commentary
By scrapping FFE, Gianni Infantino is trying to save his own skin. The reaction to his plans has been overwhelmingly negative worldwide, and within FIFA itself, a key figure – COO Kevin Lamour – has spectacularly turned his back on him. Infantino must go, but that alone is not enough.
propaganda
The Olympic fencing federation FIE and its Hamburg lawyer announced a purported legal victory over Reuters to the world. I obtained both court orders and read them against that propaganda. Very little of what the federation and its lawyer claim about these decisions survives the comparison.
fifa forward enterprise
All 55 UEFA associations stand as one: no European national team will play in a FIFA competition for as long as Infantino's plan to sell stakes in the World Cup stands. In 30 years I cannot recall a threat of this magnitude. Read the full statement — and FIFA's own 25-page FFE presentation.
gianni infantino
Has FIFA and IOC fiend Gianni Infantino gone too far this time? Or will he manage it once again: to split the football world with his plan to spin off FIFA's assets into a company part-owned by dubious investors, and at the same time bait the majority of member associations with money?
sport-staatsminister
Wird noch über die Transfersumme verhandelt? Meldungen über die Verpflichtung der UEFA-Direktorin Keßler als Staatsministerin im Bundeskanzleramt wollte Friedrich Merz nicht bestätigen. Die abberufene Christiane Schenderlein wird, erneut fachfremd, Staatssekretärin im Gesundheitsministerium.
146th ioc session
Olympiabewerbungen und olympisches Programm: Auf der 146. Session in Lausanne beerdigt das IOC mehrere Kernpunkte der Ära Thomas Bach und kehrt zu einigen Prinzipien zurück, die maßgeblich unter dem Belgier Jacques Rogge entwickelt wurden.
146th ioc session
Olympic bids and the Olympic programme: At its 146th Session in Lausanne, the IOC has abandoned several key elements of the Thomas Bach era and is returning to a number of principles that were largely developed under the Belgian Jacques Rogge.
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By aping the Olympic status quo that says no matter how wealthy we become, sports stars should not be paid, Kirsty Coventry has triggered a revolution in which the real Athlete Voice could finally be heard through the truly independent collective that is essential to change.
Erneut ist Hamburgs Olympia-Offerte bei einem Referendum krachend gescheitert. Am Sonntag gab es weniger Ja-Stimmen und mehr Nein-Stimmen als 2015, obwohl angeblich alles besser, preiswerter, transparenter geplant und die IOC-Regularien durchlässiger sein sollen. Ein Realitäts-Check.
Naming and shaming! This cross-post from the investigative platform Josimar examines Infantino's FIFA empire: media manipulation, obstruction of journalistic work and widespread propaganda. As documented in this newsletter, these mechanisms apply to the Olympic world and, at its core, to the IOC.
An open letter addressed to IOC President Kirsty Coventry and the leadership of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime has been signed by 2,981 people from at least 94 countries. Never before has a community within an Olympic IF mounted resistance and a demand for accountability of this scale.
The panel is comfortably satisfied that former Olympic powerbroker Ahmad interfered in the 2023 election in favor of his brother Talal. The award reveals a parallel civil suit quietly filed in Lausanne. An appeal against his separate 15-year IOC ban is being litigated in proceedings of its own.
Investigative unit THE INSIDER exposes another shocking detail, yet not fully surprising: Russia’s Olympic doping and political hit squads are run by the same FSB unit. Discover how operatives manipulate sports while deploying nerve agents against Kremlin targets like Alexei Navalny.
Off the record, fencers and officials complain; publicly, they claim resistance is "too risky". Two YouTubers exposing the sport's existential crisis challenge this culture of cowardly indifference. Marius Dobel-Ober issues a rallying cry: there is no neutral ground when dealing with autocrats.
Change in IOC’s administration is set to begin with a SharePoint site and joint morning coffee catchups: unsettled staff can ask any questions they like, says the IOC President. During a video meeting attended by almost 600 employees, Coventry warned against negativity, rumours and silo thinking.
Wer auf Missstände aufmerksam macht, muss unter dem Dach des DOSB, der verlogen eine falsch verstandene "Verbandsautonomie" anbetet, mit Suspendierung rechnen. Das gilt besonders für Sportler. Nach der DESG hat nun auch der Deutsche Alpenverein gehandelt – und drei Whistleblower suspendiert.
Es riecht natürlich nach Korruption, wenn einer der vier olympischen Bittsteller (Bayern/München) mitten in einem (regellosen) nationalen Wettbewerb heimlich dafür kämpft, dass dem ausschreibenden Monopolisten (DOSB) durch eine einschneidende Gesetzesänderung ein gewaltiger Vorteil verschafft wird.
Eine kleine Handlungsanweisung, um Abos von SPORT & POLITICS auf Ihre Bedürfnisse anzupassen – gilt insbesondere für Sportler, Studenten, Arbeitssuchende, nichtolympische Verbände, LSB und Bildungseinrichtungen. Und eine Chance, Privatabos, die missbraucht werden, angemessen upzugraden.
EXCLUSIVE: Why did the Greek Emmanuel Katsiadakis unexpectedly resign as interim president of the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) in April 2025? Read the answer here: because he refused to send a letter to US President Trump asking for the sanctions against Alisher Usmanov to be lifted.