The timing could not be better. Just as the sporting world endures another hot-air session a.k.a. an international conference on match-fixing sponsored by the Qatar 2022 World Cup Committee, out comes a new report on labour conditions in Qatar and the building of the World Cup infrastructure and stadiums. The report, by the external company charged by … Continue reading Poor, Old Qatar: labour conditions and the compromised fight against match-fixing
Category Archives: Blog
The Russian Olympic Doping File
It is a slow-moving disaster than penalizes clean athletes and rewards a dirty system. Welcome to the Russian state sponsored doping saga, episode number 58. ** Here is some context. For those readers who do not follow the fast, exciting world of winter sports in the Virgin Islands – the beach training is intense and … Continue reading The Russian Olympic Doping File
Whatever It Takes: The Inside Story of the FIFA Way
After reading – Whatever It Takes: The Inside Story of the FIFA Way – you feel dirty. It is like bathing in a pool of scummy water for hours, but is nonetheless a fascinating story from a former insider of the FIFA world. Bonita Mersiades was a senior executive in the Football Federation of Australia … Continue reading Whatever It Takes: The Inside Story of the FIFA Way
FIFA Corruption: “Friends in the media”
The FIFA Corruption trial in Brooklyn is over now comes the question who really broke the story of high-level bribery and corruption in international soccer? Clue – it was not the sport journalists. “The ladies and gentlemen of the press came a great deal cheaper than an Olympic Committee member. If their potential accreditation to … Continue reading FIFA Corruption: “Friends in the media”
Suspicious Games in the Champions League & the Great Olympic Scandal
Interesting week in international sports. Lets start with the Champions League where once again we have a ‘choke-point’ where games are regularly fixed. Here is the scenario. You are a UEFA investigator. The rest of the world thinks that you have unlimited resources and money coming out of your elbows. You know that if you’re … Continue reading Suspicious Games in the Champions League & the Great Olympic Scandal
FIFA trial: It’s a mob affair
Alleged FIFA crime boss For years, reporters have been fond of saying “FIFA mafia”, “Mobsters of Football”. It has made for good copy, sold lots of media space – but what words do we use now that there really is a trial that focuses on the widespread criminal activity inside FIFA? The Brooklyn Federal Court … Continue reading FIFA trial: It’s a mob affair
Communists, Criminals or Both? The October Revolution
The door is thick and well padded, but it was not enough to protect the leaders of the first Russian revolution. It is located in a room in the labyrinth-like Hermitage Palace on the seafront of Saint Petersburg. Today, the Hermitage is the world’s largest museum. In October 1917, it was the headquarters of the … Continue reading Communists, Criminals or Both? The October Revolution
It’s a Mob Trial: FIFA in America
New York – Here at the Brooklyn Federal Court House, one of the most significant legal trials in sports history is underway. Two-and-a-half years ago, Swiss Police kicked open the doors of the Baur-au-Lac Hotel in Zurich and began arresting high-ranking FIFA officials. After long stretches of legal wrangling – during which twenty-four officials pled … Continue reading It’s a Mob Trial: FIFA in America
Kurds = Scottish Highlanders without their restraint
If you blinked, you would have missed it. For less than three weeks, it looked as if the Kurds might have their own independent country. The Kurds control a mountainous area in northern Iraq and since the British occupation in 1920 they have been pushing for their own independent country. Last month, the Kurds held … Continue reading Kurds = Scottish Highlanders without their restraint
The Gambler, The Killer and the Unexplored Motive
It has been over-two weeks since Stephen Paddock went into a Las Vegas hotel room, took out 19 automatic machine guns and shot hundreds of people enjoying a country music concert in front of the hotel. In a 10-minute spree, Paddock killed 59 people and injured over-two-hundred others – some of them critically. Since that … Continue reading The Gambler, The Killer and the Unexplored Motive
