Programme for Play the Game 2025

Nobody’s coming to save us: Ways forward for sport integrity

11.15  
Room: Small auditorium
Chair: Chiel Warners

• A national approach to protecting against integrity threats at all levels of sport  
  Linda Muir, head of Sport Engagement, Sport Integrity Australia, Australia
• Global Network of National Sport Integrity Agencies (GNNSIA)
  Teemu Japisson, secretary general, FINCIS, Finland
  
• The European Sports Act: A Proposal to Improve Sports Governance through EU Legislation 
  Jan Zglinski, associate professor, LSE Law School, UK
• Towards a Global Integrity Framework for Sport: Ensuring Legitimacy, Accountability and Pushing for Cultural Change 
  Frederique Reynertz, managing director, FRConsulting, Belgium
• Nobodys Coming to Save Us: The crisis of sports integrity and the failure of (self)governance and reform, and the normalization of corruption in global sport 
  Nick Raudenski, independent consultant, RISC - Raudenski Integrity & Sports Consultancy, USA
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

Who can wear what? The Hijab ban and questions of inclusion in sport

11.15 
Room: Duetto 1
Chair: Shireen Ahmed 

• Performing Neutrality, Practising Exclusion: A Critical Analysis of the Hijab Ban in Sports 
  Khayran Noor, founding director, Sports Legal, Kenya, & Sandra Anya, research assistant, Sports Legal, Kenya
• Challenging France’s racist hijab ban 
  Frank Conde Tangberg, policy advisor, Amnesty International Norway, Norway
• How the principle of neutrality in sports keeps minorities out of the playing field 
  Hélène Bâ, co-founder and president, Basket Pour Toutes, France
• From Slogans to Systems: Holding Sport Accountable for Racial Abuse 
  Nikki Dryden, head of Human Rights, The Right Collective, Australia
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

Documentary: 'Spielverderber’ - How global match-fixing networks operate

11.15  
Room: Duetto 2
Chair: Philippe Auclair

Join us for the investigative documentary Spielverderber, an eye-opening exposé on the global network of match-fixers - and the role German football may play in it. Produced by WDR Sport, this investigation offers rare insight into the international business of match manipulation. After the screening, stay for a panel debate and Q&A with the panellists. Together, they’ll unpack the current state of match-fixing and what can be done to stop it.

Panellists: 

• Benjamin Best, editor, ARD Sportschau / WDR Sport inside, Germany
• Steve Menary, freelance reporter, UK
• Corentin Segalen, chair of the Group of Copenhagen, ANJ, France

TALE - What about us? Emotional, ethical, and practical realities of anti-doping meassures

11.15 
Room: Maestro
Chair: Cornelia Blank 

• From Citation to Change: A Bibliometric Analysis of Academic Research into Sanctioned Athletes' Lived Experiences 
  Andrea Petroczi, professor, ELTE Budapest/Kingston University, UK
• Sanctioned, not Silenced: Athletes’ Lived Experiences with Anti-Doping Rule Violations 
  Daniela Lux, PhD student, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• Forgiving or forgetting? Clean athletes' views on reintegration after doping bans 
  Benedikt Stoffers, postdoctoral researcher, University of Münster, Germany
• “The closer I am, the more it hurts”: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Clean Athlete Experiences of the Impact of Doping on Their Career 
  Andrew Heyes, postdoctoral research fellow, Leeds Beckett University, UK
• Access, Understanding, and Consistency: Defence Lawyers’ Perspectives on Barriers to Fairness in Anti-Doping Rule Violation Cases 
  Isaac Lockett, PhD researcher, Kingston University London, UK
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

The sustainability playbook: From rhetoric to reality in sport

11.15  
Room: Riffi
Chair: Roger Pielke 

• A definition and model for sustainability in major sports events 
  Leonie Brodmann, SNSF PhD candidate, UNIL, Switzerland
• Polarized Narratives and Blurred Roles: Challenges in the Sport and Sustainability Ecosystem 
  Ioannis Konstantopoulos, FNS researcher, University of Lausanne, Greece
• The good, the bad and the ugly – a review of sustainability promises of the EURO 2024 
  Maximilian Rieger, freelance journalist, Germany
• “The Most Sustainable EURO Ever?” – A Critical Look at UEFA EURO 2024’s Sustainability Narrative and Impact 
  Tanja Ferkau, founder/CEO, IMPCT gGmbH, Germany
• The Evolution of Sustainability Initiatives in FIFA World Cups: From 2018 Russia to 2026 North America 
  Rishin Tandon, founder, The Youth Eco Sports Scorecard (YESS), USA
• Public preferences for environmentally sustainable infrastructure: Are citizens willing to pay to minimize a stadium’s carbon footprint? 
  Christian Gjersing Nielsen, senior analyst, PhD, the Danish Institute for Sports Studies, Denmark
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

