PtG

International appointments and activities

Play the Game is a leading advocate for better governance in sport and has been invited to address several international conferences for sports ministers and other international events.

Play the Game is a member of

  • the Consultative Committee of the Council of Europe's Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) – chairing the committee from 2016-2020.

  • the Permanent Consultative Committee of CIGEPS (Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport) since 2015

Moreover, we regularly attend EU Expert Groups on sports integrity and other EU meetings.

Recent activities

Here you can see a list of presentations and other speaking engagements by Play the Game. 

  • Presentation and panel debate on 'Clean Sport: Tackling doping, match-fixing and illegal betting' at a conference organised by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Jens Sejer Andersen). Athens, Greece, 4 November 2024

  • Panel debate 'Sports & Dictators: Weaponizing Sports for Soft Power' at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2024 (Stanis). Oslo, Norway, 5 June 2024

  • Presentation and panel debate on 'Media freedom and sport' at the meeting of Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Jens Sejer Andersen). Copenhagen, Denmark, 28 May 2024
  • Presentation 'The power players behind Saudi Arabia's sports strategy' at the University of Iceland (Stanis Elsborg). Online, 21 May 2024

  • Presentation 'Autocrary vs. democracy. Which side is sport playing for?' for the Swedish Sports Confederation, meeting place for international representatives (Jens Sejer Andersen). Stockholm, Sweden, 1 March 2024
  • Presentation 'The power players behind Saudi Arabia's sports strategy' at Play the Game 2024 (Stanis Elsborg). Trondheim, Norway, 5 February 2024

