Stories from the second world conference for media professionals

in a globalised sports society

Copenhagen, November 12th-16th 2000

Play the gameReaching for democracy in sports

Aidan White ● Anders Bülow ● Anders Levinsen ● Andrew Jennings ● Bengt Saltin ● Benny Peiser ● Carole Garoes ● David Conn ● Dick Pound Elias Ma-

kori ● Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen ● Fékrou Kidané ● Gerhard Heiberg ● Gilles E. Néron ● Henning Eichberg ● Jens Weinreich ● John Hoberman John Mendoza

● Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen ● Jørn Møller ● Karsten Froberg ● Keld Strudahl ● Lars Bo Andersen ● Malcolm Clarke ● Mike Boit Niels Christian Jung ● Niels-

Christian Holmstrøm ● Olav Skaaning Andersen ● Patrick Schamasch ● Pete Clifton ● Sandro Donati ● Stefan Kürten

Terry Monnington ● Thomas Kistner ● Torben Ulrich ● Usman Yakubu ● Verner Møller ● Wladimir Andreff

When media professionals andand sports researchers from52 countries gathered in

Copenhagen in November 2000, theycame to refresh the emotions of a veryold couple.

The delegates at "Play the game"brought new life to an ancient loveaffair, the one between the body and thespirit, the athlete and the story-teller -or to be more accurate, between themeaning and the movement.

Since ancient times, men and womenhave used dance, games, sports andother movement cultures to express theideals and values that exist in theirhearts and minds.

And many social thinkers and politi-cal leaders have for centuries knownthat if you want to implant certainthoughts in the minds of people, youwould have to start with the body.

So the love between the meaning andthe movement is rooted in a commondream:

The dream that the two of themtogether could create a good societyand that they would be cornerstones ofdemocracy.

This is why the meaning and themovement - the media and the sportsworld - should share a common interestin freedom of expression.

The media need this freedom inorder to help each individual citizen

achieve a better understanding of his orher role in society, to help express innerbeliefs - and to bring forward differentviewpoints.

The sports world needs this freedomso that each citizen can find or create thekind of movement culture that suits hisor her personal values in life, and so thatthe individual athlete can influence thedevelopment of the movement culture.

But freedom of expression has comeunder serious pressure in the past threedecades.

Those who lead the explosivecommercialisation of sports and sportsmedia do not measure its success interms of dialogue, understanding andcommunity building.

Their basic interest is business - anddemocracy with all its outspoken andunpredictable conflicts, is often con-sidered as bad for business.

That is why the IFJ, ISCA and SIU

2Play the game

Refreshing an old love affairBy Jens Sejer Andersen, Editor-in-Chief

Thanks to the efforts of both critics and criticized, "Play the game"was a breakthrough for open debate and dialogue in sports.It proved that there is much more meaning to the movement than money

The Play the gamemagazine is an edited, extended and translatedversion of the Danish weekly "Ungdom & Idræt" no. 34/ 2000

❒ EDITOR-IN-CHIEFJens Sejer Andersenjsa@dgi.dk© 2001 Sports Intelligence Unit

❒ REPORTERSSteen AnkerdalSteen BilleKasper LindbergKaren Balling RadmerMarie Venø ThesbjergJonna ToftPer Vinther (freelance)

❒ TRANSLATIONSMarcus Dylan Hoy (freelance)❒ PHOTOS

All photos courtesy of Niels Nyholm (freelance)Unless otherwise credited

❒ LAYOUTMaja Bursøe

Printed at ScanprintDK-8260 Viby JDenmarkMay 2001

Play the game was supported by

The Danish Ministry of CultureThe Year 2000 FoundationDanidaDanish Gymnastics and Sports AssociationThe Association of Danish Sports Journalists

Articles can be quoted in parts when crediting the author and the Play the gameconference

For all other kinds of reproduction written permission must be requested atsiu@dgi.dk

www.play-the-game.org

invited the media and sports world to"Play the game".

We wanted to break the silence, wewanted to create a new forum for inter-national exchange and dialogue, inbrief: we wanted to promote democracyin sports and media.

Many people deserve our thanks forgiving a decisive helping hand: Thedonors. The dynamic and open-mindedgroup of participants.

And not least: The many world-classspeakers who were ready to share theirknowledge and opinions with a verymodest financial reward, if any.

A special respect must be payed tothose speakers who ran a risk bychoosing dialogue instead of silence -those who came to criticize the sportsestablishment thus risking their jobs, aswell as those who came to defend itthus risking their prestige.

Thanks to the efforts of both criticsand criticized, "Play the game" becamea breakthrough for open debate anddialogue in sports.

It did not turn the world completelyaround - but it did for some time stir theblood of an old couple. It proved thatthere is much more meaning to themovement than money.

We hope that you, too, will feelrefreshed when reading the followingstories from "Play the game".

If so, we invite you to searchfor much more information at www.play-the-game.org.

There, you will find almost all papersgiven at the conference - and you canregister for news about the next con-ference, scheduled for November 2002.

We would like to invite you toCopenhagen once again, to celebratethe love for sport and journalism, to tellthe story… and Play the game!

Aclearly audible murmur passedthrough the main auditoriumwhen the "Play the Game" con-

ference was told that Sandro Donati wo-uld not be attending. During the pre-ceding three weeks, Donati had in vainsought permission to travel from hisemployers, the Italian Olympic Com-mittee (CONI).

Although CONI gave no official rea-son for their stance, those aware of Do-nati's background were in little doubtthat the committee's intention was togag their own Head of Research. CouldCONI's reluctance to allow Donati totravel be due to fears he would exposethe committee's own unhappy role inItalian doping over the past 20 years?Many believed so, and in the end they

were proved correct. For many years,the 53-year-old Donati has been a voci-ferous critic of what he sees as CONI'sfailure to address doping problems, andthis was reflected in his address.

And as it turned out, the little Italiancame to epitomise the conference's pri-mary message of democracy and open-ness in sport.

Pressure on CONIImmediately after news of the ban was re-ceived, those with any influence agreedto exert pressure on CONI in an attemptto get the committee to reverse its deci-sion. What would it look like if the ItalianOlympic Committee were seen to be gag-ging its own Head of Research, they ar-gued. Could CONI offer a sensible reason

for banning Donati from a conference hehad signed up for months ago?

On Monday Morning the organisersof Play the Game sent a fax to CONI'sGeneral Secretary Dr Raffaele Pagnozziasking these very questions. And whilethe conference's scheduled programmecontinued as usual, Donati's case wasthe major talking point in the corridors.Would he dare travel without permis-sion? Had CONI answered the fax?

But Dr Pagnozzi did not react to thequestions until the fax was followed upby a telephone call. By then it was im-possible for Donati to make his schedu-led address on Tuesday morning. How-ever, on that same evening some goodnews arrived. Donati was to be allowedto travel to Copenhagen - not as a CONIrepresentative, but as a private indivi-dual. CONI defended its original posi-tion by alleging that Donati had notsought official permission to attend theconference - a claim that correspon-dence between CONI and Donati laterconfirmed to be false.

In the early hours of Wednesdaymorning, CONI's Head of Research fi-nally boarded the plane to Copenhagen,ready to step forward in front of the con-ference the next morning as a private in-dividual - but an individual but with acompelling story about doping and cor-ruption. Play the Game had won an im-portant victory central to its message ofopenness and democracy in sport. ◆

Last-minute licenceto speakThe fight to bring Sandro Donati to Denmark

left a lasting impression on "Play the Game"

By Kasper Lindberg

3 Play the game

Drama overDonati's ongoingproblems with theItalian OlympicCommittee raisedexpectations aheadof his address

4Play the game

By Kasper Lindberg

In 1981, Sandro Donati was offeredthe job of coaching Italy's middle-

distance running team. It was in this ca-pacity that he first met Professor Con-coni of the University of Ferrara, andbegan to first learn about the illegal useof drugs in Italian athletics. Seeing himas part of the established order, the pro-fessor told Donati about his experi-ments with blood doping in Italian ath-letics. Donati was amazed to hear ofsuch a programme, which apparentlyhad the full support of the Italian Ath-letics Association. He immediately ex-pressed his strong opposition to such amethod of achieving success.

Donati was forced to work underconstant pressure from the association,which was keen for him to allow hisrunners to take part in the doping pro-gramme. It seemed that many of Italy'sinternational runners were already ta-king part, and Donati constantly foundhis objections suppressed.

In 1985, through his parliamentarycontacts, Donati succeeded in helpingbring about a change in the law, whicheffectively banned the practise of blooddoping. In 1986 he discovered a listshowing that systematic doping usingtestosterone and anabolic steroids wasstill widespread in Italian athletics.Then, in 1987, he passed on his story tothe newspapers.

The false jumpDuring the 1987 World Athletics Cham-pionships in Rome, Donati becameaware that doping was not the onlymethod of cheating. He got wind of arumour that the long jump competitionwould be fixed in favour of the homefans' favourite, Giovanni Evangelisti.The rumour proved to be correct. BeforeEvangelisti's final jump, TV pictures (la-ter viewed at Play the Game) show ajudge measuring out an electronic "mar-ker" to a length of 8.38 metres. Evange-listi's final jump is disappointing, certa-inly well under eight metres. However,

with public attention focused on eventsat the other end of the stadium, the Ita-lian is awarded a distance of 8.38 - eno-ugh to take the bronze medal. Even theathlete cannot believe his 'luck'.

Donati's attempts to expose the chea-ting did not make him popular withCONI. Shortly afterwards, he was firedfrom his job as coach. Donati then deci-ded to lay low and concentrate on wri-ting a book. The result, "Championswithout Value" was initially a big suc-cess in his native Italy. However, it inex-plicably disappeared from the books-hops after just a few weeks, with de-mand far exceeding supply for monthslater.

Becoming aware of EPOIn 1992, Donati was back in favour withCONI. Warming to the presence of theirformer coach, the Italian Olympic Com-mittee offered him the job of Head ofResearch. Donati accepted the job, seeingan official position as an ideal launchpadto continue his fight against doping.

He was also offered a seat on the in-fluential Italian Anti-Doping Commit-tee together with - among others - Pro-fessor Conconi. Again he accepted, buthe soon found many committee mem-bers held opinions contrary to his own.He was dealt an early setback was whenhis suggestion to dope-test the Italiancycling star Francesco Moser - an "assi-stant" to Professor Conconi - was voteddown.

However, Donati found plenty of ot-her work to do. He had noticed, for ex-ample, that CONI's laboratory in Romewas posting a suspiciously low numberof positive dope tests, and he felt thisphenomenon should be investigatedfurther.

It was around this time that a new il-legal substance was making its presencefelt in endurance sport - Erythropoietin,or EPO. Donati's investigations broughtto light important new information con-cerning the substance. Since it was im-possible to detect by a urine sample,EPO abuse was becoming more and

The little man versus the establishment

more commonplace in professionalcycling. And according to Donati, thetrail led right back to the heart of Italianathletics. While officially researchingtests to detect EPO, Donati relates thatProfessor Conconi was unofficially ad-ministering the substance to many ofItaly's elite riders.

In 1994, Donati penned a report con-taining his findings. After it was delive-red to CONI's president Mario Pescante,he received no response and the revela-tions were buried for the next two years.

Finally, in 1996, the case began togather momentum. The Italian Sportsnewspaper La Gazetta Dello Sport pub-lished a number of articles on doping

After 19 years fighting against doping and corruption,

Sandro Donati is now set to retire from the limelight

Most contro-versial amongDonati'sfindings havebeen thewidespreaddistribution ofEPO from theUniversity ofFerrara

5

Artificial improvements to the body's ge-netic makeup are already a reality, andit is only a question of time before this

method is used in competitive sport. This is theprediction of Bengt Saltin, respected anti-do-ping campaigner and Chairman of Anti-Do-ping Denmark.

The 65-year-old Swedish sports physiologistis in no doubt. Gene doping is highly effective,it will be available soon, and cannot be ignoredby those involved in the fight against doping.

In reality, he says, it is impossible to knowexactly when elite sportsmen and women willstart injecting gene-altering material directlyinto their muscles - material that can, for exam-ple, allow muscles to grow, or produce the hor-mone erythropoeitin (EPO). When gene do-ping is ready for use, sportsmen and womenwill no longer need to dope themselves withartificial hormones. This new method of do-ping will allow these hormones to be producedby their own body.

However, research into gene doping has al-ready shown frightening side effects. Laborat-ory mice doubled their body weight in a singlemonth after being introduced to growth hor-mones. And in less than six months, Monkeyswere recorded with a red blood count of 75-89against normal rates of 40 or lower. These re-sults have convinced Bengt Saltin that for thosewho wish to break the rules, much can be gai-ned from gene doping. Any alteration to the ge-netic make up of the body is permanent, andside effects in humans could include a thicke-

ning of the blood, which may lead to clots or se-vere heart problems. But despite the dangers,he is convinced that there will be no shortage ofpeople willing to experiment.

In his address to Play the Game, Bengt Saltinpointed out that the main problem with genedoping is the fact that is almost impossible todetect. When asked whether it may be possibleto develop a test to identify this form of dopinghe replied: »I have to say that I am very pessi-mistic. The artificial DNA that is added to themuscle is only found locally. And the materialsthat this DNA allows the muscle to produce areidentical to materials produced naturally bythe body.«

Gene doping will not be detectable throughurine or blood samples, he added. The onlypossible method of detection would be throughan actual sample of muscle fibre. This wouldrequire a large, painful insertion with a broadneedle and would not be a popular - or practi-cal- test.

Bengt Saltin's opinion is clear: »Biologicalvariation is fundamental to sport. You couldsay it is what gives a person their talent. Thiscan now be affected with genes, and this mustbe wrong.«

»Doping occurs because there are peopleout there with the knowledge and the will tomake use of it," he continues. "As long as this isthe case, it will continue. You cannot take do-ping out of life. This will only happen whenenough people turn around and simply say;"enough is enough. We do not want this.« ◆

Gene doping is the next step By Kasper Lindberg

Play the game

and made contact with Donati. After hespoke of the report's existence, journali-sts began to question Pescante on whyCONI had let the report stand unchal-lenged and unreleased for two years.

By 1997 CONI's relationship with itsHead of Research was at an all-time low.It was around this time that Donati belie-ves an attempt was made to set him up. Ayoung female runner who he had beencoaching tested positive for an unnatu-rally high caffeine count - equivalent to30 cups of coffee. Although an indepen-dent investigation found the test flawedand secured Donati's reputation, he reali-sed that he had almost become the victimof a plot to discredit him

In 1998 rumours grew about the wi-despread use of doping in Italian foo-tball and attention became focused onthe doping laboratory in Rome of whichDonati had previously voiced his suspi-cions. It turned out that they were cor-rect. The laboratory's tests were foundto be unquestionably lacking - theywere unable to detect the presence ofanabolic steroids and other hormones.The scandal culminated in the resigna-tion of CONI's president and prompteda number of public investigations intothe activities of, among others, Profes-sor Conconi. These investigations arestill continuing today.

Withdrawing from the spotlightFor over an hour, Sandro Donati fasci-nated the packed assembly as he reco-unted his experiences. After he finishedhis address, he received the conference'sfirst standing ovation.

The 53-year-old Italian's long and ti-reless fight against doping is highly re-spected, and the extra effort that wasneeded to bring him to Denmark certa-inly brought its rewards. But the manwho is portrayed by many in the sport-ing world as a hero is now tired of wor-king within a system that has impededhis fight for a cleaner sport right fromthe start.