From Africa to Asia: Cases of abuse and how to tackle it

11.15  
Room: Aaria
Chair: Rikke Rønholt 

• Learning from a Sexual Abuse Scandal to Build Safer Sport in Africa 
  Ahmar Abdoulaye Maiga, executive director, Young Players Protection in Africa, Mali
• Understanding Women's Experiences of Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Muay Thai 
  Emma Thomas, sports ethicist & survivor advocate, MAiSI, UK
• Safeguarding children in Kenyan sports: Risks, Realities and Recommendations 
  Mercy Muriithi, PhD candidate, MAiSI/KU Leuven, Kenya
• When the dream turns into a nightmare 
  Sylvain Croteau, executive director, Sport'Aide, Canada, & Ahmar Abdoulaye Maiga, executive director, Young Players Protection in Africa, Mali
• Navigating power and policy: Global North perspectives on safe sport policy development in transnational sport for development collaborations 
  Kadija Richards, PhD fellow, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (DAiSI), Jamaica
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers
  

Game changer or game over? AI's impact on sport

11.15  
Room: Opus 3
Chair: Federico Dario Teijerio 

• AI & Sports: advantages, disadvantages and risks for athletes and the sport 
  Federico Dario Teijeiro, investigative, data & OSINT journalist, Universidad de San Andrés & Clarín, Argentina
• AI: an asset and a risk for sports 
  Alberto Carrio, professor, Pompeu Fabra University, Spain
• AI in Sports: Tool of Progress or Threat to Integrity? 
  Shreya Joseph and Isha Anandpara, students, Jindal Global Law School, India
• The pursuit of objectivity in judging aesthetic sports: Transparent verification of movement patterns with technology 
  Natasha Eunsuh Go, Master’s graduate, KU Leuven, South Korea
• Transforming Sports Content: How AI is Reshaping Journalism and Fan Engagement 
  Vojtěch Bruk, product manager, Livesport s.r.o., Czech Republic
• Legal Considerations for AI, Sports, and Intellectual Property 
  Kimberly Holst, clinical professor of Law, Arizona State University, USA
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

From Riyadh to the Ring: Saudi Arabia's sports endeavor

14.15  
Room: Small auditorium
Chair: Andreas Selliaas 

• Saudi Labor Abuses and Risks for 2034 FIFA World Cup 
  Joey Shea, researcher, Human Rights Watch, Canada
• Neom: A Human Rights Perspective 
  Samindra Kunti, reporter, Josimar/Freelance, Belgium
• 2027 Olympic eSports Games: Saudi Arabias monopoly and a playground for crime 
  Federico Dario Teijeiro, investigative, data & OSINT journalist, Universidad de San Andrés & Clarín, Argentina
• Stitch-Up 2034: How FIFA and friends ensured a Saudi Arabia World Cup    
  Nicholas McGeehan, co-director, FairSquare, France
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

Risking everything: Whistleblowing for athlete human rights. Why sporting organisations must recognise human rights defenders to drive systemic change 

14.15 
Room: Duetto 1
Chair: Nikki Dryden 
Session organised by the panel

• Justice Denied: the legal failings and solutions for the global sport dispute system 
  Nikki Dryden, head of Human Rights, The Right Collective, Australia
• Institutional Courage: Learnings from existing reporting mechanisms 
  Andrea Florence, executive director, Sport & Rights Alliance, Brazil
• Against the Odds: Strategic advocacy for athletes when sport turns its back 
  Payoshni Mitra, executive director, Humans of Sport, UK
• Whistleblower. Survivor. Still waiting for justice 
  Ahmar Abdoulaye Maiga, executive director, Young Players Protection in Africa, Mali, & Mami Tounkara, elite basketball player, Mali
• Speaking Out, Paying the Price: The reality for black and racialised athletes and the systems we need 
  Joel Wilkinson, founder/CEO, Incident Guidance, Australia
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

Cleaning up the game: Crime and fraud in sport

14.15  
Room: Duetto 2
Chair: Spencer Harris 

• Anti-Money Laundering Legislation: a solution for ‘clearing sport’? 
  Niels Appermont, professor of Economic Law, Hasselt University, Belgium
• An integrated approach to fraud prevention in sports 
  Cleo Schyvinck, post-doctoral researcher, Ghent University, Belgium
• Redefining Crime in Sport 
  Arthur Iestyn Whitehead, PhD candidate, Kingston University, UK
• Power and domination relationships in match fixing networks in Portuguese professional football 
  César Tiago Afonso Costa De Cima, researcher, ISCTE Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, Portugal
• Micro-Bets, Macro-Risk? How might new instant markets impact spot-fixing? 
  Affy Sheikh, consultant, Astera Sports Integrity, UK
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