  • Opening speech 'A kiss to mark the end of an era' at Play the Game 2024 (Jens Sejer Andersen). Trondheim, Norway, 4 February 2024
  • Opening speech 'Athletes are not always right, but they have rights'  at SAPIS seminars (Jens Sejer Andersen). Helsinki (June), Leuven (September) and Barcelona (November) 2023
  • Presentation 'Sports' values plays for democracy' and 'ClearingSport: Towards an agency countering crime and protecting integrity in world sport' at a congress for governance, transparency and integrity in sport (Jens Sejer Andersen), Pereira, Colombia, 5-6 October 2023
  • Presentation online ’ClearingSport: Towards an agency countering corruption and protecting the integrity of world sport’ (Jens Sejer Andersen). Gandaki University, Nepal, (Online) 15 June 2023
  • Presentation 'Autocracy vs Democracy: Which side is sport playing for' (Jens Sejer Andersen), Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway, 4 May 2023.
  • Presentation 'Freedom of expression for all or the few? - The Olympic paradox'. Panel debate arranged by UConn Sport Management, UConn Human Rights Institute and the Business and Human Rights Initiative (Stanis Elsborg). Online, 18 April 2023
  • Presentation 'A true Olympic alliance - for world peace, democracy and human rights?' (Jens Sejer Andersen). The Danish Red/Green Alliance's culture festival, Copenhagen, 15 April 2023
  • Presentation 'Autocracy vs. democracy: Which side is sport and its supporters playing for?' at VL20 (Stanis Elsborg). Copenhagen, 17 April 2023
  • Presentation 'Russia, Putin and the Paris Olympics' at Discovery+ (Stanis Elsborg). Copenhagen, 16 March 2023
  • Presentation 'Autocracy vs. democracy: Which side will sport play for?' at MESGO (Stanis Elsborg & Jens Sejer Andersen). Mainz, 28 February 2023
  • Lecture 'Autocracy vs. democracy: A case for good governance in sport' at seminars organised by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Council for Sport Ethics (Jens Sejer Andersen). Finland, 29 November 2022
  • Presentation 'Sport and authoritarian states' at Studenterforeningen/Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters (Stanis Elsborg). 25 November 2022
  • Panel debate 'Football and human rights' at Amnesty (Stanis Elsborg). 21 November 2022
  • Panel debate '2022 World Cup in Qatar - sport and politics' at Det Udenrigspolitiske Selskab (Stanis Elsborg). 17 November 2022
  • Lecture 'Med Putin, Al-Thani og FIFA… ind i en ny æra i verdensidrætten', at Kritisk Forum, Aarhus University (Jens Sejer Andersen). Aarhus, 15 November 2022
  • Presentation 'Qatar 2022: Party or scandal' at Husum Libraries (Stanis Elsborg with journalist Jeppe Laursen Brock). 8 November 2022
  • Panel debate 'Sportswashing, greenwashing and pinkwashing' at The Danish Union of Journalists Festival (Stanis Elsborg). 7 November 2022
  • Panel debate 'Qatar 2022 and sports journalism' at DBU/The Danish Union of Journalists (Stanis Elsborg). 3 November 2022
  • Presentation 'Qatar 2022' at the Danish Football Association's event for fans (Stanis Elsborg). 10 October 2022
  • Opening keynote 'The values of sport play in favour of democracy' at SIGPE V, Inteligencia Esportiva (Jens Sejer Andersen). Curitiba, Brasil, 8 November 2022
  • Panel debate 'Club ownerships in international football' at Mediano/The Royal Danish Theater (Stanis Elsborg). 4 October 2022
  • Presentation 'In the shadow of Ukraine: Why sports needs to raise its ethical standards' at 2022 E.H.C. Hockey Business Forum (Stanis Elsborg). 3 October 2022
  • Online lecture 'Autocracy vs. democracy: A case for good governance in sport' for sports governance seminar organised by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture (Jens Sejer Andersen). Online, 11 October 2022
  • Online lecture 'Good Governance: The Key to Safeguarding the Values of Sport' for Gloucestershire University (Jens Sejer Andersen). Online, 7 October 2022
  • Presentation 'Sport and politics: Qatar 2022' at the Danish Football Association (Stanis Elsborg, for players and staff). 20 September 2022
  • Opening keynote 'Autocracy vs. democracy: A battle that decides the future of sport' for ESPRIT, Erasmus University (Jens Sejer Andersen). Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 15 September 2022
  • Presentation at Andrew Jennings memorial evening, Frontline Club (Jens Sejer Andersen). London, United Kingdom, 7 July 2022
  • Presentation ’One or several sporting realities in Europe? An empirical perspective on mass participation in Europe’ at Play the Game conference in Odense (Steffen Rask), 29 June 2022
  • Presentation ‘Sport and exercise in Denmark during the corona pandemic – insights from a cohort study’ at Play the Game conference in Odense (Steffen Rask), 28 June 2022
  • Presentation 'Sportswashing - an autocratic expertise' at Idraetsmoedet (Stanis Elsborg). 22 June 2022
  • Panel debat 'Sports journalism and Qatar 2022' at The Danish Union of Journalist's 100 years anniversary (Stanis Elsborg). 18 May 2022
  • Panel debat 'The other side of the coin' at TV2 (Stanis Elsborg). 23 May 2022
  • “Olympic sport: When reporters break the glass ceiling”, lecture for international students at the Danish School for Media and Journalism (Jens Sejer Andersen). Aarhus, 22 March 2022
  • ”Good Governance: Værdier på spil fra elite til bredde”, lecture for sports students at University of Southern Denmark (Jens Sejer Andersen). Odense, 8 March 2022
  • Presentation 'Sport and politics - an ugly match?' at Radikal Ungdom (Stanis Elsborg). 5 March 2022
  • Presentation 'Sportswashing, soft power and the 2022 Winter Olympics' at Amnesty Academy (Stanis Elsborg). 8 February 2022
  • Presentation 'The road to Qatar 2022', at Djøf (Stanis Elsborg). 24 February 2022.
  • Presentation 'Sportswashing - A Chinese expertise?' at Winter Olympics from all angles. Hosted by Amnesty Denmark and National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (Stanis Elsborg). 26 January 2022
  • Interview with IOC doyen Richard W. Pound on sports integrity for online events at Observatory for Sport in Scotland (Jens Sejer Andersen). 24 June and 12 October 2021

  • Presentation 'Corruption in Sport: Changing Everything so Everything can Stay the Same?' at MESGO (Jens Sejer Andersen). Mainz, Germany, 28 September 2021

  • Presentation 'World sport: A battleground of values' at MAiSI graduation ceremony (Jens Sejer Andersen). Leuven, Belgium, 11 September 2021

  • Presentation 'Breaking the Culture of Silence in Sport - a journalistic duty that seems to never end' at Grävseminaret (conference for investigative journalists)(Jens Sejer Andersen). Borås, Sweden, 10 September 2021

  • Panelist on sports integrity at EASM Sports Festival 2021 (Jens Sejer Andersen), online, 27 May 2021
  • Presentation 'National Sports Governance Observer: Organizing the pieces for a better play' at Sustainability and Legacy in Sport's 4th international conference (Jens Sejer Andersen). Kiev, Ukraine (online), 26-27 November 2020

  • High-Level Policy Dialogue on Corruption in Sports Governance, webinar organised by European University Institute, Florence, Italy (Jens Sejer Andersen, online, 14-15 December 2020