"I am tired of the world of sport" hestated after his speech, and hinted thathe is set to leave his position at CONIand concentrate on education and do-ping prevention amongst children.

Even though Donati feels that he hasfought in vain against greater powers,his story is proving a real inspiration toothers in the fight against drugs andcorruption in sport. ◆

Forget GM foods - it's time to address the challenge

of gene doping, says Bengt Saltin

When a punishment led to a power struggle

6

Hysteria andhypocrisy»Doping is a logic consequence of achievement sport, and tofight it requires government action,« said Verner Møller, sportsresearcher at The University of Southern Denmark, whosebook "The doping devil" stirred up controversy in Denmarkin 1999. He concluded:

lready Pierre de Coubertin knew that:"Sport must have the freedom of excess",ambition drives the weaker to train more

to approach the level where he is able to threaten hispreviously superior rival.«

It is this ambition that leads to excess. Excess issimply a consequence of sport.

A person does not become an elite athlete if he isnot inspired by ambition, and he is not likely to win incompetition with the very best if he is not able tosurpass himself - if he is not prepared to excess.

Sport is, among other things, pain, suffering andsacrifice. It is these ingredients (in addition to talent ofcourse) that are a precondition for the excitementthat we as spectators experience.

The fact that they are able to suffer the pain andbear the sacrifice makes them heroes and idols.We seetheir superb achievements as a transcending of thehuman being.We acclaim them, in other words for thesurpassing character of their achievements, for thesublime that they have accomplished.

Here we are presented with the dynamism ofsport. It is this that induces athletes to persevere withtheir training, to force their weight down and toemploy any methods to gain a competitive advantage.To change this, necessitates the end of achievementsport.

Political intervention neededIt is indisputable that doping rules, just as football lawsare necessary, but the belief that it is possible tocombat doping within sport is naive.An effectiveprevention of doping must begin in an altogetherdifferent area, and sporting organisations can not dothis alone. It requires political intervention. For effectivedoping prevention must be directed against the medicalindustry, for example mandatory addition of biologicalmarkers to drugs that can not be detected in dopingtests, or by systematic control of the distribution ofdrugs. Only by such initiatives can there be any hope ofan effective limitation of the doping problem in thefuture.

Read more at www.play-the-game.org

By Jonna Toft

If it were up to Dick Pound, the go-verning bodies of cycling, football

and tennis would all have been suspen-ded from the Olympic movement. Thereason - these bodies' continued failureto get into line with their sporting coun-terparts by implementing a standardpunishment for doping.

»That would have been more in kee-ping with my style» the World Anti-Do-ping Agency Chairman told Play theGame on its final day. »Unfortunately,

most members wanted to find anothersolution.«

Dick Pound, who is among thefavourites to succeed Juan AntonioSamaranch as the next President of theIOC, was referring to events at an antidoping conference in Lausanne inFebruary 1999. At the time, the IOCwas under pressure to harmonise thedoping punishments being handedout by various sports associations.However, the ruling bodies of cycling(UCI) football (FIFA) and tennis (ITF)were unwilling to tow the line.

Play the game

WADA is fighting to persuade all of sport's governing

bodies - including cycling, football and tennis - to enforce

hard, standardised penalties for doping

A

7

The problems faced by WADA wereclearly illustrated by the case of Danishcyclist Claus Michael Møller. Aftertesting positive for doping, he receiving atwo-year suspension from his domesticcykcling union body. However the UCIoverruled the ban, altering the penalty tojust six months. Despite issuing the "cor-rect" punishment, the Danish CyclingUnion was subsequently threatenedwith a hefty fine or even suspension fromthe UCI if it did not fall into line.

»The Danish case shows why we needto harmonise the rules, and make surethey are followed by all governments andsports associations,« said Pound.

He stressed the importance of gettinggovernments on board. Professionalsports bodies would be more likely tofall into line if they knew the law was ontheir side, he added.

»If a football player is earning 10 mil-lion euros per year, and is handed out atwo-year suspension, it is importantthat the punishment is upheld by thecourts,« he explained. »Without legallybinding punishments, it would be natu-ral for any association to fear a demandfor compensation. What if a civil courtdecided that the sentence should havebeen six months? The player wouldclaim to have lost 1.5 million euros, anddemand that his association compen-sate him for the time he was wrongly su-spended.«

»The punishment in itself is not aproblem for the sports governing body.But the legal system must accept oursanctions,« he said.

»We are still working to streamlinesanctions, and if we could get the publicauthorities on our side, it will only be amatter of time before the sports organi-sations follow. Maybe I am making itsound a little simplistic - in effect it willcertainly be difficult to achieve. A totalof 220 nations, all with different legalsystems, are involved.«

Pound goes on to confirm thatWADA is currently very anxious tomove forward with the proposal.

A year of pressureWADA was founded after the scandal-hit Tour de France of 1998. It is a privateorganisation that includes representati-ves from governments, the medical in-dustry, and different branches of theOlympic movement. Like the IOC, it hasits headquarters in Lausanne, Switzer-land. For the first two years of its

existence, WADA was financed by theIOC to the tune of 25 million dollars.However, at a recent anti-dopingconference in Norway, it was decidedthat in order to retain influence inWADA, individual governments mustcollectively come up with half thisfigure by January 2002.

»Education is more important thanacting as the world's doping police,«continued Dick Pound. »We must en-sure that there is a global understandingthat this kind of cheating is not onlydangerous - it also destroys the essenceof sport. We will do everything in ourpower to stop doping. Cheats are notwelcome in the Olympic movement.«

The unfair fightThe development of doping tests will intheir nature always follow the develop-ment of new substances. As long asthere is the incentive of money, new ty-pes of drugs appearing on the marketfor which tests do not exist yet. Cur-rently, WADA is especially interested indeveloping reliable tests for EPO andhuman growth hormone.

»We can test for growth hormone,«said Pound, "but the test is only 85 per-cent reliable, so legally, it is of no use tous at all. If you are going to suspend som-eone from their sport for two years, youmust be 100% sure that they are guilty.«

He also pointed out that although atest for EPO has been developed, it canonly detect whether the substance hasbeen used up to four days before priorto the sample being taken. A sportsper-son using EPO will typically stop takingthe substance two or three weeks beforea major competition where testing maybe carried out. No athlete tested positivefor EPO during the Sydney Olympics.

»With unannounced testing, there isa real chance of identifying sports-people who use EPO,« added Pound,who hopes that a more exact EPO testwill be available for the Salt Lake CityWinter Olympics, as well as a new testfor growth hormone. He also confirmedthat WADA is aware of the threat posedby gene doping, and is in contact withleading health experts across the globe.

»Gene doping is new and very, veryfrightening,« he admitted. Earlier in theconference, Professor Bengt Saltin, Chair-man of Anti Doping Denmark, had givena qualified guess that gene doping in thesports world could become a reality insport within the next three years.◆ (pp. 5)

Play the game

TIRED LEGS AND ENTHUSIASTIC HEARTS

What can cause one woman and 20 men from allcorners of the world to meet up in a sports hall?Football, of course.

After the first day's formalities, openingspeeches, acclimatisation and evening meal, mostPlay the Game delegates were expected to beready for an early night. Not so. Twenty-oneenthusiastic football lovers, all but one of themmale, still had the energy to meet in the sports hallfor an evening of "activity and games."

The four instructors had a hard task getting allthe participants (some slightly older than others)through a vigorous warm up programme.However, those expecting a simple kickabout soonfound themselves involved in both a tug-of-warcompetition and a sack race. However, the fun andgames were taken with a large dose of humour anda similar amount of sweat, and demonstrated thatsport has the power to create social bonds and newfriendships.

When the two multinational football teamsfinally took to the field to practise the beautifulgame, they proved that background and age are nohindrance to playing the world's favourite sport. ◆

Participants

How the IOC turned Andrew Jennings into a cult figure

8

By Steen Ankerdal

When Norway's Gerhard Heiberg toldthe Play the Game conference that -although he didn't agree with all the

views of Andrew Jennings - he was in com-plete agreement 'with Andrew's suggestion' toban boxing from the Olympics, any finaldoubts disappeared. Jennings - the biggestthorn in the IOC's side - was at last being takenseriously by members of the committee!

Few, however, believe that this new foundcomradeship could ever extend all the way toJuan Antonio Samaranch. Especially after Jen-nings documented the IOC president's allegedfascist past in such exacting detail. Nor could thecomradeship extend to many of Samaranch'sclose colleagues whom Jennings has had noqualms in referring to as "those old Nazis."

However, amongst the younger, reform-minded IOC members, the so-called "goodguys" like Gerhard Heiberg and Canadian DickPound, Jennings is accepted - not least becausehe does his homework. Like the best in his pro-fession, Andrew Jennings is able to back up hisallegations with qualified arguments borne outof painstaking research - and for this he has ear-ned the respect of his peers.

As Dick Pound, tipped as a possible succes-sor to Samaranch, commented recently: "Jen-nings is the only real opponent the IOC hasever had."

During the Play the Game conference, Jen-nings found plenty of time to chat with Pound.However, such civilities between the 54-year-old journalist and an IOC member would havebeen unthinkable eight years ago, when Jen-nings released his book The Lords of the Rings- a series of damning revelations that shook theOlympic movement, first in print and later as aTV documentary.

It was during the build up to the BarcelonaOlympics that I first met Jennings. He had asharp sense of humour, a healthy lack of re-spect for authority and conformity, and an en-thousiasm that inspired his fellow journalists.

At that time, the "old boys" of the IOCwould probably have liked to have seen Jen-nings burnt at the stake together with hisbooks, his co-author Vyv Simpson and theirlike-minded colleagues in the press. However,at that time, the feeling among the IOC mem-bers was that the accusations would end - thatwhen the athletes began to perform, interest inJennings and his "fellow fantasy writers"would disappear. However, they reckonedwithout Jennings' perseverance. When theydenied him press accreditation to the IOCsession immediately before the Olympics weredue to begin (as they had done at the threeprevious games), it only served to publicise hisallegations further.

After many rejections, Jennings was finallyaccredited to the IOC's conference in Lausannein 1999. His explanation of the committee'schange of heart - that they "daren't keep me outany longer" - didn't go down too well.

A couple of months later, two senior IOCmembers met Jennings in the bar of the HotelPalace in Lausanne, and asked him directly toinvestigate corruption in the amateur boxingassociation, the AIBA. Despite their lofty posi-tions, the IOC members could not - or darednot - take their suspicions further.

But Jennings, they reasoned correctly, hadboth the method and the will. His subsequentbook "The Great Olympic Swindle" clearly de-tailed the corruption endemic in amateur box-ing. Jennings documented Uzbek IOC memberRakhimov's mafia links so convincingly thatthe Australian government denied him an en-try visa, forcing him to sit out the SydneyOlympics.

Andrew Jennings' original investigationinto Olympic corruption should have ended in1992 - but he is still pursuing it today. And inthis capacity, Jennings' work across the globehas assumed mythical proportions.

However, Jennings is now becoming tired ofhearing himself tell the same old stories aboutthe "same old criminals." »The villains are thesame, and it is becoming more and more difficultto find something new« he says. »I intend to stopcompletely before I begin to bore myself.«

This summer's selection of a new IOC Presi-dent could be a natural cut-off point. Afterthen, the reporters that Jennings has inspiredmust take over his attempts to get a truthfulreply to the question: »Why are the lying ba-stards lying?«

Whenever he chooses to say a final farewellto his friends within the IOC, Jennings' place inhistory will be assured as the first journalist toexpose a catalogue of widespread corruptionwithin that body. ◆

Andrew Jennings is the International Olympic Movement's most

vehement critic. Over the past decade, the English journalist has

become known across the world for his revelations on corruption

in the IOC. Now, he says, it's time for others to take over

Play the game

9

By Jonna Toft

You can't help paying attention whenEnglish journalist Andrew Jennings be-gins to speak about his investigations

into the IOC. Words like corruption, briberyand favour fly through the air, and you get thefeeling that the small, grey-haired man with thesparkling eyes and nose for critical journalismknows exactly what he is talking about. Overthe past ten years, Jennings has carried outexhaustive research into the lives of the IOCleaders and written a number of critical booksdetailing what he claims is widespread corrup-tion in the movement, the latest being TheGreat Olympic Swindle. Andrew Jennings' en-tertaining address to Play the Game was basedon his disclosures surrounding the IOC.

He related that after Atlanta's victory in therace to stage the 1996 games, the IOC receivedso many protests from the rival cities concer-ning the activities of their members that theyheld a private hearing to examine the compla-ints. The Toronto team produced a detailed re-port of the abuses they'd suffered. They calcu-lated they had been ripped off to the tune of atleast 800,000 dollars. One of the tricks theyclaimed had been played on them was a ticketracket that had apparently been worked foryears by some members. The Toronto team

claimed that IOC members cashed in air ticketsprovided by the bidding city and either boughtcheaper tickets or didn't even bother to visit.»This practice is illegal,« said Jennings. »Andbecause it is a racket that had been practisedby so many for so long - it qualifies as anorganised crime.«

»There is no democracy in the IOC," he con-tinued. "The power and the money is control-led by Samaranch, and most of the membersare hand-picked by him.«

Massive freeloading»Serious evidence about IOC freeloading andcorruption has been found in bidding countriesnearly every year since 1986,« he said. »TheIOC's newly-formed Ethics Commission hasreceived evidence of massive freeloading andexploitation of the Atlanta bidding team. Butlast year - after considering the evidence in pri-vate - the commission decided there was needfor further action. And the IOC has come to thesame conclusions regarding complaints from adozen or more other bidding cities. Can youblame the IOC for covering up?« he asked. »Fartoo many journalists don't look behind thepublic face, and are satisfied with the press re-leases from the IOC's public relations bureau.«

In Sweden, an investigation is underwayinto whether the Stockholm bidding team used

bribery in its failed attempt to secure the 2004Olympics. If a court case results, it could pavethe way for other former candidate cities toblow the whistle in public, says Jennings. Heasserts that bribes are made regularly, and nocity can expect to host an Olympic gameswithout paying money under the table. For ex-ample, he claims that the civic and businessleaders of Salt Lake City, in their successful bidfor the 2002 Winter Games, paid 60.000 dollarsjust to find out which individual IOC-mem-bers were open to bribes.

»As journalists, it is our responsibility tolook behind the facade of the organisationsthat control our lives,« he said. »Politicians andgovernments will not do more to reform inter-national sport if we do not carry out our workcorrectly and reveal the private face of sportsorganisations. There is more than enough to begetting on with.«

Although Jennings is certainly one of thepeople that the IOC would like to see removedfrom the face of the Earth, he has never felt per-sonally threatened as a result of his journalism.However, he faces court action at regular inter-vals and some years ago was sentenced to fivedays in a Lausanne jail.

Read more in Andrew Jennings' books "The Lordsof the Rings" and "The Great Olympic Swindle."

Play the game

Tales from the dark sideThe International Olympic

Committee is still doing all it can

to live up to its bad reputation,

says Andrew Jennings

The IOC

The International Olympic Committee chooses its own members. It currently has 127 mem-bers and 20 honorary members.Around forty percent are from Europe.The IOC is governedby an 11-man executive committee. Since 1980, Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch has been cha-irman.The 80-year-old Samaranch is expected to step down in Summer 2001.The IOC's pri-mary role is to supervise the organisation of the summer and winter Olympic Games.

Votes for sale in the night

1 0

LIES AND LATIN

In his comment to the Play the Game conference,46-year-old David Walsh did not mince his words.