From clubs to portfolios: How MCOs and investors are reshaping football

14.15  
Room: Maestro
Chair: Håvard Melnæs 

• Multi club ownership: the coming storm has arrived 
  Steve Menary, freelance reporter, UK
• The growing dangers to clubs, investors and policyholders of insurance money funding football ventures 
  Paul James Brown, freelance journalist, Josimar, UK
• Infiltration of sports club by fake investors, sponsors, and agents – practical examples 
  Jakub Cavoj, integrity officer, Slovak Football Association, Slovakia
• Professional football clubs as obliged entities for AMLCFT purposes - a case study 
  Filip Brokes, investigator, Berlin Risk Advisors GmbH, Germany
• First Mover Advantage in UEFA Champions League: First Fragmentation of European Sport Model 
  Florian Petrica, university lecturer, University of Bucharest, Romania
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

From crisis to culture shift: Confronting abuse in sport

14.15  
Room: Riffi
Chair: Julie Ann Rivers-Cochran

• Reform or Rebrand? What Canada’s Safe Sport Crisis Reveals About Global Governance & Safe Sport 
  Whitney Bragagnolo, sport ethicist and consulant, The Sport Ethics Examiner | MAiSI Alumni, Netherlands, & Kim Shore, founder, Project Safe Kids, Canada
• The price we pay – Dealing with psychological violence in sports 
  Andrea Schültke, freelance journalist, WDR/Deutschlandfunk, Germany
• “Screaming into the void”: examining the current pathways for disclosure of gender-based violence in sport in Australia 
  Samantha Marshall, research officer, La Trobe University, Australia
• Together, We Can End Sexual Abuse in Sports 
  Kathryn McClain, program and partnerships director, & Michaela Callie, executive director, #WeRideTogether, USA
• SportAide: Combining curative and preventive approaches for the benefit of healthy and safe sport 
  Sylvain Croteau, executive director, Sport'Aide, Canada
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

Inclusion of marginalized and persons with disabilities in sport

14.15  
Room: Aaria
Chair: Rikke Rønholt 

• Breaking barriers in sports: Integration of marginalized and persons with disabilities: A case study of African sports 
  Arabinrin Aderonke, founder and executive director, FAME Foundation, Nigeria
• Not Yet on the Field: Barriers for Women and People with Disabilities in Nigerian Sport 
  Osazemen Aghedo, Network Membership and Development Manager, Women Sport Africa Network (WSAN), Nigeria
• Gender differences in extracurricular sports participation among secondary school students in Trinidad: multiple stakeholders’ perspective 
  Kenny Kitsingh, PhD candidate, University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago
• Exploring Institutional Challenges in Deaf Sports: A Case Study of the Belgian Deaf Sport Committee 
  Maria Eduarda Marcelino, Master in Sport Ethics and Integrity, KU Leuven, Brazil
• Organization and status of para sport in Finland 
  Heini Wennman, leading expert, Sports Institute of Three Campuses, Finland
• Is Para-Swimming’s Classification System Fair? Perceptions of athletes with physical impairments and key stakeholders 
  Henry de Jesús Hernández Velarde, student researcher, MAiSI, Nicaragua
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers

Athletes at risk? Data, migration, and welfare in global sport

14.15  
Room: Opus 3
Chair:  Lorenz Fiege
In this session, a Q&A will follow after each presentation

• Paving the Way for Lawfulness and Transparency in the Use of Player Data in the Sports Ecosystem 
  Tsubasa Shinohara, assistant professor, University of Tsukuba (Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences), Japan
• The Geopolitical Dynamic of Sport Labor Migrants: International College Athletes in U.S. Higher Education 
  Simran Kaur Sethi, assistant professor of sport leadership, University of Kentucky, India
• What is athletes’ social protection in Olympic sports, and why is it important? 
  Jürgen Mittag, professor, Dr., German Sports University, Germany, and Lorenz Fiege, PhD student, German Sports University, Germany
• Admired Vulnerability or Shattered Heroism? Media Framing of Elite Athletes’ Mental Illnesses in German Print Media 
  Marcia Lara Hapig, research assistant/PhD candidate, University of Tübingen, Germany
• Panel debate, Q&A: All speakers