The stories that broke the silence of sport
In 2024, Play the Game marked over 25 years of sports debate with the book 'When the silence of sport was broken: Sports politics in the times of Play the Game', introducing you to the persons and stories that changed the world debate on sport since the turn of the century.
Quite deliberately, the book does not focus on re-telling all the fortunes of Play the Game as an organisation and conference organiser.
Instead, the book follows the lead from the title and makes a journalistic account of key debates and developments in international sports politics from the 1990's onwards. You will meet the courageous athletes, journalists, academic experts, and sports officials who blew the whistle on doping, corruption in sports, matchfixing, abuse of athletes, the use of sport in exercising soft power, governance problems, the rights of athletes, and the role of authoritarian states in sport.
You can read the book as a whole or you can find the chapters on the topics that interest you the most below.
Download the book or find your favorite chapter
Play the Game's anniversary book 'When the silence of sport was broken' touches upon many different topics and themes in its run through of some of the most important sports political developments in the last three decades.
Find the different chapters here:
Foreword: Building a home for the homeless questions in sport
Chapter 1: Trouble in the toy department of human life
The emergence of critical sports journalism // The first investigation of fraud in the IOC // The dangers of sports journalism // Exposing doping, corruption, match-fixing, and abuse // The international sports press surveys
Chapter 2: Doping: from omertá to public awakening
Doping in the 1960s // The Festina affair in cycling // The creation of WADA // The link between doping and illegal trade in drugs // The BALCO case // The wave of confessions in cycling
Chapter 3: The love affair that exposed a doping crime
The exposure of state-sponsored doping in Russia from 2010-2014 // WADA's first report // The scandal in International Association of Athletics Federations // More exposures and WADA's second report // The IOC's investigations // Suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee // The character assassination of Yuriy Ganus
Chapter 4: A mafia-like system – or a victim of greedy individuals?
Comparing FIFA to the mafia // The IOC's Salt Lake City scandal // The corruption at the heart of FIFA // The fall of Sheik Ahmad Al Sabah from Kuwait // Bribery around the World Cups in Russia and Qatar // New cases of corruption in the IOC // The ISL corruption scheme // A watchdog to stop corruption in sport
Chapter 5: The sporting side of organised crime: gambling and fixing
The rise of match-fixing in football // The links between match-fixing and organised crime in Asia // The Macolin Convention to fight match-fixing // The explosion in online betting // The challenge from the illegal gambling market
Chapter 6: Sport is failing victims of abuse
The rape culture in Canadian hockey // The many cases of abuse in USA Gymnastics // The problems of abuse in football and FIFA's response // Intimidation of whistleblowers of abuse in Mali basketball
Chapter 7: Hard rulers pursuing soft power
Sportswashing and soft power // Qatar's strategy // Labour and human rights in Qatar // Labour and LGBT rights in Russia // Corruption and public protests in Brazil // The problems of awarding mega events to authoritarian regimes
Chapter 8: The secret ways of governance in sport
Corruption in the International Weightlifting Federation and the International Volleyball Federation // The rise of the one nation, one vote system // Alternative voting systems // Lack of separation of powers in sport // The flaws in the Court of Arbitration for Sport // The Sports Governance Observer projects
Chapter 9: Traitors or truth-tellers?
Sport does not protect its whistleblowers // The case of Yuliya and Vitaly Stepanov and other Russian whistleblowers // Mario Goijman's struggle against the International Volleyball Federation // The consequences of whistleblowing on FIFA // Rui Pinto and Football Leaks
Chapter 10: Athletes becoming activists
The rights of athletes to make a stand and protect their own interests // Activism of female athletes // The role of athletes in fighting oppression in Belarus // The Strengthening Athlete Power in Sport project
Chapter 11: Playing with dictators in a game of war and peace
Russia's violations of the Olympic truce // The close relationship between Russia and the IOC // Athlete protests in Belarus // The rise of investments in sports by countries in the Middle East // Women banned from sport in Afghanistan // Democracies withdraw from hosting events // Mapping the Saudi sports power players