»It was a load of nonsense,« he said of PatrickSchamasch's earlier address on doping. »Scha-masch only gave the political version - the versionin which the IOC is leading the fight. But theyhave never taken doping seriously enough. In-stead, they have attempted to hide it from publicview. They have never tried to get to the heart ofthe problem.«

Walsh, who has been plying his trade since 1976,has had a special interest in doping since the full ex-tent of the problem was realised in the mid 1990's.

He admits that things improved in Sydney, ma-inly because more tests were carried out - but heaccuses both the IOC and the Sydney officials ofwrongly giving the impression that the problem isunder control.

»The IOC wants to protect its image,« he conti-nued. »Therefore, it needs to show that it is car-rying out lots of tests - but it does not welcome po-sitive ones. There is still no definitive test for EPOor growth hormone. In fact, there are drugs that wedon't even know about yet. We simply cannot tellwhether our champions have been using drugs.«

Walsh's own opinion is clear. He abhors the factthat in some areas of sport, "clean" competitorsstand little chance of success. »I often try to remindmyself that we all have the right to play fair,« hesaid. »It is a fundamental right that everyone has.The right to play according to the rules. As journa-lists we should defend the person who plays fair -and that person is not necessarily the champion.«

KL

Play the game

By Jonna Toft

How did the Swedish favouritefor the FIFA president's posi-tion, UEFA Chairman Lennart

Johannson, end up losing the vote toSwitzerland's Joseph Blatter? What cau-sed the delegates - especially the Afri-cans - to change their minds and votefor former president Havelange's right-hand man, when a short time previ-ously they had committed themselvesto Johannson?

And how did South Africa lose thefight to host the 2006 World Cup afterJoseph Blatter had promised the tour-nament to Africa if he was elected?What accounts for Germany's victory?

The answer is money.According to two German journalists

who addressed the Play the Game confe-rence, money means everything in inter-national football. Thomas Kistner of Süd-deutsche Zeitung, and Jens Weinreich ofBerliner Zeitung have written a series ofarticles and a book entitled "Das Milliar-denspiel" (The Game of Billions).

When Joseph Blatter put himself up asFIFA presidential candidate in April1998, it was the less-influential nationssuch as Algeria, Libya, Lebanon and Gu-inea that supported his candidature. Fewof the nations from football's centralpower blocs of Europe or South Americawere in favour of his nomination. How-ever, two months later, Blatter was ele-cted president with a total of 111 votesagainst the 80 of Lennart Johansson.

The following day, Kistner and We-inrich spoke to Issa Hayatou, Vice Pre-sident of FIFA and representative ofFIFA's African offshoot, the CAF.Hayatou revealed that shortly beforethe vote was to take place, most of theAfrican delegates had confirmed theirintention to vote for Johansson.

Said Jens Weinreich: »Hayatou saidthat at around midnight he was calledover to the hotel used by the Africandelegation. When he arrived, many ofthe delegates asked him how muchmoney he could get from the CAF to en-sure they voted for Johansson. It see-med that they had already been offeredlarge incentives by the Blatter camp.Hayatou confirmed what other obser-vers had also alleged: that the votingprocess was nothing more than a bid-ding business akin to a bazaar.«

In his campaign for their votes, Blat-ter allegedly gave a pledge to the Afri-can delegates: if he were elected, the2006 World Cup would be held on theircontinent. However, this proved to be ahollow promise.

Did Germany buy theWorld Cup?In July last year, FIFA's executive com-mittee was charging with choosing thecountry best suited to host of the 2006World Cup: With all other nations eli-minated, the final choice was betweenSouth Africa or Germany, and the voteended up 12-11 in favour of Germany.The deciding factor was widely repor-ted as the abstention of New Zealanddelegate Charles Dempsey. Had he vo-ted for South Africa, Blatter's decidingpresidential vote would have handedthe tournament to the African conti-nent. So what prevented the New Zea-land delegate casting his vote in favourof South Africa? »Dempsey would notvote because he had been subjected tointense pressure - including attemptedbribes from both sides,« said Weinreich.

The two journalists point out thatGermany won the vote because ofsupport from Asian nations that hadpreviously pledged their support toSouth Africa.

According to German journalists,

corruption in FIFA is widespread

Participants

»The IOC is still not taking doping seriously,«says Sunday Times sportsjournalist David Walsh

1 1

»All eight European countries on theexecutive committee voted in a bloc -this was the first time in many yearsthey had done this. After Johansson'sloss in Paris they dared not risk anothercatastrophe so they decided to stick to-gether. There were 24 members on theexecutive committee, so they neededfive more votes to win. In the end, theygot just four,« continued Weinreich.

South Africa's supporters knewthey needed to secure at least one ofthe Asian votes to take their total to 12and force a deciding vote by Blatter.But their optimism drained awaywhen it emerged that the Asians werevoting en bloc for Germany. But whywas this?

»We must look at some of the bigGerman businesses that were active be-hind the scenes,« continues Weinreich.»DaimlerChrysler, Bayer, BASF and Sie-mens proclaimed new investments andjoint ventures in Thailand and SouthKorea worth two billion dollars. Thistook place in the final ten days beforethe FIFA vote. And eight days before,the German Federal Parliament - in a se-cret meeting - agreed to sell weapons toSaudi Arabia.

We are not saying that these firmsand the government conspired to buythe World Cup. But we think that theydisplayed astonishingly good timing. Itwas precisely these nations that endedup voting for Germany. In our opinion,

this was decisive to the final outcome ofthe vote.«

The reaction in South Africa was an-ger and frustration. As journalist JuliaBeffon from the Mail & Guardian re-lated: "Initially the anger was directedat Charles Dempsey. But gradually itturned into bitterness towards atEurope and the rest of the industrialisedworld. People felt that no matter whathappened, the European countrieswould always get what they wanted.They have the power, the money andthe best footballers.

»In my opinion, the entire African fo-otball world saw the vote as yet anotherexample of money controlling sportinginterests.«

After Kistner and Weinreich's ad-dress, a Swedish journalist asked whet-her - given Lennart Johannson's statedcommitment to openness, especiallyin economic matters - the situationwithin FIFA would now be different ifJohansson had become president

»Yes, I think he would have done bet-ter than Blatter,« said Thomas Kistner.»Blatter is at the time involved in acorruption scandal in Brazil which hasnow turned into an investigation intohis predecessor and good friend JoaoHavelange and his former son-in-lawRicardo Teixeira, who is also a memberof FIFA's Executive Committee.

It is extremely bad news for footballif their top leaders talk more aboutmoney than sport,« he added. »Butthings will only change if society takesthe initiative to alter the rules, politicsand referees. Some of this has happe-ned: when Andrew Jennings first beganwriting about corruption in sport in1992, he was sentenced to five days injail. Now, however, many people arewriting about it.« ◆

Play the game

»Brazilian football is full of corruption,« says Thomas Kistner. »It is impossible to become a powerful football administrator in South America without counting former FIFAChairman Joao Havelange among yourlist of friends«

Jens Weinreich: »We are notsaying that German firms and

the government conspired tobuy the World Cup 2006. Butthey displayed astonishingly

good timing«

PHOTO: JENS NØRGAARD LARSEN/NORDFOTO

1 2

SWINDLE IN MAURITIUS

Shan Ip Ting Wah, Sports Editor of the largestnewspaper in Mauritius, found himself in troubleafter printing a series of articles critical of hiscountry's Olympic Committee (MNOC). The artic-les claimed that a grant from the IOC support pro-gramme "Olympic Solidarity" destined for MNOCprojects disappeared without trace. Whatever be-came of it, he told Play the Game, the money didnot make it to the sportsmen and women whom itwas intended to benefit.

»After I had documented the problem, ourSports and Youth Minister put a block on allfurther contributions to the MNOC,« said Shan IpTing Wah. »The chairman of the organisation thenthreatened to sue me, but nothing happened in thefollowing six months. I'm not sure if they have agood case.«

Together with English journalist Andrew Jen-nings, he now plans to contact the IOC's EthicalCommittee detailing the allegations.

»I am continuing to work with the case, and amvery happy about the new contacts I have made atthis conference,« he added. »They are worth just asmuch as the speeches.«

Shan Ip Ting Wah also participated in the 1997conference, and is looking into the possibilities ofhosting a future event.

Despite the introduction of fiftynew reforms after 1999's SaltLake City bribery scandal, Nor-

wegian IOC member Gerhard Heibergis far from satisfied. In his contributionto Play the Game, he questioned whe-ther the reforms went far enough: »Weare getting to the stage where we will beforced to look at the structure of the IOCand ask if it is modern and representa-tive enough,« he said. »We must askourselves whether we are working inthe correct manner. We should be highlyaware of the ethical arguments, and theIOC's Ethical Commission will come toplay a highly important role in the fut-ure. We must ensure that Europe, NorthAmerica and Japan do not continue todominate - we must endeavour to in-clude all continents in our work.«

Gerhard Heiberg was Chairman ofthe Lillehammer Winter Olympics in1994, and despite his well-documentedscepticism of the IOC he became a mem-ber of the organisation soon afterwards.Now he wholeheartedly supports theideals behind the Olympic movement,and has been known to comment:»Actually, I don't see myself as a mem-ber of a mafia-like organisation. It feelsquite funny to be in such a position.«

Closed CircleBut how did things get so bad that the IOCwas forced to introduce so many reforms ina single year?

»The IOC did not keep up with the ti-mes,« he continued. »Some would alsosay that we did not act responsiblyenough. The media was interested inwhat was happening at the IOC, but wethought that since it was not publicmoney we were dealing with, ouraccounts could be kept private. We didnot act openly. In the past, very fewpeople knew where the IOC's moneycame from - and where it went to.«

When Juan Antonio Samaranch be-came IOC Chairman in 1980, one of themain challenges facing the committeewas to scrape enough money togetherto fund the work of the Olympic move-ment, he said. "The inhabitants of Mon-treal are still paying for the 1976 Games.Since then, however, the flow of moneyhas grown at a tremendous rate. At theSydney Olympics, eleven top sponsorspaid 550 million dollars to the IOC."

The price of TV rights has rocketed.Before the games began the IOC's in-come totalled 2.6 billion dollars. Whilemost of this money was shared out be-tween the national and internationalOlympic committees, a total of 7 percentheaded directly to the IOC coffers.

»But something has gone wrong,«continued Heiberg. »With so muchmoney in the system, some have seenthe job of hosting the games simply asa chance to improve their country's in-frastructure. Money has been misdi-rected. This has been taking place foryears, leading up to the so-called Salt

Continued needfor IOC reformThe International Olympic Committee has recently

introduced fifty wide-reaching reforms. IOC member

Gerhard Heiberg thinks that this is not enough

By Jonna Toft

Play the game

Shan Ip Ting Wah isconsidering hosting a future conference onsports and medicinein his home nation,Mauritius.

Participants

1 3

»We have come a long way,but we must continue to askwhether the IOC's structureis representative enough,«says Gerhard Heiberg

Play the game

Boxing threatened with expulsionSo many inexplicable results occurred in the boxing tournament at last year's Syd-ney Olympics that Gerhard Heiberg is now investigating whether fraud took place.»What occurred in Sydney was entirely unacceptable,« he said. »The IOC is theonly body that can do something about it.We will investigate the flow of cash withininternational amateur boxing and investigate how they choose their judges.«

»We are working towards a new scoring system in which everyone can see howthe points have been awarded.There is plenty of work to do, but I hope we cancome up with a solution that allows boxing to remain in the Olympic programme,«added Heiberg, who was one of the most vocal objectors to the results in Sydney.

Lake City scandal at the end of 1998.«In contrast to many of the IOC's cri-

tics, Heiberg believes that the reformscarried out in 1999 were entirely rele-vant and effective. »The Salt Lake Cityscandal changed the IOC's mindset,«he said. »We undertook an aggressivereform process in which ten membersleft the organisation more or less vo-luntarily.«

How does he respond to the fact thatalthough allegedly tainted by corrup-tion, other IOC members such as FIFA'sJoseph Blatter and Joao Havelangeremain.

»Some people in the IOC simplyshould not be members of the organisa-tion," he continued. "But the situationwas different when they were nomi-nated. The method in which today'smembers are chosen makes me confi-dent we are now more protected aga-inst the few who put self-interest beforethat of the movement.«

Open for scrutinyBut are the reforms worth anything - oris the IOC just playing to the gallery?

»I think we have come a long way.The IOC is much more open now," saidHeiberg. "Everyone is aware of themoney flowing through the organisa-tion. The IOC's meetings are open tothe press and an ethics commissionmonitors our work. We have rules thatstate that IOC members may not rece-ive gifts from candidate cities, and wemay not visit these cities. The fight aga-inst doping was maybe not taken upwholeheartedly in the past. But nowwe have set aside 25 million dollars toget WADA up and running as an inde-pendent doping agency. All in all, Idon't think we are doing so bad.«

In Heiberg's opinion, the wide-rea-ching reforms of last year give the IOCa sound basis to work further on theimprovement of its entire structure - atask that the committee's new chair-man will undoubtedly have a large in-fluence upon.

»It is very important that we choosethe right person to succeed Juan Anto-nio Samaranch in July,« added Heiberg,without hinting who he feels is favou-rite for the job. Strong candidates in-clude WADA's Canadian chairmanDick Pound (see pages 6-7) and Bel-gium's Jaques Rogge. ◆

1 4

By Kasper Lindberg

»The Sydney Olympics represen-ted a significant turning point in

the fight for fair and equitable competi-tion. Drug cheats are now finding fewerand fewer places to hide.« This wasJohn Mendoza's message to Play theGame. The acting Chief Executive Offi-cer of the Australian Sports DrugAgency backed up his claims by listingan impressive array of anti-doping initi-atives taken by the organisers of theSydney Olympics. Later, speaking onthe same theme, IOC Medical DirectorPatrick Schamasch underlined the mes-sage, claiming: »The IOC is - and hasbeen, over the last 30 years - leading theway in the fight against doping.« Thetwo speakers backed up their claimswith plenty of statistics relating to thenumber of tests and positive results inSydney. However, many of the assem-bled journalists remained sceptical.

John Mendoza pointed to a numberof milestones he claimed were reachedin Sydney. A record number of tests -

2043 - were carried out on competitors.Many of these tests were unannounced,and took place before the games gotunderway. An EPO test was used forthe first time. The test results were ac-cessible to all, and independent obser-vers were invited to view the whole pro-cess. Speaking shortly after John Men-doza, Patrick Schamasch told the confe-rence how the IOC persuaded a recordnumber of laboratories across the worldto carry out doping tests before thegames commenced, and that mostsamples were taken out of competition.

Ping pong without a winnerNo one could deny that positive devel-opments in the fight against dopingare always welcome. However, somedelegates expressed the opinion thatMendoza and Schamasch had under-stated the size of the problem. Theachievements of Sydney, claimed onesceptic, should be taken in the contextof the continued worldwide rise in do-ping use and the constant develop-ment of masking agents that are ma-

king illegal substances increasinglydifficult to detect.

This cynicism was echoed in the fol-lowing debate. Both Mendoza and Scha-masch admitted that the battle is still along way from being won, but both wereof the opinion that the "powers of good"now have the upper hand. However,some delegates questioned whether it ispossible to talk about a turning pointwhen no reliable test for EPO or growthhormone has yet been developed - andwhen other substances are being devel-oped that few are yet aware of.