  • Presentation 'COVID19 and its impact on sports governance' at a webinar organised by Inteligencia Esportiva, Universidade Federal do Parana, Brazil (Jens Sejer Andersen), online 25 June 2020
  • Presentation 'Sport and freedom of expression - an unequal match?' at a seminar hosted by the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (Stanis Elsborg). 25 June 2020
  • Presentation 'Effects of COVID19 on Global Sports Governance' at a webinar organised by FAME Foundation, Nigeria (Jens Sejer Andersen), online, 28 May 2020

  • Presentation 'Ethical challenges of sport governance after Covid-19' at a webinar organised by Universidad Pompeu Fabra (Jens Sejer Andersen), online, 28 April 2020.
  • Attending IPACS General Conference on a mandate from the Danish government (Jens Sejer Andersen). Abu Dhabi, 15 December 2019

  • Presentation on sports corruption at the meeting of EU Directors General for Sport under the Finnish EU-Presidency (Jens Sejer Andersen), Helsinki, Finland, 9-10 December 2019

  • Presentations on National Sports Governance Observer and major event policies at EU Expert Group on Sports Integrity and subsequent Peer Learning Activity (Jens Sejer Andersen), Sofia, Bulgaria, 12-14 November 2019

  • Chair at the session ‘Benchmarking sports governance: Fresh facts from federations in six countries’ at Play the Game 2019 (Jens Sejer Andersen), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 14 October 2019

  • Organiser of the conference Play the Game 2019

  • Presentation ‘Athlete power on the rise: Welcome to Play the Game 2019’ at the opening session of the conference Play the Game 2019 (Jens Sejer Andersen), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 13 October 2019

  • Presentation ‘Sports Governance Observer: Fresh results from six Olympic federations’ at Play the Game 2019 (Christina Friis Johansen), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 13 October 2019

  • Chair at the session ‘Benchmarking sports governance: Fresh facts from federations in six countries’ at Play the Game 2019 (Jens Sejer Andersen), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 14 October 2019

  • Presentation ‘Athlete power on the rise: Welcome to Play the Game 2019’ at the opening session of the conference Play the Game 2019 (Jens Sejer Andersen), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 13 October 2019

  • Presentation ‘Sports Governance Observer: Fresh results from six Olympic federations’ at Play the Game 2019 (Christina Friis Johansen), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, 13 October 2019

  • Keynote ‘Corruption in sport: changing everything so everything can stay the same?’ on at MESGO (Jens Sejer Andersen), Frankfurt, Germany, 25 September 2019

  • Presentation ‘Good Governance: A means to improve effectiveness, legitimacy and ethical conduct in sport governing bodies’ at a meeting for national fencing federations in Europe (Christina Friis Johansen), Stockholm, Sweden, 7 September 2019.

  • Chairing session at WADA’s presidential candidate Witold Banka’s roundtable with athlete representatives (Jens Sejer Andersen), Warsaw, Poland, 5 September 2019

  • Presentation 'Sports Governance' at the University of Copenhagen (Jens Alm). Copenhagen, Denmark, 6 May 2019.

  • Presentation 'Olympic Sport: When reporters break the glass ceiling' for internationale students at the Danish School of Journalism (Jens Sejer Andersen). Aarhus, Denmark, 4 march 2019.
  • Presentation 'Good governance - A means to improve effectiveness, legitimacy and ethical conduct in sport governing bodies?' at the University of Southern Denmark (Jens Alm). Odense, Denmark, 10 December 2018.

  • Rapporteur from governance project workshop at the Erasmus+ Cluster Meeting on Integrity in Sport (Jens Sejer Andersen), Brussels, Belgium, 5 December 2018

  • Presentation 'Good governance - A means to improve effectiveness, legitimacy and ethical conduct in sport governing bodies?' at Malmö University (Jens Alm). Malmö, Sweden, 22 November 2018.

