Tag Archives | World Cup

FIFA reforms: beware the small print

On 26 February 2016 FIFA will convene an Extraordinary Congress meeting with just two substantive agenda items: to elect a new president in place of the suspended Sepp Blatter – and to amend the FIFA statutes on governance. Although the former will dominate the headlines, it is the latter that could determine FIFA’s fate. The […]

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Football on trial

Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans always win, or so said Gary Lineker, the popular TV commentator and former England international. He was wrong. Football, in fact, is a system that benefits a small group of people by exploring the passion and […]

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Подготовке Чемпионата мира по футболу 2018 нужна прозрачность

В 2010 году Российской Федерации было присуждено право проведения Чемпионата мира по футболу 2018 года. После Зимних Олимпийских Игр 2014, Чемпионат мира станет вторым по величине спортивным событием в истории современной России. На проведение мероприятия правительство Российской Федерации утвердило бюджет в 660 млрд. рублей (16 млрд. долл. США).  335 млрд. рублей (8 млрд. долл. США) […]

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The 2018 World Cup in Russia must be transparent

In 2010 Russia was awarded the right to host the next FIFA World Cup. After the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the 2018 World Cup will become the second major international sports event held in the country in its recent history. The Russian government approved a total budget of 660 billion roubles (US$16 billion) for the […]

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Brazil emerging

Two nations now have the uncommon fortune of consecutively hosting the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games: Russia, and Brazil. This article will focus on Brazil, which saw the Brazilian people taking to the streets, exercising their right to protest corruption; in response, the Brazilian legislature has enacted substantial new anti-corruption laws; and enforcement […]

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FIFA: how to win back trust

Recently FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb admitted publicly that FIFA still had a lot of work to do to repair its battered image despite introducing a slew of organisational reforms. He’s right. FIFA is often seen as synonymous with scandal and not just for football fans. It is the butt of media satire, Twitter wit and […]

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World Cup winners and losers

The 2014 World Cup had it all. Goals galore on the pitch, surprise results, tears and triumphs: a cornucopia of sporting excitement for a worldwide audience of more than a billion, culminating in a deserved win for an exceptional team from Germany. But it also had a series of own goals off the pitch by […]

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Cricket Corruption ‘not out’

Sport, nationalism, politics, business and entertainment. All are the aspects of cricket. An unfortunate addition to the list is corruption, which threatens the integrity of “the gentleman’s game”. Like the great batsman Sachin Tendulkar corruption seems not to leave the field. Ever since the exposure of cricket legend Hansie Cronje’s involvement in match fixing in […]

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EURO 2012 and match-fixing: An interview with Simon Kuper

Every four years all eyes in Europe are on one big event – the European Football Championships. Over the past weeks everyone in Europe seemed to talk about the matches, its players, but also about what it means for the two host countries, Poland and Ukraine, to host such a majour event. One big question […]

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Corruption and the true cost of hosting the Games

Big sporting events bring excitement, pride and trepidation in almost equal measure to the winning country. The fireworks go off, but so do the alarm bells. Will the event have a legacy and help develop the (sporting) infrastructure and the society of the host country in a sustainable way? Will all the money be well-spent? […]

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