The debate began to resemble a gameof ping-pong, with both Mendoza andSchmasch reiterating the positive mes-sage while journalists queued up to qu-estion the validity of their arguments.John Mendoza's final contribution was,for many, the most telling. »I believe thatthe gathering of information is our bestchance of solving this problem,« he said.»If we are to stamp out doping, we needto make a strong investment over thenext 10-20 years.« ◆

Play the game

Patrick Schamasch (above) and John Mendoza(below) claim that doping cheatsare facing tough times ahead

The Olympic Games in Sydney were not only notablefor sporting achievement. More drug tests were carriedout than ever before, resulting in an unprecedentednumber of athletes withdrawing from the competitionbefore it even began. For the first time, a test was intro-duced that could directly detect the presence of EPOthrough a combination blood / urine sample. However,the test was only able detect traces of the drug takenbetween three and four days before the sample was ta-ken.Typically, a competitor using EPO will stop using thesubstance weeks before any major competition.A totalof 300 EPO tests were carried out in Sydney - and noneproved positive.In addition,the Sydney Olympics did nottest for human growth hormone, which is being increa-singly used by athletes to gain an unfair advantage.

Leading the way - or following the trend?What is the current state of play in the fight against doping?

Two experts linked to the IOC had a tough time convincing

Play the Game that the battle is being won

A growing number of sportsmen and women are developing

disorder. Researchers fear the tendency is especially pronounced

in young people and children

By Marie Venø Thesbjerg

1 5

The death of a female gymnast in the early1980's made a lasting impression on Jor-unn Sundgot-Borgen of Norway's Natio-

nal School of Sport. The girl, who was an acqu-aintance of Ms. Sundgot-Bogen, had developedanorexia, and lost weight due to extreme me-thods of training. As a result of her friend'sdeath, Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen began to inves-tigate eating disorders among young athletes,and found some alarming results. She pro-vided Play the Game with some startling evi-dence from her research - such as the fact that18 percent of top handball players suffer fromsome kind of eating disorder.

In a society where anorexia is a growing pro-blem, Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen is especiallyworried about the effect of extreme trainingmethods on young people. Although the mediagenerally focuses on elite athletes, she pointsout that eating disorders are increasingly affe-cting amateur sportspeople - including chil-dren.

»It is difficult to say whether society's focuson body, weight and is having an effect onsport, or whether sport's extreme use of thebody is having an effect on society,« she says.

»But what is certain is that the rate of eatingdisorders in sport is double than of society as awhole.«

»The problem is especially pronounced inaesthetic disciplines such as gymnastics, we-ight-class sports like judo and endurancesports. Women are not alone in suffering fromthis problem. Men are also at risk. Ski jumpers,for example, whose success depends on losingweight, are also potential victims.«

Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen points out that notenough information is available on the dama-ging effects of eating disorders. The fact thatmany top female athletes stop menstruatingdue to hard physical training has been com-mon knowledge for many years. However, fewathletes or coaches are aware of the dangersthat arise when the body ceases to produce thehormones it needs to keep the bones in goodcondition. »I have seen a 20-year-old girl withthe skeleton of a 70-year-old,« she says. »Whatis destroyed cannot be repaired.«

All too often, she adds, young people entertop sport too early, when the body is not yetfully developed. The young body can onlyadapt to give the highest level of presentation af-

ter extremely hard training, which can have acostly effect on the body's subsequent develop-ment. When women do not menstruate, it canmean they have an abnormally low fat level andlack a balanced diet.

»If women are not menstruating, then this isabnormal," she warns. "Most simply do not re-alise they are risking permanent damage totheir bone structure.«

Coaches focused on resultsShe also provides examples of coaches whoconvince their athletes to lose weight, but areunable to offer sound advice on the correctway to cut down on fat. Trainers are all too of-ten focused on results, she claims, and oftenonly have a layman's knowledge of nutritionand diet. This can result in athletes employingstarvation methods, which can result in seriousconsequences for health. If athletes force theirweight down to improve their results, such acycle of abuse can damage the body and in thelong run, have a negative effect on perform-ance

Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen expresses her hopethat a raising of awareness can make real inro-ads into the problem. However, she believesthat expert professional help must also bemade freely available. If athletes wish toachieve a high level of performance withoutdestroying their body, good advice is essential.

»One solution could be that all those takingpart in sports where eating disorders are com-monplace are required to have a set percentageof fat in their body. In addition, the age ofparticipation in major competitions should beraised,« she adds. ◆

Playing a dangerous game

Play the game

1 6

By Marie Venø Thesbjerg

»Excuse me, Mr Ulrich. Should we wearsports clothes for your event over in the

sports hall?« I venture.»No, I don't think so,« he replies. »Actually,

yes - you can hang on the wall bars or runaround a bit if you like. But we will certainlynot be doing any gymnastics.«

»OK« I tried again - »so are you giving aspeech?«

»Um, no, I hope not,« he smiles.And he is right. Unlike the rest of Play the

Game's delegates, Torben Ulrich does not offera traditional speech from the podium.Although the 71-year-old man with the longgrey beard cannot be categorised, his talent isundoubtedly still blooming. Multi talented,with a musical, sporting and journalisticbackground, Torben Ulrich still plays tennis(even though it sometimes involves an easeland a tennis ball coated in paint), writes,participates in sport and has even made a filmdetailing everyday motion and exercise in hisadopted home city of Seattle.

And this evening in the sports hall he fillsthe air with his soft, eloquent tones. He takesus with him into a world where philosophyand motion merge to become one. A millionmiles from the conference's debating points ondoping and corruption, he shares with us hisbelief that we should practice sport with deepfeeling, and compete as friends, not enemies.Instead of focusing on winning and losing, weshould strive to realise sport's deeper values.The ability to participate in sport is a gift, hesays, that allows us the opportunity to reflect,and examine our selves.

Afterwards Torben Ulrich is asked whetherhe can play tennis without allowing aggressive,

competitive thoughts to emerge. »Yes, well, Ithink it is possibly to be friendly and still beatthe shit out of people,« he jokes. But seriously,the answer is yes, he thinks so.

»For me, it's all about finding other ways ofplaying. To be close to the game, to become atone with the ball, the physical exercise and theplay. To move deeper into the game before itdevelops into a simple question of winningand losing.«

Even during his long career as a professio-nal tennis player, Ulrich has always decidedwhich events should take priority in his life. Hefamously arrived late for an important matchat Wimbledon because he had been out liste-ning to jazz the night before, and on anot-her occasion he decided that he would ratherwatch the football world cup final on TV thanplay in a national tennis final.

»I am so old now, and I know that greed hasalways been a feature of sport,« he says. »Nowthere are just a few more zeros added on to thefigures. But for me, sport is not always aboutachieving a goal - it's more to do with movingforwards. Seeing moment - seizing moment -bingo!«

Torben Ulrich is a renowned artist, and thisoutlook manifests itself in his pictures. Hisphilosophy is to view everyday situations witha fresh approach and react differently to thenorm. In this way, he feels, it is possible toachieve change.

»I cannot say if there is a purpose in sport,«he says, »But for me, the thinking behind sportis to play deeper.« A reference to his beliefs onthe spirituality of sport, in which the fiveelements of Buddhism - water, earth, fire, airand space - are both a part of the body and apart of the game. ◆

Play the game

Former top tennis playerTorben Ulrich has been involved in journalism,music, film, radio and Buddhism. He also paintspictures by volleying a tennis ball marinated in paint against an easel

The conference gave an opportunity for 71-year-old Torben Ulrich

to share his thoughts on movement and play

Philosophy and absorption- a breathing space

1 7

»No-one can deny that plenty ofmoney is being made out of

sport today,« commented Denmark'sMinister of Culture Elsebeth GernerNielsen in her address to Play theGame. »But if the pursuit of large profitsleads to sports organisations thinkingand acting like private companies, thensport's cultural dimension will suffer.«

Today, she said, sport is producinggreater profits than ever before. It is esti-mated that global sport-related turnoveramounts to three percent of the world'stotal economic activity. ChampionsLeague football annually furnishes UEFAwith approximately one billion SwissFrancs from sponsorship and TV rights.Manchester United FC is a limited com-pany, with a turnover of approximately£100 million, while the IOC's incomefrom sponsorship and TV rights amountsto almost $2 billion.

»These are sums that would make aminister of culture green with envy. Butwhen money becomes more importantthan values, sport loses its cultural andpolitical basis. Sport must feel it is bo-und to certain to fundamental values - itshould not have profit as a primarygoal. If this tendency continues, it willbecome more and more difficult to pro-tect the cultural vision in sport, and re-ceive public support on a broad scale,«said the minister, adding that if thetrend continues, sport also risks losingfinancial support from governments.

However, despite their huge influenceon the world of sport, Elsebeth GernerNielsen pointed out that the IOC, UEFAand many more of sport's highest gover-ning bodies are still suffering from aconspicuous lack of democracy

»Along with the tradition of the vo-

luntary sector, sport has been an impor-tant factor in the construction of modernwelfare systems, and in advancing dem-ocracy and responsibility to all levels ofsociety,« she continued. »However, Ihave some difficulty detecting recogni-tion of these principles among the lea-ders of international sports organisati-ons.« The Minister cited the example ofa major international doping conferencein Lausanne in February 1999. Top re-presentatives of world sporting instituti-ons listened to addresses by no fewerthan 40 government representatives. Allspeakers were united in their demandfor the establishment of an independentdoping agency and the harmonisation ofsanctions. However, as soon as the go-vernment representatives had left, thesports leaders immediately began to di-scuss ways of avoiding harmonisation.

»I think that the democratic deficit isa barrier to the advancement of sportbuilt upon mutual responsibility,« sheadded. »And furthermore, I believethat some kind of reciprocity is neces-sary if we are to prevent modern, top le-vel sport simply degenerating into en-tertainment for profit.«

In order to maintain their credibilityand help sport to become a positive factorin a globalised society, sports organisati-ons must be fully open to the press, war-ned the Minister. She added that journali-sts must cover sport with a more criticaleye, and not simply print news aboutworld records and champions.

»I hope this conference will enablejournalists to adopt a more critical, passi-onate, committed and independent viewof sport,« she concluded. »A view thatwill commit sport to ethical values, cul-ture and cultural policy.« ◆

WHEN THE MONEYMENTAKE OVER

Denmark's Minister of Culture sounded a warning against

sport allowing itself to be dominated by the profit motive

Play the game

»When money is seen as more important than values, sport loses its cultural and political relevance,«said Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen

Sports journalists of the future must work to safeguard theirright to free expression, says Aidan White, General Secretaryof the International Federation of Journalists

In his address to Play the Game, Aidan White of the Internati-onal Federation of Journalists predicted a complex future inwhich sports coverage includes many different forms of com-munication. As a result, he said, sports journalists could beforced to work even harder to safeguard the right of free ex-pression.

»As a former newsman whose career has included report-ing from the touchline and editing big match reports, I un-derstand why there is no popular movement around theworld that can match the cultural richness, economic cloutand political power of sport,« said Aidan White.

»Sport means much to the people who play and someti-

1 8

One of the most influential figures inEuropean TV Sport is Stefan Kürten.German-born Kürten is Vice Presidentof TV station ZDF and Chairman of theEuropean Broadcasting Union, (EBU)which represents public TV stations in50 European countries. Addressing thePlay the Game conference, he askedwhether viewers are beginning to tireof TV's current coverage of sport

»Viewers don't want to see more sporton TV,« he said. »All over Europe we arewitnessing a drop in the popularity ofTV football. Only the top games comeclose to attracting the large audiences ofthe past. If TV stations wish to avoid amajor drop in interest, they must limittheir transmissions and concentrate onquality.«

According to Kürten, TV soccer'senormous costs are increasingly forcingthe major channels to extend their trans-missions far beyond the length of afootball match. A 90-minute ChampionsLeague clash can typically take up 140minutes of broadcast time - includinglengthy analysis and plenty of advertise-ments, which help the TV station foot thehuge cost of the broadcast rights.

Kürten pointed out that while manychannels broadcast sports events, veryfew show events of high quality. Hesuggested that TV sport is approachinga point where viewers are starting tolose interest.

At the moment, he said, a large num-ber of TV channels are competing witheach other for the rights to broadcast bigsporting events such as top football ga-mes. The sports clubs and associations

that own the rights hold all the cards,and there is no shortage of TV stationswilling to do business with them.

However, he warned that many com-mercial channels are now on the vergeof reaching the economical "pain bar-rier" - a barrier that has already beenreached by many public broadcasters,which are often the only channelsavailable to many households.

»We have certainly not yet reachedthe final breaking point,« he said, »butthe growth in the cost of broadcastrights will certainly be slowing down inthe future.«

One consequence of the high cost ofsports transmissions is that major TVstations are choosing to concentrate onwhat they see as the most importantevents - football's Champions Leaguebeing a prime example - leavingviewers and the broader sporting com-munity as the losers. If the public TVstations cannot even afford to broad-cast minority sports, these sports'popularity will drop further due tolack of exposure.

What would it mean for a country ifthe national football team's importantmatches were only available to a selectfew, he asked. Should the average fan beforced to pay the often very high costs offollowing the game on satellite or cable?In an effort to avoid this scenario, Kür-ten revealed that the public TV channelsin the EBU have already secured the rig-hts to cover a number of importantsporting events in the future. UEFA, forexample has decided to deal with EBU-affiliated public TV in a different waythan its commercial counterparts. ◆

Play the game

A small numberof sports will dominate the future

By Karen Balling Radmer

What is the future of sport? Can TV stations continueto pay larger and larger fees to transmit the bigsporting events? Who makes the decisions - the

sports clubs or the sponsors? In the intense fight for TV airtime,minority sports are facing a fight for survival. The effect that theInternet will have on sport is still unclear. And in the future,sports journalists will be faced with conflicting loyalties.

A number of media representatives attended the Play theGame conference, each with their own prediction for the fut-ure of sports coverage in a globalised and increasinglymoney-fixated world.

Football's own goal

Defending freedom of expression

1 9 Play the game

»With the advent ofglobal broadcasting,the sky's the limit forthe earning potential ofbig clubs,« says BennyPeiser

»In the future, information will be glo-balised. Larger and fewer media giantswill own the lion's share of the market.This can mean only one direction forsport,« said Benny Peiser, Sports Histo-rian and Sociologist at Liverpool's JohnMorris University

»Professional sport - whether viewed onthe TV or the Internet, read in the new-spapers or transmitted through othermedia - will be more popular than anyother form of entertainment. But this willnot include all forms of sport. Just a fewdisciplines such as tennis and footballwill dominate the market, because moreand more viewers across the world willbe watching the same satellite channelsowned by just a few media organisati-ons. In other words,« claimed Peiser »weare heading towards the global standar-disation of sport.«

The Sky's the limitAt the same time, larger football clubswill start to transmit their games throughtheir own media companies. And withmore and more Internet users, the clubswill also be able to sell and market them-

selves across the world. In such a situa-tion, Peiser expressed fears that objectivesports journalism could vanish, to be re-placed by homepages and publicationsbiased in favour of the clubs they repres-ent. »With global broadcasting, the sky'sthe limit for the top clubs' earning poten-tial,« he said. »In the future global mar-ket, the big clubs will employ journaliststo report from their own games - and thisis where journalistic principles will bethreatened.«

With the growth of global media com-panies, many lesser sports will experi-ence a drop in popularity, and in somecases, traditional sports will vanish alto-gether, he added. Research shows thatmany viewers enjoy watching the less-popular sports - but would be unwillingto pay for the privilege of doing so.