  • Keynote ‘La lucha para mejor governanza en el deporte’ at Simpósio de Governança em Organizações do Esporte (Jens Sejer Andersen), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22 November 2018

  • Speech at Premio Anuario Sou do Esporte (Jens Sejer Andersen), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 21 November 2018

  • Keynote ‘Retos Abiertos para el Deporte Global’ at the 1st National Congress on Sports Governance (Jens Sejer Andersen), Bogotá, Colombia, 16 November 2018

  • Keynote ‘La lucha para mejor governanza en el deporte’ at the 1st National Congress on Sports Governance (Jens Sejer Andersen), Bogotá, Colombia, 15 November 2018

  • Presentation ‘Putting on the gloves and fighting corruption in sport’ at the national seminar in Norway under the National Sports Governance Observer partnership (Jens Sejer Andersen), Oslo, Norway, 25 October 2018

  • Closing speech at the Council of Europe’s 15th Sport Ministerial Conference (Jens Sejer Andersen) Tbilisi, Georgia, 16 October 2018

  • Organising 'Good governance in European and international sport: Window dressing or real change?', a public seminar presenting the National Sports Governance Observer project, Leuven, Belgium, 13 November, 2018

  • Presentation ‘Putting on the gloves and fighting corruption in sport’ at the national seminar in Poland under the National Sports Governance Observer partnership (Jens Sejer Andersen), Warsaw, Poland, 1st October 2018

  • Keynote ‘Good governance: A move towards trust and engagement’ at governance seminar at FIDE’s Chess Olympiad (Jens Sejer Andersen), Batumi, Georgia, 29 September 2018

  • Presentation 'Good governance i dansk idræt: Hvor gode er vi egentlig?' at the NSGO seminar in Brøndby, Denmark (Jens Alm). Brøndby, Denmark, 18 September 2018.

  • Presentation 'The many benefits of better sports governance' at the national seminar in Romania under the National Sports Governance Observer partnership (Jens Sejer Andersen), Universitatea Naţională de Educaţie Fizică şi Sport, Bucharest, Romania, 22 June 2018
  • Presentation 'National Sports Governance Observer - Danish results' at the national seminar in Romania under the National Sports Governance Observer partnership (Jens Alm), Universitatea Naţională de Educaţie Fizică şi Sport, Bucharest, Romania, 22 June 2018

  • Speaker at “Making a quantum leap towards political and legal commitments in the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions thanks to the Macolin Convention”, Informal Networking Event organised by EPAS and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation (Jens Sejer Andersen). Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018

  • Presentation 'The athlete’s right to have a voice' at WADA’s 1st Global Athlete Forum (Jens Sejer Andersen), Calgary, Canada, 4 June 2018

  • Presentation 'Olympic sport: Breaking the glass wall of silence' for students and teachers at Molde University College (Jens Sejer Andersen), Molde, Norway, 12 April 2018.
  • Organiser of the conference Play the Game 2017

  • Speech via Skype to Commonwealth Advisory Body on Sport (CABOS) Annual Meeting (Jens Sejer Andersen), 12 October 2017

  • Panellist in thematic debate in plenary - "Governance of the International Convention against Doping in Sport" at UNESCO’s 6th Conference of Parties (Jens Sejer Andersen), Paris, France, 26 September 2017

  • Presentation 'Outside Perspective on Good Governance and the Fight Against Doping' at a webinar for the Institute for National Anti-Doping Organisations (INADO) (Jens Sejer Andersen), 31 August 2017

  • Keynote “The unsung heroes that bring us out of the dark” at UNESCO’s ministerial conference MINEPS VI (Jens Sejer Andersen), Kazan, Russia, 15 May 2017

  • Panellist in Expert Forum on sports integrity at UNESCO’s ministerial conference MINEPS VI (Jens Sejer Andersen), Kazan, Russia, 13 May 2017

  • Chairing high level panel on “High-level panel discussion: Why do we need to be concerned about diversity in sport?” at the 10th Anniversary Conference of EPAS (Jens Sejer Andersen), Limassol, Cyprus, 11 May 2017

  • Panelist in debate on “Sport and the Good News Story” (Jens Sejer Andersen), SportAccord Convention, Aarhus, 5 April 2017

  • Chairing “Hands on, hands off? The role of politicians in reforming sports governance”, public hearing organised jointly by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Play the Game (Jens Sejer Andersen), Aarhus, Denmark, 3 April 2017

  • Keynote “Good Governance in the Fight against Doping: What is the Perception from the “Outside”?” at WADA’s annual symposium (Jens Sejer Andersen), Lausanne, Switzerland, 14 March 2017

  • Lectures on international sports politics, AMOS Business School, London (Jens Sejer Andersen), 25 January 2017
  • Lectures on sports governance, match-fixing and sports policy making for students at AMOS Business School (Jens Sejer Andersen), London, UK, 15 November 2016

  • Keynote “A career in sport: A threat to your reputation?” at ICSSPE seminar “Paths to Success”, Berlin, Germany, 25 November 2016

  • Lectures on sports governance, match-fixing and sports policy making for students at AMOS Business School, London, UK, 15 November 2016

