Conference programme

Descriptions of the plenary sessions

Protest and play? The upcoming battles between sport and politics on U.S. soil

As the United States prepares to host the two largest global sporting events, human rights questions will reappear in new shapes and forms: Which forms of protest and political expression will be allowed on and off the playing field? Will audiences from all nations be welcomed? How will the Trump administration try to leverage its messages while the world watches? This session explores how the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games intersect with domestic politics, human rights activism, and institutional rules — and how the IOC and FIFA will respond.

Tell the truth and pay the price: How sport fails to protect its whistleblowers

While governments and sports governing bodies constantly stress the importance of integrity in sport, little is done to protect the courageous individuals who sound the alarm when that integrity is compromised. Although whistleblowers have been key to exposing cases of systemic doping, fraud, corruption, and abuse, they often find themselves excluded from the very environment they exposed, their livelihoods threatened, or even imprisoned or exiled. This session gives the floor to some who took the risk and paid the price.

From silence to safeguarding: The rise of abuse on the global sport agenda

Cases of abuse in sport continue to emerge with increasing speed across disciplines and borders, stimulating questions about athlete welfare, accountability, and the responsibility of governing bodies. This session brings advocates and institutional voices to assess the progress made – and the gaps that remain – in safeguarding athletes from harm. Focusing on prevention, justice, and reform, the discussion explores what it will take to move from reactive crisis management to meaningful change.

The troubled quest for good governance in sport: Can we get from paperwork to practice?

While the international sports business continues to grow, seemingly unaffected by a series of governance scandals, public concerns remain. Were the many promises of sports governance reform made a decade ago merely a PR exercise to avoid political intervention? Has sport shown any genuine willingness to implement real reform? Do we need external regulation of sports governing bodies, and rethink the concept of ‘autonomy of sport’? This session brings together experienced observers and practitioners to explore what meaningful transparency, accountability, and democratic practice might look like.

Who has the right to compete? Exploring the inclusion of transgender athletes in sport

This session brings together a range of perspectives to explore how governing bodies, athletes, and the public can navigate the sensitive and evolving debate over the inclusion of transgender athletes amid growing polarisation, shifting policies, and fundamental questions about fairness, safety, human rights, and inclusion in sport.

Legacy revisited: What sporting events leave behind

Sporting events often promise legacies of economic growth, urban renewal, rising sports participation, increased tourism, and global prestige - but do they actually deliver? This session brings together leading scholars and institutional voices to explore the contested legacies of international sporting events. From cost overruns and displacement to inclusion and soft power, we examine how events are planned, measured, experienced — and remembered.

Anti-doping: Can trust and tranparency be restored?

As the World Anti-Doping Agency celebrate its first 25 years, the mood in the international anti-doping community is anything but festive. The personal and political rifts caused by the Russian-international doping scandal have reopened after WADA’s handling of positive doping tests among 23 top Chinese swimmers. The agency’s largest state contributor, the U.S. government, is now withholding its annual payment and demanding deep reform of the global regulator. In response, WADA has launched unprecedented attacks on its critics. This session asks if – and how – the divisions in international anti-doping can be healed, and whether full credibility can be restored among athletes, officials, and stakeholders.

Football’s geopolitical game: Are we heading towards a new world order?

As football grows in global reach and political significance, questions of governance, transparency, and geopolitical power have moved to the centre of the game. This session brings together sports officials, journalists, and researchers to explore how football is shaped by shifting international dynamics — and how governance can respond to the challenges and responsibilities that follow.

ClearingSport: Paving the way for stronger enforcement of sports integrity standards

Three years ago, delegates at the Play the Game 2022 conference in Odense called on Play the Game to lead a process to define what an all-encompassing sports integrity entity could look like. Building on input from over 200 experts in sports integrity and guided by a 20-member advisory group, the ClearingSport project was launched in April this year.  In this session, we invite key stakeholders from sport and government to respond to the ClearingSport project proposal and explore which elements can most effectively strengthen coordination and enforcement across the broad spectrum of global sports integrity areas.

From monopoly to market: Who's entering Finland's gambling space?

The opening of Finland’s betting market highlights a wider global challenge: how illegal gambling and match-fixing undermine governance, distort competition, and fuel exploitation. This session explores the far-reaching consequences of unregulated betting markets and examines the human suffering, the criminal networks, the unscrupulous industry and systemic failures that operate behind the odds.