On the other hand, he also saw freshhope in the Internet and other newtechnology, which could allow minoritysports their own niche in the form of achannel or homepage. »Not only will wesee English football become popular inIndia,« he said, »we could also see Indianfootball clubs achieving cult status inEngland.« ◆

mes a lot more to the audience - it inspires childhood dreams,national passions and feelings of community that help peopleto identify themselves in a world which is changing rapidlyand in ways that are not always for the best. The ability to re-ach global audiences through television has created a billion-dollar sports industry involving powerful multinational cor-porate sponsors, advertisers, sports organisations, consumergoods producers and media companies.«

»The globalisation of sport has created wealth for manypeople and institutions in the sports and media world. It hasalso changed the role that sport plays in society. In the questfor market share, the cultural, democratic and community va-lues previously synonymous with sport are steadily losingimportance,« he continued.

In spite of daily pressure from sponsors, sports clubs, as-sociations and their own employers, Aidan White pointedout that ensuring truthful and objective coverage of the worldof sport is still the ultimate responsibility of each individualjournalist.

»It is not unrealistic for us to picture a world where moneydoes not mean everything for sport,« he said. »Democraticvalues also exist that are essential for sport's well being. Wemust take these values into account in our reporting. We havea responsibility to the society we live in.«

He warned of a future in which sports coverage is control-led by fewer and larger media giants, each with the financialmuscle to buy a controlling stake in any number of professio-nal sports clubs. This, he said, represents a challenge to thejournalistic principle of free speech. In the world of sport, toofew journalists are willing to speak out against wrongdoing,and many feel the pressure to comply with the interests of thecommercial organisations they represent.

»Therefore we must act as a watchdog,« he added. »At themoment we are not doing this as well as we could. We allknow about big stories that for one reason or another havenever made it into print. We must ensure that there is a cleardividing line between journalists and the economic interestsof sport. We must fight for independent sports journalismthat retains the three basic ingredients of truth, objectivityand accountability.« ◆

The big boys take over

2 0

Large sums of money are waitingto be made from Internet sport.Sports clubs and associations are

aware of this - but they have not yetdiscovered how to effectively tap intothe riches on offer. Until they do, theBritish Broadcasting Company is devel-oping a public service Internet site de-voted to sport, with the stated objectiveof delivering clear, objective informa-tion to its visitors.

Called BBC Sport Online, the com-mercial-free site was launched in Julylast year and achieved almost immedi-ate success, logging up to three millionvisitors each day. The site is notable foroffering a wealth of information andnews on a large number of sporting to-pics. If, for example, the user wishes toview news of the latest golf tourna-ment, BBC Sport Online will providethe background and statistics, break-downs of each hole, information on thebest method of approaching the course,features and video clips - all availablefree of charge.

Although a countless number ofcommercial sports websites already ex-ist, BBC Sport Online is attempting totake the concept a stage further. The Bri-tish media giant already has access tothousands of video clips, a worldwidenetwork of journalists and vast archi-ves. Its ambitious plan is to pool allthese resources to become a new inde-pendent online medium offering anenormous amount of information onsport across the world.

Up to now, thanks to its wealth of in-dependent material, BBC Sport Onlinehas avoided entering negotiations withthe world's various sports governingbodies over broadcast rights.

Loss of IndependenceSpeaking to the Play the Game confe-rence, BBC Sport Online Director PeteClifton said he was aware that sportsclubs have not yet discovered how tomake best use of the Internet - but theyknow that they could be looking at a

Virtual riches on By Karen Balling Radmer

Play the game

THE AFTERMATH OF A SCANDAL

»Sport is not in good shape in India,« says Siddharth Saxenaof the Hindustan Times. »It receives only a very small part ofthe national budget, and currently, even this money is nowbeing spent on arms. But still, there are two sports that are ex-tremely popular in India - cricket and football.«

»But many people - both children and adults - have givenup playing cricket because it is becoming so difficult to ar-range a game,« adds Saxena's fellow Play the Game attendee,Rahul Sivasankar of the Times of India. »Many sponsors havewithdrawn from the sport.«

Last year, India witnessed one of the biggest ever scandalsin the long history of its national sport. Cases of players "providing information to bookmakers" - in other words,attempting to throw matches or individual innings' for cash -led to four top players being banned for life. Accusationshave also been levelled at the self-appointed national cricketauthorities, who have allegedly entered into an "under thetable" deal with TV companies.

The two journalists express fears for the future of localsport if Indian TV becomes dominated by global mediagiants. »We need new laws,« continues Sivasankar. »I'mafraid that the international TV stations are on their way intoIndia - and they only rate a few sports worthy of coverage.Therefore, the local, more Indian sports will become moreand more marginalised.«

In India, he adds, very few sports facilities exist, and theconcept of "sport for all" is often nothing more than a loftyideal. »Nothing is well-organised here,« he says. »But youmust remember, we are talking about a country of one billioninhabitants.« He points to the fact that women are taking moreof an interest in sport and that more of the big athletics stars arefemale, as positive developments. »This may sound a littlecrazy, but in India, the beauty-ideal for many women is to beas light-skinned as possible,« he says. »Many women believethat the darker you are, the more difficult it is to find a hus-band. Therefore they stay indoors and avoid the sun. Many fa-milies simply do not allow their girls to enjoy sport out in thesunshine. This is proving to be an obstacle to the progress weare making. On the other hand, luckily, there are many womenwho have an independent profession. Attitudes are changing.«

Participants

Indian journalists Siddharth Saxena andRahul Sivasankar told that their country'slowly sports budget iscurrently being spent on arms

2 1

goldmine. Even the International Olym-pic Committee is now beginning to usethe Internet as a serious commercialtool, and is monitoring its rivals closely.

During last summer's Sydney Olym-pics, he said, BBC Sport Online natu-rally wanted to provide the best cover-age possible. However, the rights tostage the games had been bought exclu-sively by TV companies, which meantthat journalists representing Internet-based media were not even allowed ac-cess to the stadium area. Despite the factthat BBC TV was one of the accreditedTV stations and a major sponsor of thegames, its online arm was restricted toshowing pictures from outside the offi-cial stadium area. The IOC went to a lotof trouble to ensure that their conditionswere strictly enforced.

»The IOC had a group of lawyers inEngland who, while the Olympic Ga-mes were taking place, sat and surfedthe Internet,« explains Pete Clifton. »Atone point I received a call in the middleof the night, where I was asked to pro-vide evidence that one of the clips weshowed was not filmed inside the sta-dium area. At the same time, enormouspressure was put on the BBC outsidebroadcast team in Sydney. They weretold that we would be denied future ac-creditation if they stepped out of line.«

He is sure that in the future, thesports world will be able to find a viablesolution that will allow information tobe displayed online. At the same time,however, he cannot guarantee that BBCSport Online will remain free of adver-tising. The fact that it is such a popularsite means that it will find it more andmore difficult to resist commercial over-tures. If this occurs, he said, it couldmean the end of the BBC's independentonline sports coverage. ◆

Like most of its competitors, beerproducer Carlsberg is happy to

sponsor selected sports clubs, organisa-tions and events. However, the com-pany is concerned about recent devel-opments in sport. Are those clamouringfor sponsorship only interested inmoney? Are the general interests ofsport losing out?

For moral reasons, Carlsberg stayswell away from associating itself with anumber of activities such as children'ssport. Carlsberg's Director of Sponsor-ship Keld Strudahl told assembled dele-gates at Play the Game that the com-pany would not like to give the impres-sion that it is trying to sell its product toanyone under age.

»But the sports organisations do notseem to share these concerns,« he said.»I get telephone calls almost everyday enquiring if Carlsberg would beinterested in sponsoring young people'sevents.«

Companies like Carlsberg choose tosponsor sporting events because theysee sport as entertainment, a lifestyle,and - not least - a method of transcen-ding cultural boundaries, he continued.However, according to Strudahl, thetask of finding the right clubs or eventsto sponsor is becoming harder. This isbecause sports clubs and bodies are in-creasingly focusing on sponsors' money

as a major source of commercial income,while at the same time are neglectingthe sporting ideals with which the spon-sors would like to associate their pro-duct.

As a representative of a major spon-sor, Strudahl was asked if he and his col-leagues are putting too much pressureon the organisations they sponsor bydemanding more and more events to in-crease their public exposure.

»It is not us that wants this,« heanswered. »It is the sports associationsthat are putting the pressure on.« Headded that he hopes to get clubs and as-sociations to understand that they sho-uld focus less on money and more onthe sport itself - values that he claims hiscompany identifies with. Otherwise, thecommercial possibilities presented bysport will become much less attrac-tive -to his company at least.

Finally, Keld Strudahl issued a starkwarning about the attitude of sponsorsin the future. He referred to a court casein France in which a number of spon-sors got together to sue the Tour deFrance's teams and individual riders.The sponsors are demanding compen-sation for the fact that their names arenow, they claim, inextricably linkedwith the doping scandals that recentlyaffected the world's biggest cyclingevent. ◆ KBR

Pete Clifton, BBC: »The Internet is setto provide a fresh source of income forsports clubs. However, the loser couldbe journalism itself. Well-written, objective sports articles could becomevery hard to find«

Play the game

n the Internet Companies like Carlsbergchoose to sponsor sporting

events because they seesport as entertainment, alifestyle, and a method of

transcending culturalboundaries. However,

according to KeldStrudahl, the task of

finding the right clubs orevents to sponsor is

becoming harder

Sponsor with a heart

2 2

Profiting from the People's GameBy Karen Balling Radmer

Recently, a total of 24 new basket-ball teams were founded in 12countries to take part in a new

"super league" outside the control of theinternational basketball federation,FIBA. Likewise in football, the richestclubs in Europe have all the financialreasons to want to form a breakawayleague. This is the view of WladimirAndreff, Professor of Economics fromthe University of Sorbonne in Paris, andVice Chairman of the Organisation ofSports Economists.

Andress told Play the Game thatmoney is controlling the destiny ofprofessional sport. As evidence, hepointed to a recent statement bySpanish telecom giant Telefonica. Thecompany recently stated that if a new,breakaway European League were tobecome a reality, it could double the in-come it currently receives from spon-soring football's Champions League.

The losers in the money game, saidAndreff, will be the fans, the amateur

players and the local communities.Those who have always been aware ofthe game's social benefits and responsi-bilities.

But how have we reached such astage? Andreff painted a frighteningpicture of the economics of professionalfootball, which is nowadays dealing inlarger and larger sums of money.

English author and football journa-list David Conn spoke on a relatedtheme, warning that the ugly side of thecommercialisation of the English gameis set to be imported to the rest ofEurope - just as the game itself wasmany years ago.

TV economyAccording to Wladimir Andreff, the mostdramatic change in the economies oftoday's large football clubs has been thesale of TV rights. With the advent ofsatellite TV and the digital revolution,these rights can now be sold almostanywhere in the world where a demandexists.

In the 1960's and 70's, football clubs

Play the game

»Football has altered from asport based on teamwork andco-operation to a collection of individuals making as much money as possible,« David Conn said

made most of their income from sellingtickets for games. Fans arrived at thestadium to see their team, and all overEurope fans followed "their" club - withallegiances usually lasting a lifetime.

In the 1990's, however, major changesbegan to take place. Many more TVstations were appearing. With footballseen as one of their greatest attractions,these TV stations began to bid againsteach other to secure the rights to broad-cast the important games. The result isthat today, over 80% of many largeclubs' income comes from the sale of TVrights. With these large sums of moneycame the new job of "commercial direc-tor" whose main task was to ensure thatthe club was commercially exploited tothe full. From pencil cases bearing theclub logo to concerts at the stadium,Europe's top clubs began to earnenormous sums of money from commer-cial spin-offs. As a result, they can nowafford to buy the new talent that helpsthem remain among Europe's elite.

»One of the problems with this eco-nomic model is that football is now do-

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2 3

future, while the rest of us must becontent watching our favourite teamon TV. And if the trend continuesunabated, there is nothing to stop itspreading to Europe.

Fans confidentHowever, there could be evidence oflight at the end of the tunnel. MalcolmClarke of the English Football Suppor-ters' Association presented Play theGame with a more optimistic message.He pointed out that many clubs arebeginning to realise the importance oftheir grass roots fans. All publiccompanies, including those footballclubs listed on the stock exchange, areobliged to satisfy their shareholders -shareholders who would not be pleasedif the company's customers were seen tobe unhappy.

Clarke pointed to recent signs thatfans are again being seen as an importantasset to a club. He points to recent eventsin which fan pressure prevented theowners of Manchester United selling outto media mogul Rupert Murdoch as anoptimistic sign for the future. Al- tho-ugh we are still in the early stages, hesaid, the tide could finally be turning. ◆

Play the game

minated a handful of rich clubs,« saidWladimir Andreff. »In Europe, theresults of matches are often determinedby each clubs' economic ambitions. Therichest clubs can tempt the most talen-ted players away from their rivals. Ther-efore they win more games, earn moremoney and are then able to buy more ta-lented players. These clubs are far morelikely to win major honours.«

The rich get richerAndreff pointed to another trend as aharbinger for the future. TV stations arenow increasingly attempting to exercisetheir control over the actual sportingevent. In a number of sports, rulechanges have been discussed with liveTV in mind. A suggestion to dividesoccer games into four quarters, toallow more time for advertisements,was looked upon favourably by manyTV companies.

»We are also seeing more and morecorruption in European professionalsport, especially football.« he said. »Weare seeing blatant breaches of the rules,and even matches where the result isfixed. And it is well known that theRussian Mafia "washes" its moneythrough European professional sport. Isee these examples as just the tip of the

iceberg.« He warned that without moregovernment intervention, the amountof "dirty money" in sport will continueto increase.

The disappearance of therole modelThe new order also has plenty of losers.Youngsters for whom football hastraditionally provided role models, forexample, or fans that have supportedtheir club over many years. Accordingto David Conn, very few youngstersfrom his home city of Manchester canafford to watch a United game. Mostmust be content watching the reserves.

»Football has altered from a sport ba-sed on teamwork and co-operation to acollection of individuals making asmuch money as possible for them-selves,« he said. »Now its values areprimarily the values of business, notthose of sport. The owners of thefootball clubs have made vast amountsof money. They have allowed ticketsprices to rise, built new stadiums usingtaxpayers' money and make a fortune inthe process. The losers are the spectatorsand the game itself.«

Conn warned that in England atleast, only the richest will be able toafford to attend football games in the

Professor of Economics Wladimir Andreffpainted a frightening pictureof the current economics of professional football. Withoutgovernment intervention, the problem willcontinue to grow

2 4

Unequal communicationFékrou Kidané,The Director of International Co-opera-tion of IOC, proved in the 1980'ies that 80% of sportsjournalists from developing countries are football speci-alists and the remaining 20% covering other sportswhich are more popular than football in their respectivecountries. Once a journalist himself, Kidané stressed theimportance of the media in development processes.

here are no well-established informationand documentation centres on physicaleducation and sport to consult, or

enough libraries and bookstores from where toborrow and buy books.

This situation alone makes it difficult forjournalists, technicians and researchers to improvetheir knowledge and follow the changes andinnovation in world sport.

The history of sport of our countries and regionshas yet to be written.The historical documents ofour forefathers have disappeared or been misplaced.Those who have witnessed the history of sport oftheir countries and continent are taken away by ageor other causes without having written theirmemoirs.We say in Africa that the death of anelderly person is like a library which burns.

(…) The media in most developing countriesis state-owned, apart from a few exceptions.

Censorship is therefore the main weapon whichcontrols the behaviour of the mass media.