  • Keynote “Investigative sports journalism: Through the glass ceiling?” (Jens Sejer Andersen) at annual meeting for EBU Radiosport, Prague, Czech Republic, 9 November 2016

  • Presentation and participation in panel debate (Jens Sejer Andersen) at Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales (UDCA), Bogotá, Colombia, 24 October 2016

  • Keynotes “El deporte munidal: Reforma o revolución?” and workshops on “Arreglo de partidos: Sombra del deporte y de la sociedad” (Jens Sejer Andersen) at 1) Conferencia Internacional del Deporte, Universidad del Valle, Calí, 2) Reunión de Investigadores. Escuela Nacional del Deporte, Cali, y 3) Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas, Bogotá – 20-24 October 2016

  • Participation in ALDE hearing on EU Sports Policy 'European Sport Policy: Good Governance, Accessibility and Integrity' (Arnout Geeraert), Brussels, Belgium, 12 October, 2016

  • Participation (Jens Sejer Andersen) at EPAS Conference on promoting the well being of athletes “European Policies and Possibilities in Bulgaria”, organised in the framework of the Council of Europe initiative “Pro Safe Sport”, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2-3 October 2016

  • Keynote “Global Sport: Reform or revolution?” for News Media Coalition (Jens Sejer Andersen), AFP, Paris, France, 29-30 September 2016

  • Lecture “Global Sport: Reform or revolution?” for international journalist students at Danish School for Media and Journalism (Jens Sejer Andersen), Aarhus, 26 September 2016

  • Participation in a round table discussion about the book ’The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer’ (Jens Sejer Andersen and Henrik H. Brandt), ’The Tenth Nordic Conference on Middle East Studies', SDU, Odense, Denmark, 22 September 2016

  • Participation in EPAS meetings and match-fixing conference (Jens Sejer Andersen), Strassbourg, France, 19-21 September 2016

  • Panelist, debate on sports governance at 'World Forum for Ethics in Sport' (Jens Sejer Andersen), Zürich, Switzerland, 16 September 2016

  • Participation in EU European Week of Sport's Flagship Event on good governance (Jens Sejer Andersen), Brussels, Belgium, 15 September 2016

  • Participation and presentation in Coldeportes and UNESCO´s ’World Sport Observatories Meeting’ (Peter Forsberg), Medellín, Colombia, 13-15 September 2016

  • Keynote and participation 'Sports governance observer: The urgent need for reform in world sport' (Jens Sejer Andersen) at EASM, Warsaw, Poland, 7-10 September 2016

  • Presentation 'Nordic Initiative for Event Studies' (Rasmus K. Storm) at "Nordic Facility Conference 2016", Copenhagen, Denmark, 8 September 2016

  • CO-organiser, presentation and delegate at ’Scandinavian Sport Business Week’ in cooperation with Sport eXperience (Martin Hedal, Henrik H. Brandt og Daniel Hayman), Copenhagen, Denmark, 29 August – 1 September 2016

  • Expert statement at PACE hearing on Sports Governance (Jens Sejer Andersen), Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France, 22 June 2016

  • Keynote: “The Power of the Word in a Culture of Silence” (Jens Sejer Andersen), PINC 17, Zeist, the Netherlands, 10 May 2016

  • Presentation at the conference ’Sport in the City - 13th European Association for Sociology of Sport Conference’, ’Understanding Variations in the Impact of Sport Scandals: a Vector Approach’ (Rasmus K. Storm), Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark, 7 May 2016

  • Expert statement at meeting in EPAS task force on sports corruption (Jens Sejer Andersen), Paris, France, 8 April 2016

  • Panelist at plenary debate on “Good governance in sport” (Jens Sejer Andersen), with Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Edith Schippers, Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, Patrick Hickey, EOC President, and Michael Van Praag, President of the Royal Dutch Football Association, at EU Sport Forum,Den Haag, the Netherlands, 9-10 March 2016

  • Presentation at the 'Sports Innovation Conference', ’Sports Innovation in Denmark’ (Martin Hedal), Thomas More, Turnhout, Belgium, 8 March 2016

  • Invited keynote at the 7th International Sport Business Symposium 'Sports Governance Observer: World Sport in Urgent Need of Reform' (Jens Sejer Andersen), Lillehammer, Norway, 16 February 2016.

  • Invited keynote 'Global Sport: Reform or revolution' (Jens Sejer Andersen), academic workshop for the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and Ottawa University, Lillehammer, Norway, 15 February 2016