countries suspicious betting patterns are emerging. Sport organisations must clear up their act or lose credibility altogether, warns Henrik H. Brandt, director of the Danish Institute for Sports Studies.

Match fixing is of course on the agenda of Play the Game 2005 and award-winning journalist and Ph.D-candidate, Declan Hill, gives in-depth insight into the dynamics of match fixing during the Opening Ceremony Sunday 6 November.

2) Winter Games is new focal point for anti-doping fight

This month UNESCO’s General Conference has unanimously adopted the International Convention Against Doping in Sport, and governments are encouraged to ratify it so it can be in force by the time of the Winter Games and keep up the pressure on the sports movement. Learn more about the newest anti-doping convention in sport at Play the Game 2005 where it will be introduced by UNESCO programme specialist Paul Marriott-Lloyd.

Meanwhile the IOC is leaning heavily on Italy’s government to get a suspension of the country’s tough anti-doping law for the duration of the games. IOC worries that athletes risk going to jail if they test positive for drugs during the Games.

3) DR Sport is host broadcaster for Play the Game – order pictures and interviews

DR Sport has agreed to become host broadcaster for Play the Game, and journalists and tv-stations can now buy footage from the conference and get help with on-site interviews. DR Sport will also broadcast a special show on “Sport and Fraud” from the conference.

4) Third Greek sports journalist assaulted within one year

Greece is rapidly becoming a very dangerous place to be a sports journalist. In September this year, the editor of the Thessaloniki branch of the daily newspaper, Goal News, was attacked near his office by an unknown assailant. It is the third attack on a Greek sports journalist within a year.

Sports editor Filippos Syrigos was attacked one year ago. Hear more about that attack, the reasons behind it and the unfortunately developments for Greek sports journalists when Filippos Syrigos addresses Play the Game 2005 on Sunday 6 November.

5) Special theme packages for participation in Play the Game

In order to cater for special interests, Play the Game now gives you the opportunity to join the conference to follow the presentations and debate on a number of particular themes.

There are four theme packages available on doping, sport and media, mega-events and China and the Olympic Games 2008.

The offers are only suitable for those who live in or near Copenhagen, so therefore the material is in Danish.

6) Parallel seminar on sport and development for Danish aid sector

On 7 November, Play the Game, Danish Centre for Culture and Development and DGI International host a seminar on Sport and Development for the Danish aid sector. The seminar runs parallel to the main conference, and athletes, academic researchers, and representatives from institutions and NGO’s are invited to discuss the outcome of United Nations International Year of Sport and Physical Exercise.

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