Self-censoring has even become a qualificationfor journalists in developing countries.

Meanwhile, the government-controlled media, al-though heavily subsidized, owes more to the sportscolumns that provide sales, rather than politics.

Buy TV rights in spite of crisisSports broadcasts on radio and television are themost popular. In spite of economic crisis, theMinistries of Information do their utmost toobtain TV rights for major sports events, such asthe Olympic Games and the football World Cup.

It is true though that even in the field of sportsnews, negative aspects are emphasized much morethan positive aspects as far as developing countriesare concerned in the Western media.

You will rarely find a reference to Asian orAfrican sport in the so-called international press.It is only when athletes win gold medals at theOlympic Games,World Championships, or whenteams perform well at the football World Cup, thatyou can read a short account on them.

On the other hand, the developing countries'press has unconsciously become a relay for theWestern press by presenting, every day, the results

of European championships or the portrait of bigstars.

Under these conditions, the question is veryrarely asked about why so much space is given toEuropean sport and so little to Africa,Asia orCentral and South America. So why does theWest, which monopolizes the informationdistribution system, not try to provide news onsport from developing countries.

That is why it is said that one-way informationis an arbitrary trademark of an unequal communi-cation system.

Seeking sensationsIt is clear that the perception of informationvaries from country to country, depending on itspolitical system.

However, I do not think that the situationwill change as long as democracy, the right ofexpression in all its forms, have not beenconsolidated in the vast majority of developingcountries, and that modern technology and thenecessary means are not made available.

Sports fans in developing countries willtherefore continue to be knowledgeable aboutEuropean football, Manchester United, Ronaldoand will know less or nothing about the Olympicfootball champion, Cameroon's national team, orthe new Asian football champion, Japan.

In any event, Olympism and sport developmentdo not really interest many journalists, unless it isof a sensational nature. I still believe, anyhow, thatjournalists in developing countries should beconcerned with overall social and culturaldevelopment, of which physical education andsport are an integral part.

In addition, I believe that we have to assumethe responsibility of participating in the educationof the masses. If violence around sport and racialdiscrimination has become a common practicetoday and if the message on fair play and toleranceis not clearly understood, this is partly due to thefact that we have failed to do our job well.

It is evident that the journalist who suffersfrom chauvinism and nationalism is moredangerous because of his mobilizing power.

Unfortunately, we live in a society which ismore attracted by sensational news which helpsnewspapers make profit and good business.Thegood newspapers are still around regardless, eventhough you read more news about football thanany other sport.

Criticism is good when it is constructive andnot destructive. I believe that the sports press canplay a significant role in the society by using sportas an instrument to promote peace, human rights,justice and democracy, the fight against racialdiscrimination, drug abuse and violence, theprotection of the environment, eradication ofpoverty, and for sport for all. It is not sensationalbut it is worthwhile.

Read more at www.play-the-game.org

Play the game

Until democracy rules in

the developing coun-

tries, sports fans there

will continue to know

more about Manchester

United than about their

own people's merits

»It is evident that the journalistwho suffers from chauvinism andnationalism is more dangerousbecause of his mobilizing power«said Fékrou Kidané

T

2 5

She was one of the few female speakers at the Play theGame conference - a fact she used as an example: »Weare underrepresented everywhere in sport - just look

around this hall,« said Carole Garoës. »We are finding it verydifficult to take an active role in sport. There are a number ofreasons for this. Firstly, it is very tough to find money - espe-cially for African women. We lack decent sports facilitiesand opportunities.« In a plea for male journalists to devotemore time and column width to women, she added: »Thebiggest hurdle is the fact that women are traditionally tied totheir roles in the kitchen and as child minders. Journalistscan help by highlighting the problems we face.«

In her role as General Secretary of AWISA - African Wo-men in Sport - Carole Garoës was one of three African wo-men who were given the title "Chef de Mission" at the 2000Sydney Olympics. However, she still sees herself as a rare ex-ception in a male-dominated world.

»If we, as women, hope to develop and better ourselves,we must give up some of our traditional habits and culture,«she continued. »For example, women should not be forced towear long skirts - they ought to be always allowed the optionof playing in shorts.«

»Is there a limit to what sports women can physically takepart in?« asked one male journalist. »What about hammerthrowing and weight lifting, for example?«

»We would like to see women involved in all sports,« shereplied. »Boxing, weightlifting, whatever. It is all about be-ing given the opportunity.« ◆pv.

Play the game

By Per Vinther

Apresentation about an Africansoccer school supported by oneof Scandinavia's biggest foo-

tball clubs led to one of Play the Game'smost vigorous debates. Detractors de-scribed the project as exploitative, a me-ans of acquiring cheap talent and onlybenefiting a few. However, the project'ssupporters saw the school not only asproviding a decent education, but alsoas providing a chance for some boysand their families to break out of a cycleof poverty.

It was a predominantly white audi-ence that heard FC Copenhagen's Ad-ministrative Director, Niels ChristianHolmstrøm describe his club's involve-ment in a soccer school in the SouthAfrican city of Port Elizabeth. Theensuing debate questioned whether anypositive benefits can emerge from whiteEuro-peans getting involved in blackAfrican sport.

A former international soccer playerhimself, Holmstrøm portrayed his clu-b's football school as a joint venture in-volving Danish and South African busi-ness interests. He told the conferencethat the school's first team consists of 19youths aged between 14-18, who live,study and play football together. Heclaimed that the school provides themwith a chance to break away from the

poverty that surrounds them. »This pro-ject is a prime example of good businessbringing benefits to the community,« hesaid. »We believe that some African you-ths have a future in football. We wouldalso like to make a profit through invest-ment in the development of talent.«

He stressed that all those involved inthe project are aware of their social re-sponsibility and pointed out that theschool also provides a full education. Theidea for the project originated in SouthAfrican, and currently receives sponsor-ship from the Danish governmentthrough its overseas aid programme.

»But this is still a business, not a cha-rity,« he continued. »The school has thebacking of local South Africans, manyof whom are involved in its day-to-dayrunning. The local university is alsoinvolved in the project. From personalexperience I can only recommend it as agood model.«

After his presentation, Niels Chri-stian Holmstrøm joined a panel thatincluded the former Kenyan Olympicmedallist Mike Boit, Fekrou Kidane ofthe IOC and professor John Hobermanof the University of Texas. The footballschool was discussed in depth, withboth praise and criticism coming fromthe floor.

»I see the project as providing posi-tive benefits to the young people of PortElizabeth - not as exploitation,« saidMike Boit, whose view was echoed bymost of the African delegates in the hall.

»It is a positive project, and certainlynot comparable with colonialism," saidFékrou Kidané. »The important point isthat it is better to have a sport-basededucation than fall into a life of povertyor crime.« ◆

What happens when

white Europeans want to

get involved in the

development of African

sport - but have their

own business agenda? Women demandtheir place in sport

The media has a duty to help make

women play a more meaningful role in

sport, says Carole Garoës, General

Secretary of "African Women in Sport"

Exploitation or a mutually beneficial business?

2 6

By Per Vinther

In his speech to the Play the Gameconference, Wladimir Andreff

outlined the link between the prosperityof a nation's economy and the existenceof sports facilities and opportunities.Andreff, who is Professor of Economicsat the University of Sorbonne, pointedout that the number of Olympic andWorld Championship medals won byeach country is directly linked to the na-tion's wealth. With very few exceptions,the rich, western countries win the med-als. For developing countries, the chan-ces of joining the world's sporting eliteare limited to disciplines that require lit-tle equipment or facilities such as foo-tball, running and boxing.

According to Andreff, lack of econo-mic development means the world'spoorer nations are still finding it diffi-cult to provide sporting opportunities totheir citizens. »Any analysis of the rela-tionship between sport and economicdevelopment cannot avoid the fact thatthat the less developed a country is, theless it spends on sports facilities,« hesaid. He quoted a piece of graffiti pain-ted on the wall of a stadium during the1986 World Cup in Mexico that read:

"No queremos goles - queremos frijoles"- We don't want goals, we want beans.

»It is very difficult for developing na-tions to set aside money for sport whenthe citizens often do not have enoughmoney to feed themselves,« he conti-nued. »How can people afford newsports shoes when they cost more than amonth's wages? This is a real problem inmany developing nations.«

Lack of medalsWladimir Andreff provided some start-ling statistics illustrating the uphillstruggle facing third world sportsmenand women. Both the time spent prac-tising sport in schools, and the ratio ofcoaches to athletes are much lower in de-veloping nations, and public sports faci-lities rarely compare with those in theindustrialised world. A 1995 UNESCOreport into sporting opportunities in 16developing nations revealed that whatfacilities do exist are rarely maintained,and little if any money is set aside forrenewal. These countries' athletes there-fore find it much harder to achieve opti-mal training conditions, and this is re-flected in the number of Olympic andworld championship medals being wonby such nations.

In Los Angeles in 1984, developingcountries won 13 percent of the medals.In Seoul in 1988 the figure was just 6 per-cent. In Barcelona 1992 it was 11 percent,and in both Atlanta and Sydney the totalwas 22 percent. Out of the 199 nations ta-king part in last year's Sydney Olympics,139 were classified as "developing" na-tions. While "developed" nations won anaverage of 7.85 medals each, their coun-terparts in the third world only avera-ged 1.5 medals per nation.

Since the start of the modern Olym-pics in 1896, those medals won by de-veloping countries have generally beenconcentrated in very few sports. In fact,80 percent of all medals won by Africannations have been in the disciplines ofrunning or boxing.

The rich hold all the acesThe fact that the 2006 soccer World Cupwas awarded to Germany ahead ofSouth Africa came as no surprise to Wla-dimir Andreff. He pointed out that thathistorically, the right to host major sport-ing events is almost always awarded tothe richer nations. »Around 30 countrieshost 95 percent of the major sportingevents each year,« he said. »The rest ofthe world - including all developing na-tions - have to share the remaining fivepercent. We are seeing it happen againwith the applications to stage the 2008Olympics. Both Cuba and South Africawere among those countries hoping tohost the games, but both countries havebeen told by the IOC that they do notpossess adequate sporting, transport andtelecommunication facilities.«

Andreff put forward a number ofsuggestions to break the cycle in whichthe process of staging top sports eventsis controlled by money and commercialinterests. "Why shouldn't they approachthe decision-making process from anot-her angle?" he asked. "If the Olympicsare granted to an Africa or Latin Ameri-can nation, it would provide the oppor-tunity they need to develop their facili-ties and infrastructure."

»First and foremost, governmentsmust have the political and economicwill to follow the motto 'sport for all' in-stead of concentrating exclusively onthe elite and the fleeting glory of Olym-pic success,« he continued. »I also feelthat we should do more to stop thedrain of talent from the poorer nationsto the developed countries. However,to alter the current position, we needto achieve a consensus among de-veloping nations.« ◆

Play the game

No money- no sport

If the Olympicsare granted to Africa or LatinAmerica, it couldprovide theopportunity theyneed to developtheir facilities and infrastructure,says ProfessorWladimir Andreff

Developing nations should

forget Olympic glory

and focus on a broad sports

programme instead

2 7

By Per Vinther

Afew Kenyan athletes have become mil-lionaires through their success in bigmoney meetings in Europe and the

USA. However, it is only the best that make itthis far. For each runner that makes it to the top,plenty more are living extremely poor condi-tions after being brought over to the west bycash-hungry agents. It is not unknown for 10 to15 hopeful athletes to share a single apartment,sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Most willnever become rich, and many will simply beabandoned to their own fate.

The story of this unpleasant "trade" in athle-tes was relayed to Play the Game by Elias Ma-kori, Sports Editor of Nairobi's Daily Nation

newspaper and chairman of the Kenyan sportsjournalists represented at the conference. Ma-kori is one of the few journalists to have hig-hlighted the problem in Kenya.

»In too many cases it is the western agentswho ruin the lives of the young runners,« saidMakori, »They exploit them for every dollarand deutschmark they can get. Many of theagents who come to Kenya and hand pick theyoung runners are looking to make some fastmoney - nothing more. They are not the slight-est bit interested in the athletes' lives orbackground.«

In a country with a population of 25 million,the majority of whom earn less than one dollarper day, Makori stressed that it can be highlytempting for both young athletes and their

families to sign a contract they cannot under-stand. He mentioned typical cases in which theunscrupulous agent enters Kenya under cover,rounds up the best runners in a rural area, thensimply leaves the country with them.

From world record holder to alcoholic»Of course, a few runners do get rich,« hecontinued. »These stories spread like wildfirein Kenya. On the other hand, little is knownabout the much more common instanceswhere runners arrive home broken and di-straught with their dreams shattered. Manyof these runners refuse to speak to the media,and journalists are reluctant to investigatesuch cases.«

One example that has been well publicisedis that of the former world 10,000-metre recordholder Richard Chelimo. After being pressedby his agent into running too many races, oftenwhile carrying injuries, he received verylittle of his prize money and returned homevirtually penniless and an alcoholic.

Makori adds that not all agents act in thismanner - some have a good reputation inKenyan sports circles.

Another problem highlighted by Elias Ma-kori is the fact that many western agents on thehunt for new talent have strong links with theKenyan Athletics Association. Mike Boit, for-mer Olympic bronze medal winner and Headof Physical Education at Kenyatta Universitywas among the audience and commented:

»This exploitation is reprehensible, but italso presents a dilemma. Many parents arewilling to send their children away while theyare still far too young, in the hope that they canmake all the family rich. But in all too many ca-ses they do not think enough about the si-tuation. All the time we are trying to explain toparents that their children should go to schoolfirst, and learn some skills to use in life. Butmany simply do not listen.« ◆

Power in the hands of the agents

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In Ghana, sport was instrumental in the re-conciliation of two warring tribes after a

violent orgy of burning, and looting. The wasone of the stories related to Play the Game byUsman Yakubu, who is a co-ordinator of a num-ber of local sports and cultural projects in his na-tive Ghana in association with - among others -the International Sport and Culture Association.

»The best way of introducing sports activitiesto the population as a whole is to offer a broadrange of sports,« he said. »We must inform our

political leaders that they do not need to attendthe Olympics with delegates and administra-tors. This money could instead be used muchmore wisely for the benefit of the entire popula-tion instead of an elite few. It could be used at lo-cal level for sport in a very simple framework.«

Terry Monnington, Director of PhysicalSport and Education at the University ofWarwick, England, is also a strong advocate ofthe concept of "sport for all" as a framework fordevelopment in Africa.

»For many politicians, including Africans,sporting success is very important and presti-gious. This is difficult to achieve for most Afri-can nations because they often have many otherserious problems deal with. Many cannot evenprovide "bread for all" and must therefore workwith realistic priorities. Sport has an unbelie-vably important role to play in daily life - but weshould not be blind to all the facts.«

Former top Kenyan athlete Mike Boit is con-vinced that sport has a naturally important roleto play in the development of society. »Sportcreates a sense of solidarity,« he says. »All thenegative attitudes and wickedness in Africacan be improved by sport, because it teachesour children character and manners.« pv

Broad ranging solution

Mike Boit, the formerOlympic 1500 metres bronzemedal winner, takes a criticalview of system that persuades young Kenyan athletes to interrupt their schooling andleave their homes in the pursuit of fame and glory

2 8

Furthering integration or perpetuating a stereotype?Integration through sport

is nothing more than

symbolism, and does little

to further the social and

economic situation of

blacks, says US author

John Hoberman. Europe

can learn much from the

lessons of sport and race

»The popular claim that sport hasa positive effect on racial

integration is overstated. It is a trap.Even though some blacks achieve ex-cellence in sport, it does not give themany more jobs or a better education.«

Author of the book Darwin'sAthletes, Professor John Hoberman ofthe University of Texas offers somethought-provoking views on sportand race. Although the USA has had ahead start on many European nationsin the field of racial integration, hesays, some areas of Europe aregenerally finding fewer problems inthe assimilation of minorities than theUSA experienced when integrationfirst began. Although major obstaclesexist, he suggests that some Europeannations benefit from long-standing tra-ditions of equality, more pronouncedanti nazi views, and sports associa-tions that are not just concerned aboutcreating stars and making money.

However, he warns that there areplenty of parallels between race relationsin Europe and the USA. For example,the stereotype image of blacks beingphysically superior in sports, but unableto achieve social status elsewhere, isalso found in Europe.

»It is wishful thinking to say thatthere is not a problem in Europe,« hesays. »There is a global myth that those

Play the game

of African origin are physically superiorin some way. This cements myths aboutracial differences, and does little toimprove their status.«

The politics of desperationHoberman points out that elite sporthas never been a positive means ofintegration for blacks in the USA or inEurope. Even though football is widely

seen as "breaking down racial barriers,"Hoberman reminds us that it is stillcommon for white football fans to abuseblack players.

»Politicians are desperately searchingfor answers to the problems ofintegration - and in Europe, what couldbe more popular than football?« he asks.»Everyone who watches football on TV isgiven the illusion that successful blackathletes are creating social mobility fortheir entire race. A black sports star'ssmiling face hides an entire system ofrace-related injustices. The illusion alsoserves to camouflage the catastrophichealth problems that exist amongAfrican-Americans and others of Africanorigin.«

»It is false integration,« he says.»The fact that multinational football isscreened on TV each day does notimprove the social and economicsituation of blacks.« He adds that it is notsurprising that the myth of blacks as"superior" sportsmen lives on, when thepredominantly white trainers andmanagers are constantly buying youngAfrican talent to be tested, trained,and most often discarded by Europe'sprofessional soccer teams.

Social status is equitable integration.Hoberman goes on to state that thefamiliar images of black athletes in theUnited States do not serve the socialadvancement of African Americans. Inrecent years, black athletes have beeninvolved in a highly publicised series ofcriminal cases that, he says, have onlyserved to perpetuate stereotypes. »All ofthese social phenomena demonstrate thatit is time to relieve black people of theathletic identity our colonial legacy hasinflicted upon them,« he says.

At the same time, Professor Hobermanis more optimistic about the integrationof children through sport. However, hepoints out that successful integrationcannot be achieved through sport alone.It must include opportunities to achievesocial status and advancement off theplaying field. ◆

2 9

Sport is in danger of becoming increasingly marginal inAfrica's fight to survive.

Education and employment inevitably and rightlyrank higher than sport, states one of Europe's mostprominent experts of African sports, the Britishprofessor Terry Monnington.

Moreover, winning sport is becoming increasinglyless valuable in a failing society.

Terry Monnington introduced his message by givinga first-hand account from All Africa Games 1995.

magine the scene. I'm in the newNational Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe,waving my Kenyan flag, alongside my

Kenyan host, a stadium funded by the Chinese inrecognition of their support for the country'sMarxist leader, President Mugabee.The year is1995 and the event is the opening ceremony ofthe 6th All Africa Games.

This pan-African event was regarded by manyas one more means by which modern Africa couldexpress its common ancestry, celebrate theindividuality of its multifarious cultural traditions,but also its unity.

19th Century colonialism brought much to the

continent of Africa, good and bad. But since the rushto independence since the 1960s, the new nations,their people and their political leaders have not onlyendeavored to establish sovereign states.

For many, creation of an African identity as anexpression of common interests has become apriority and few African leaders have had thevision of President Nkruma of Ghana as to theimportance and value of celebrating rather thanapologising for Africa's cultural inheritance.

The history of the All Africa Games has beenthwart with problems, most notably as aconsequence of mismanagement and politicalexploitation. But in 1995 it was planned to bedifferent.

President Mugabee is seated only a few metresaway, eager to impress his guests with theexpertise of the Zimbabwean people to organise ashowpiece Games.

His guests include many African andinternational leaders and senior representatives ofthe International Olympic Committee and othersuprana-tional governing bodies of sport.

Unfortunately, there are not many otherspec-tators in the stadium.The time of the opening

ceremony has been changed without notice andpublic transport to the Stadium has beencommandeered for the athletes.

The mass of the population of Harare cannoteven reach the Stadium, even if they could affordthe entrance charge.

The show, as they say, must go on.Unfortunately, the start is delayed by half an houras the Torch is caught in the traffic of Harare.When it does arrive, it has to be constantly re-liton its lap of honour.

Disaster follows disaster, culminating in thefailure of the public address system, thusprecluding our listening to the swearing of theGames oath, the welcome of the President andthe playing of the National Anthem.

My aim here is not to belittle or ridicule thequality of the Game's organisation.The eventsthem- selves were, as sporting spectacles, bothcompetitive and exciting, with many outstandingperformances by some of the world's finest athletes.

The issue here is that the event was stagedvery much to provide President Mugabee with theopportunity to reinforce his position as a majorplayer in African politics.

He was only doing what generations ofAmerican Presidents had always done before him.Many African leaders, most notably PresidentKenyatta of Kenya, had taken full advantage of thesupposed political capital that could be gainedthrough associating with the country's athletictalent. Sporting heroes have long been regarded asvaluable ambassadors on the world stage, providinga means to enhance a nation's credibility and status.

In Kenya, Kip Keino and Mike Boit were, andstill are, legends.Their successes were seen as thenation's success.

For many new nation-states in Africa in the1960s and 1970s creation of an identity wasre-garded as important, so too the need to attractinward financial investment.

During these years the apparent progress ofKenya was evident. Sport was helping in thecre-ation of an identity as well as providing itspeople with a common bond and so a sense ofnationhood; essential in a society that was dividedby long established tribal and cultural differences.

For President Mugabee an opportunity toenhance his personal reputation, as one of Africa'ssenior politicians was to be lost through theincompetence of the Games administrators.

The opening ceremony was a politicalembarrassment, a lost opportunity to paper oversome of the cracks that were already in evidencein the country's economy and political system…."

To be continued at www.play-the-game.org

African sport in danger

Play the game

Education andemployment inevitably gethigher prioritythan sport in apoor country

I

3 0

The many different we'sSport is not one,nor is nationalism.Dr.Phil Henning Eichberg drew

an amazing picture of how our different sports cultures are always

interwoven with nation building and politics

»We use to regard the market as the drivingforce of globalisation, but when you look closelyat sport, you can see an alternative globalisationdriven by people-to-people relations.«This was the message of Dr. Phil. HenningEichberg, who as a start told three everydaysports stories illustrating his theories.

HE FIRST was about a Danish boy of twelve years who experiences the European

soccer championship in 1992, which brought Danish football to the top.

"We travelled to Copenhagen somehours before the match should start, so wegot some good places in front of the largescreen which was erected on the place ofthe city hall.At first we sat down on the

asphalt and regarded the singing roligans(fans), but later on we had to rise becausemore and more people arrived ...After 19minutes, the first goal was shot.The moodraised extremely high, and the jubilationbecame wilder and wilder. (…) When 31minutes of the second half-time were playedand the second goal was shown on thescreen, the mood really was up to the heatof cooking.A total chaos seemed to breakout, and in the midst of the crowd onereally had to take care in order not to falland to be kicked down. (…). But even if itbecame dangerous at last, this was one ofthe greatest experiences I have had in mylife."

The soccer victory and especially thefact that the final match was won againstGermany, became a national event in

Denmark. Its significance transgressedby far the limits of sport. Some observersrelated this triumph in sports to the referendum the same year, when themajority of the Danish voted "No"against the Maastrich treaty of theEuropean Union.

THE SECOND story is about quite anothertype of movement - the Danish tradition ofgymnastics. In 1931, the Danish gymnasticleader Niels Bukh organized a tour aroundthe world with his gymnastic team.This- iswhat he experienced in Korea, which atthat time was under Japanese military rule.

"Our good reminiscences from Chinaand Korea are related to crowds of peopleand Danish flags at the reception at therailway stations of Mukden and Seoul andto childrens' choirs singing Danish songsthere.When we demonstrated ourgymnastics in the stadium of Seoul and letour flag down in front of 35 000 amazedpeople who were jubilating for Denmark,and when the large students' choir wassinging 'King Christian' (the Danish nationalanthem), we all felt stronger than everbefore how wonderful ist was to be Danishand to serve Denmark."

The Niels Bukh gymnastics had its rootsin the democratic farmers' folkeliggymnastics, but was in its new form met byan especially warm welcome in Japan aswell in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.Niels Bukh was himself- impressed by theGermany of 1933 which he, though notexactly a National Socialist himself,regarded as a model for Denmark.

THE THIRD situation differs fundamentallyboth from the sportive and the gymnasticpattern.The story is about a tug-of-warcontest, which was the high-light of"Fagenes Fest", the workers' "festival ofprofessions" in Copenhagen 1938.TheDanish daily "Social Demokraten"described it like this:

"There were gigantic achievements.The blacksmiths quickly defeated thebakers, and the tailors could not stand longtime against the coal-heavers who weighedat least twice as much. But there arose agigantic competition between the dairy

Play the game

T

workers and the brewery men - and muchto the distress of the agitators forabstinence, the beer won.The final wasbetween the brewers and the coalmen, andhere the brewery workers had 'to bite thedust'. 'This is not at all surprising', said thecaptain of the coal-heavers. 'You only carrythe beer, but it is us who drink it.'"

The "Festival of the Professions" startedin 1938 as an annual sport festivity of theDanish workers' movement, stimulated bysimilar arrangements in France andGermany. It combined sports events withmore carnivalistic competitions likerunning-matches of domestic servants withbuckets and scrubbers, going-matches ofpottery workers with piles of plates ontheir heads, hammer cast of blacksmithsand obstacle races of socialist scouts eatingcream puffs on their way. During theSecond World War when Nazi Germanyheld Denmark occupied, Fagenes Festdeveloped towards a demonstration ofnational togetherness.As this, the festival at-tracted the largest spectators-hip in itshistory.

In the three described situations of sport,very different patterns of identification(…) become visible, different ways of"we"-building and belonging.

ONE PATTERN IS CHARACTERIZED bycompetition and result, and what comesout of it is an identity of production. Sportof achieve-ment produces "wares" incenti-metres, grams, seconds, points, goals,medal listing ranks or victorious names,which are taken as an indicator for "whowe are". By linking identification to theseresults, the competitive encounter insports is stirring up feelings of connectionand togetherness. Out-comes and recordsof sport are regarded as representative, ascollective results: "Two-zero for us." The

There is not only politics insport and not only identity

building in movement culture.But also the other way round:

There is sport in politics - thereis experience of movement

in identity

Dr. Phil. Henning Eichberg

3 1 Play the game

WE NEEDYOUR HELP

»Here in Kosovo, sport is onlyslowly recovering from the war.We have 23 sports associations,and tournaments are arrangedin many disciplines. But webadly need facilities, equipmentand international contacts. Weneed help from the internationalcommunity.«

So says Driton Latifi, SportsEditor of the newspaper KohaDitore from Pristina, Kosovo -one of the cities bombed byNATO in 1999. Addressing afringe meeting of Play the Game,Latafi showed a video from soc-cer team FC Pristina's final firstdivision game before the war - agame that was brought to a haltby Serbian police. The videoshows police arresting a player infront of 30,000 fleeing fans.

»Some sports were forbidden,and many sportsmen andwomen were arrested« he saysof the time under Serb domina-tion. »Clubs were thrown out oftheir stadiums because theywere of Albanian origin, andwhen they tried to play at ano-ther venue they were arrested.Among other things, a 12-year-old boy was arrested whilstplaying football. We have beenthrough some very hard times. Iwould not want anyone to sufferlike we did - not even the Serbs.«

After the war of 1999, thepicture has now changed.Whereas football was the mostpopular sport in the region,basketball has now taken over.

The need for better facilities isunderlined by demographics,said Driton. Around 53% ofKosovo's inhabitants are under19, an age in which sport ishighly important to growth,social integration and wellbeing. He expressed his hope thatsport can play an important partin easing tension in the area.

Participantsresult can release strong emotions: "Wehave won" - or: "We were defeated." Thismodel is hegemonial in the most ofmodern sport, especially in Olympic sportand consequently in the media reception ofsports.

ANOTHER PATTERN stresses discipline and fit-ness for the purpose of an identity ofintegration. Gymnastics contrasts to sportby being independent of the measurement ofresults. Competition is not needed hereeither, and it can be one single team alonewhich arouses the impression of collectiveidentity and the feeling of community. In thiscase the presentation and production of"we"-feeling is effected by discipline and acollective demonstration of fitness.A teamof dynamic young people moves in rank andfile, with flag and hymn, radiating by its jointforce and precision, "who we are".

THE THIRD PATTERN centers around festivityand play, leading to popular identity.In popular festivity, dance, play and game, allpeople can participate, old and young, maleand female, people from different ethnicorigins and different languages, top athletesas well as handicapped persons.The feelingof "we" is produced by the encounter, themeeting in a temporary community ofparticipation. In this situation, tradition andsurprise are mixing, competition andlaughter, drunkenness, role game andmasking. Local associations may function aselements of continuity for popular sport,but the festive encounter is the importantevent - a moment of discontinuity, surpriseand becoming "high" in the here-and-now.The differences inside the group are nottreated by streamlining or uniforming them,but by displaying or even overstressingthem, often in grotesque and carnivalisticforms.The excentricity of popular culturefollows the logics of mutual communication:The truth is neither here nor there, it isin-between.

THE THREE CASES show that there is notonly politics in sport and not only identitybuilding in movement culture. But also theother way round:There is sport in politics- there is experience of movement inidentity.And we find neither only onesport, nor only one type of nationalidentity, but a structured multiplicity."

Henning Eichberg is a German-born, Danishsports researcher at Idrætsforsk, ResearchInstitute of Sport, Body and Culture in Gerlev.Read more at www.play-the-game.org

“

“

3 2

Making a differenceCanada's Gilles E. Neron, lost everything due to an

untrue article - and the subsequent "pack instinct"

of journalists. However, he still believes that a close

relationship with the press is an effective means of

promoting fair play

He was one of the few delegates tothe Play the Game conference

not working in the field of sportsjournalism. He was, however, speakingto journalists every single day of theconference. The pleasant middle agedman, always smartly dressed in shirtand tie, did not speak too much abouthimself - but he was very interested inthe international journalists' storiesfrom their respective homelands. Heappeared especially interested in storiesregarding the unveiling of corruptionand wrongdoing in the world of sport.

Then, on Wednesday, it was his turnto speak. His address came as a surpriseto many. It detailed the story of aman standing face to face with realdanger - for the sake of justice.

Gilles E. Neron is a strong believer infreedom of speech, democracy and thevalue of a free press - but not a press thatcan do as it likes. He stressed that ethicalrules must exist in the gathering ofinformation, analysis and publication.

What would you do?Gilles E Neron was educated inphysiology, and lives in Quebec, Canada.His story dates back to the 1970's when hepenned a damning report on violence inice hockey - one of the reasons he wassubsequently named President of thenewly-founded Quebec Sports SafetyBoard - a public organisation which wasset up to ensure safe practice in sport.

In this capacity he decided to take acloser look at the sport of boxing, andsoon discovered that many boxers wereroutinely adopting a highly dangerouspractice. They were wrapping so manyhard bandages around their hands that aclenched fist could punch a hole througha wall or a toilet cistern. With thebandage in place, they could punch sohard that just a small number of blows to

the head of an opponent would beenough to risk permanent brain damage.

In his capacity as president of theorganisation, he proposed a rule whichwould limit the use of bandages -because, as he stated at the time, the'head is more important than the hands.'However, many in the boxing businesswere unhappy at his views - includingthe large bookmakers that covered thesport in Canada.

At the same time, Gilles E. Neron wasin the process of building up a commu-nications business to provide for him-self and his family, including two chil-dren. Shortly after he had made hisviews known, he says, he found himselfthe victim of a major smear campaign.Slanderous articles were written abouthim by a journalist who, says Neron,had related interests in the field ofboxing promotion.

After the articles began appearing,the rest of the media did little to supporthim. The resulting accusations saw himlose his reputation, his business, and hispost as sports safety officer. He evenreceived threats against his family.

After countless legal battles andnumerous court appearances, a courtfinally ruled that he had been thevictim of slander, and awarded himcompensation of 2.3 million dollars.This was the first time in Canada'shistory that such a large sum wasawarded to an individual due totheir misrepresentation in the media.However, the case is still ongoing, as themedia group that he sued is appealingagainst the ruling.

Despite his victory, the QuebecSports Safety Board has since beendisbanded and his case has receivedalmost no coverage in the media. Fewother sports journalists have beeninterested in the way he was treated. In

fact, it was only during the "Playthe Game conference he received hisfirst personal contact with a Canadianjournalist regarding the case.

»I am not angry or disappointed - I'mjust fed up with it,« he said. »We mustnow look to the future. What we can doto prevent cheating and how we canpromote the notion of fair play.«

»You can warn all you like againstnegative developments,« he continued,»but you are not necessarily going to beheard. Often it takes a catastrophe to getchanges implemented. This happened inCanadian boxing - a boxer died beforethe sport's safety was given priority.«

»Journalists should remember,« hesaid »that they have an important job inpassing their knowledge on to educatetheir readers. We can all do small thingsin our daily lives that can make adifference. Whether it is writing a story orhelping a fellow human being. Thequestion is, how we go forward afterthis conference. Based on what youhave learnt here, what have youdecided to do tomorrow?«◆ KBR

Play the game

Gilles E. Neronlaunched astrong attackon, amongother things,excessive vio-lence and un-fair practice inCanadian box-ing. His opin-ions cost himdearly. He losthis position asSports SafetyOfficer, his businessand his reputa-tion - and evenhis family wassubjected tothreats ofviolence

3 3

»If the media really wants to make an impres-sion in the fight against doping, journalists must- somewhat paradoxically - learn to write aboutsomething completely different.«

This was the message of one of theconference arrangers, editor-in-chief Jens SejerAndersen.

»Just as journalists often take their role in ademocratic society seriously when reporting onpolitics, culture or the economy, they must alsoplay the democratic card in the area known asphysical culture,« he said and continued:

is strange that the mediaseemingly couldn't care less aboutthe culture of the body - the same

culture that engages their readers, listenersor viewers on a daily basis. It is a colossal,uncharted area that offers itself.

Think about the forces set in motion everyday by completely average people practicingsport.Think of the passion that hundreds ofmillions of people put into their daily sportingroutines.Those very same people that themedia is in daily contact with.

OK, you'll say, no-one is bothered aboutreading about chubby Mrs Smith's cycle ridein the countryside or Mr Smith's exertionsin the aerobics centre.

And who cares about a junior, thirddivision ice hockey game? To this I offer theanswer: Should the sports sections ofnewspapers be the only pages where peopledo not want to read about themselves?

Of course, there should still be a placefor David Beckham and the LaudrupBrothers - but this does not mean that allsports coverage shall be of similar content.

It is an inconvenience to take this kind ofsport seriously: One cannot, as in elite sport,turn on the camera and the microphone,lean back and be sure that a group ofwell-trained millionaires will create thedrama. It needs an active and investigativejournalistic contribution.

Ruling by fear or trustBut which TV station follows a team of minorplayers over a long period, and reports onwhich ideals the youth is taught in theireveryday life in the sports club? Does thetrainer appear as a stopwatch dictator, ordoes he teach the boys the value ofco-operation? Does he rule by fear or trust?

Which newspaper bothers to take aclose look at the sports facilities of a localcommunity?

Questions such as who is in charge ofthe facilities, who gets the best deals andtraining times, and which members of thecommunity find themselves excluded?

Which media analyses how the bignational associations receive more fundingfrom central government, and highersubscriptions from their members? - just tothrow money out of the window on a new"elite" project or luxurious lunches?

For the past ten years, I have beenworking as an editor of both weekly andmonthly magazines that exclusively concernthemselves with average people's sportingactivities in the very average country ofDenmark. I can guarantee that there areplenty of interesting stories to writeabout - also following normal journalisticcriteria. […]

Affect youngster's perceptionTo underline how important this is, I wouldone more time like to remind you of thediscoveries that Baron Pierre de Coubertinand other great sporting thinkers have made- that there is no stronger method ofshaping people's character than through thebody, through play and through sport.

Therefore, a change in the focus of themedia is not just a gift for the media's owndevelopment.

The pictures and examples that themedia brings forward do also affectyoungsters' perception of what is good andwhat is bad in sport.

Similarly, the media has a great effect onglobal, national and local sports policy. - andwith it on the framework that people use tocharacterise and influence each other intheir daily sporting lives.

Any media committed to buildingdemocratic values has not only anopportunity, but an obligation to promote future development in which sport's currentmotto - Faster, Higher, Stronger - be replacedwith forms for the culture of the body - suchas "healthier, more fun and more enriching”.

For every step that the mass media dareto take into this new land, they removethemselves a little more from their sorryrole as the victims of passive doping.

Play the game

Fun for democracyFor Anders Levinsen, project leader at the successful "Open FunFootball Schools", the sports sector has a tremendous unexplored and under-utilised potential with regards to socialcohesion and the rebuilding of a democratic civic society.This isproven in the war-torn Balkan where the football schools arespreading at an impressive pace:

ach Open Fun Football School last 5 days. It isorganized according to our comprehensive setsof manuals, and it comprise approx. 200 boys

and girls from 8-14 and minimum 15 leaders/trainers thatall serve Open Fun Football School on a voluntary basis.

Its basic idea is a "Fun Concept":What is important isthe playful aspect, the joy derived from playing, rather thanthe results, the score, the advancing skill levels.The manyexercises and small games are so designed as to makeeveryone feel successful again and again […]

It is not about developing and harvesting talentedplayers, but about giving kids a rich and rewardingexperience with ball playing, so as to promote the game,recruit players for football and develop their talents.Thus,in our Open Fun Football School players are not dividedaccording to skills, gender or ethnic or social background.Trained and un-trained, boys and girls, "black and white" isplaying on the same teams during a whole week.

As mentioned above the Open Fun Football Schoolswas transferred for the first time to war-torn BosniaHerzegovina in 1998. It is built from the memory ofbroken communication lines and the immobilities of thewar, so harmful to peace and the public's mental health.Using ball games and pure play, the schools aim to be astrategic instrument to move people, physically andpsychologically, across the numerous, invisible front linesthat still cut through the country.

Thus, they aim to counteract the fear and claustrophobiaof war and stimulate the process of minority return byre-establishing old but broken friendships and sportco-operation among the football clubs involved theirtrainers, leaders and the children.

Read more at www.play-the-game.org

The daily sport:A gift to the media

It

E

PHOTO: EMIR MORINA

3 4Play the game

About SIUThe Sports Intelligence Unit (SIU) is a voluntary,independent network for individual sports journalistsand sports researchers. SIU regards the free flow ofinformation and an open public debate as essentialfor democratic development.

SIU sees neither sport nor journalism asstandardizable commodities accessible to thehighest bidders on the market. On the contrary,sport and journalism should stay easily accessiblegoods, being manifold expressions of the culturalrichness of mankind.

The purposes of SIU ● to defend freedom of expression in sports - at

all levels, under all circumstances and in any place of the world

● to promote a free flow of information and stimulate public debate on the economics,politics and culture of sports

● to further international contacts and exchange between journalists and researchers working on the above mentioned matters

● to raise the level of sports journalism through internet and printed publications, seminars,meetings etc.SIU does not forward information on sports

results, international championships or other highlyadvertised sports events.

Membership is open for any individual mediaprofessional or scientific researcher interested inthe history, sociology, medicine, psychology,economy, politics, culture or other vital aspect ofsports.

Members must● accept giving the necessary data for a public

membership list.● be prepared to support and advise each others

to the widest possible extent, when help for national or international research is required.

● do their best to provide the SIU-editors regularly with brief summaries of important national or international news, articles,TV and radio programmes, sports events relevant toSIU-purpose etc.

You can join SIU by registering through:www.play-the-game.org where you'll also find the actual members' list.

156 media professionals and sports researchersfrom 52 countries participated at the conferenceheld in at the sports and conference centre DGI-byen in the heart of Copenhagen.

58 participants from less privileged countriescould participate thanks to travel subsidies gene-rously granted by the donors (see below).

Goals The goals of Play the game are:● to raise awareness of sport's role in local,

national and global development● to support democracy, transparency and cultural

variety in sport and media world-wide● to provide media professionals with inspiration

and research tools for reporting on key topics including the cultural, political, social and economic aspects of sport

● to strengthen cross-border and cross-sector contacts between the participants to help them to meet the challenges of a globalised sports and media world

Organisers The International Federation of Journalists promotesaction to defend press freedom and social justice,representing more than 450,000 members in morethan 100 countries. IFJ is opposed to discriminationof all kinds and believes in freedom of political andcultural expression. See www.ifj.org

International Sport and Culture Association, with 85member organisations from five continents,promotes understanding across borders and views

sport as a bearer of local, regional and natio-nal cultural identity. See www.isca-web.org

Sports Intelligence Unit: See left and www.play-the-game.org

FinancesThe total costs of the conference were close to 2,000,000 Danish Kroner/265,000 Euro.

The participants contributed with428,000 DKK/57,000 Euro in conference fee's.

The rest was financed by the conference'sDanish supporters:

Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations:575,000 DKK/77,000 Euro.

The Year 2000 Foundation (Danish government foundation):500,000 DKK/67,000 Euro.

The Ministry of Culture:300,000 DKK/40,000 Euro.

Danida/The Ministry of Foreign Affairs:100,000 DKK/13,500 Euro.

Danish Sports Journalists' Association:20,000 DKK/2,700 Euro.

IFJ, ISCA and SIU want to thank all thesedonors whose contributions ensured therealisation of Play the game.

Latest newsAs this magazine goes to print, the boardof Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associati-ons has committed itself to donate 1.5 mil-lion DKK/200,000 Euro to the next confe-rence in late 2002.

Facts about Play the game

3 5 Play the game

This has been the most important sportsconference I have ever attended.

It was highly impressive to see peoplelike Dick Pound, Sandro Donati and

Andrew Jennings all gathered togetherunder one roof.

I was thoroughly impressed

John Hoberman, author and Professor of Germanic Studies, University of Texas

I was extremely grateful for this chanceto take part in a very, very important

conference full of relevant subject matter. It really opened my eyes to many

problems in sport. At the same time, it was a chance to meet new friends from

different countries across the world, and learn much. For this I thank you

Sophia Kudjordji, Ghana News Agency

This conference was extremely useful. It was particularly enlightening to hear

the views and experiences of sports journalists and administrators from

across the world

David Conn, journalist and author

I hope the world in general will takenote of what has been said here. It wasvery interesting and very revealing. Weare presented with very factual issues.

The corruption that exists is frighteningand shocking. To think that the people

we entrust with running our associations can be so corrupt. I am glad

that questions are being asked

Carole Garoes,President of African Women in Sport

In my opinion, the conference has beena resounding success. The great valuehas been the fact that journalists fromall continents have been able to share

their expertise, creating a unique opportunity for co-operation between

different continents and cultures. To sitdown with journalists from Africa for

example, has been highly enlightening.We know one half of the story -

they know the other half

Andrew Jennings, journalist and author

In November 2000, media professionals and sportsresearchers from 52 countries gathered in Copenhagen

to discuss issues of vital importance for modern sport.Doping, corruption, eating disorders, media globalisation,

sport in development strategies, the quest for democraticreforms and freedom of expression… these were just a fewof the topics covered during "Play the game", the secondworld conference for media professionals in a globalisedsports society.

Some of the world's most prominent sports leadersfaced their sharpest critics; young reporters faced theirjournalistic idols; rich countries faced their poorerneighbours - and in these encounters, sports journalistswere given valuable inspiration to their future work..

In this magazine, we invite you to share the inspirationcreated by "Play the game".

If you want to know more, you'll find in-depth coverage ofthe whole conference, including full-text version of mostpapers given there, at

Given the success of creating this new forum for debateon sport, the arrangers are now preparing another confe-rence in November 2002.

At our homepage, you can register for constant updates,meaning you too can be a part of this exciting developmentin sport. In other words:

We would like to invite you to Play the game again.

www.play-the-game.org

LICENCE TO SPEAKA prominent doping fighter, Italy'sSandro Donati, was almost bannedfrom speaking

NEXT STEP: GENE DOPING Genetic manipulation is animpending reality in sports

POWER STRUGGLEWADA's president, Dick Pound,urged governments to supportsport's anti-doping battle

THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATEBritish reporter Andrew Jennings isgaining ground in the IOC he whips

CORRUPTION IN FIFAGerman sports editors Kistnerand Weinreich hit hard on football'sestablishment

WANTED: MORE REFORMNorway's IOC-member GerhardHeiberg pleads for continueddemocratisation

OPTIMISM UNDER PRESSURETwo antidrug officers fought hardto make optimism prevail

DANGER ZONEEating disorders are widespreadin elite sports, told expert JorunnSundgott-Borgen

BINGOPainter, poet, philosopher, tennisplayer - at the age of 72, TorbenUlrich, is a true sports artist

MONEY AT RISKGovernments might withdrawtheir support to sport, warned theDanish Minister of Culture

THE BIDDING GAMEThe bonanza of televised sportposes a threat to democracy, saidtwo of three media experts

NOT FOR THE PUBLIC EYEWebsites owned by big clubs couldthreaten sport in public media, saysBBC's Pete Clifton

ETHICS IN BUSINESSSponsors work with ethicalstandards - why don't sportsorganisations? That was thequestion risen by Carlsberg'ssponsor director

MONEY IN - VALUES OUTEnglish soccer culture has beenshaken by commercialisation, andmany other countries feel the heat ofa new professional sports structure

UNEQUAL MATCHAfrican football lovers read moreabout Manchester United thanabout their local teams. Why?asks IOC director Fekrou Kidané

MASS SPORTS NOT MEDALSThird World countries should focuson people's sport, says economyprofessor Wladimir Andreff

EASY EXPLOITATIONAfrican track and field talents arefair game for European moneymakers, tells experts

FAILING INTEGRATIONElite sport doesn't serve racialintegration, says US professorJohn Hoberman

ELITE LOSING GROUNDWinning sport is becoming arisky business for African leaders,concludes Terry Monnington,expert in African sports

THE MANY WE'S IN SPORTThe troll, the golem and the joker:Key figures in sport according toDr. Phil Henning Eichberg

THE PRICE OF PROTESTCanada's Gilles Néron paid a highprice for his fight for fair play

Play the game… again

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