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Nordic Noir (5): former IBU president Besseberg sentenced to prison on corruption charges
A court in Norway has found the former IBU president Anders Besseberg guilty in 9 out of 11 charges of corruption. He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. The 78-year-old Norwegian is appealing the sentence.
Nordic Noir (5): former IBU president Besseberg sentenced to prison on corruption charges
A court in Norway has found the former IBU president Anders Besseberg guilty in 9 out of 11 charges of corruption. He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. The 78-year-old Norwegian is appealing the sentence.
Indiscreet and unprofessional: the IOC Sun King in a prank conversation with an alleged African politician
Thomas Bach fell for pranksters. Of course, this has also happened to high-ranking politicians in recent years. However, it surprises how arrogantly amateurish the IOC Sun King acts. What do his many princely-paid directors actually do for a living if they advise Bach incredibly badly?
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Ten reasons why IOC's Sun King Thomas Bach is causing irreparable damage to the Olympic movement
The IOC president sought to get close to Putin even after the Sochi Doping Games. He fraternised with Xi Jinping. He politicised the 2018 Games in South Korea, driven by the dream of the Nobel Peace Prize. All a miserable failure that dragged the Games deeper into a political quagmire. A commentary.
The love relationship between FIBA, the NBA and Rwanda
After refusing to wear jerseys flocked with the slogan Visit Rwanda, the Burundian basketball club Dynamo BBC was eliminated from the Africa League by general forfeit. The case symbolizes the tensions in the Africa of the Great Lakes and the links between world basketball and the Rwandan regime.
Why did WADA re-instate North Korea against all reasonable doubt?
In January, WADA removed North Korea from the global list of non-compliant signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code. The decision was based on a single mission inside the dictatorship in four years. Although, according to ITA the situation in North Korea raises "a number of legitimate concerns".
Nordic Noir (4): a journalist urged to save dysfunctional sports federation from meltdown
Lars Werge, a former investigative sports journalist and ex-president of the Danish Union of Journalists, is elected as the new president of the Danish Athletic Federation – following several years of poor governance inside the board of the federation.
Back to the Future: Sochi, Kazan and New York City
History was made on 21 February 2024. While the warmonger Vladimir Putin put on another sporting propaganda show in Kazan, the first drug dealer was convicted under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act in the USA – exactly 10 years after the Sochi Doping Games.
The tentacles of the Russian state invade Kamila Valieva
Is it still state doping in Russia under the supervision of the FMBA? Russian athletes are spoilt for choice between the carrot and the stick. Either they toe the FMBA line and compete, or face the wrath of the Russian state and expulsion from the sport.
Constructive investigations – and what you can do
In THE INQUISITOR team, we are convinced that there can be no better constructive journalism than investigative research and the most detailed coverage possible – based on documents. For everything else, there are the ever-growing PR and propaganda departments of the Olympic organisations.
Nordic Noir (3): the naked truth of Scandinavian sports corruption
The prosecutor in the criminal trial against the former IBU president Anders Besseberg calls for an unconditional sentence of 3 years and 7 months in prison. The verdict will be handed down on 12 April. Besseberg describes himself as the victim of a hounding: like a "wild boar" that must be shot.
Kuwait sports authority calls for investigation against top Olympic official Husain Al-Musallam
Did Husain Al-Musallam, president of World Aquatics, award a company owned by his wife and children contracts from public funds? Kuwait's sports authority has handed the case over to the public prosecutor's office. Did he also provide for his family from OCA accounts?
Former FINA vice president convicted of incitement to murder
Tamás Gyárfás, the former vice president of FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) and treasurer of LEN (now European Aquatics) was sentenced to seven years in jail by a Budapest court this past week for ordering the murder of a rival businessman.
Groundhog Day: the next corruption allegations against the president of World Aquatics
He calls himself Captain Aqua. Husain Al-Musallam has been linked to a series of dubious dealings. The Kuwaiti was exposed as a bribe payer in FIFA criminal proceedings as the sidekick of the convicted Olympic Sheikh Al-Sabah – and is now once again accused of shady deals.
Ten years after the toxic Sochi Olympics: a Russian strawberry dessert
On the day of the tenth anniversary of the Sochi Doping Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport published the Arbitral Award in the Kamila Valieva doping case. THE INQUISITOR will be honouring the Russia entanglements of the IOC and the world sports federations in detail this month.
On the road to Paris 2024: "omerta at all levels", a "rape culture" and "systemic dysfunctions" in sport
France's sport has received an increase in funding for Paris 2024. President Macron wants more medals. France also receives the 2030 Winter Games. The other side of the coin: the sports system is dominated by scandals and mismanagement at all levels, as a breathtaking investigation report documents.
Calls for Israel to be banned from the Olympics: influenced by ideological-religious whataboutism
For several weeks now, an online petition has been calling for "Suspend Israel from International Sports". The appeal was launched by the left-wing collective movement DiEM25. In the petition paper, fundamental facts are being omitted or deliberately distorted.
Olympic status quo: IOC directors earn more money than athletes, Olympic champions – and more than any IF
The salaries of the directors of the International Olympic Committee remain exorbitantly high. Around $50 millions are paid over the four-year cycle - probably several millions more. Read the full list for 2022 after we published it last autumn for 2021.
Nordic Noir (2): horse-trading and the art of looking the other way
The five Nordic countries are often portrayed as democratic role models. But it is not only the ongoing criminal case against former IBU president Anders Besseberg that justifies scrutinising the double standards of other sports leaders and sports federations from Scandinavia.
IOC vs Al-Sabah brothers: the end of the Kuwait empire
Exclusive: the (non-independent) IOC Ethics Commission opens proceedings against Sheikh Ahmad. A district court in Lausanne dismisses a complaint by Sheikh Talal. Read the complete document of the IOC here.
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Kamila Valieva is banned retrospectively for four years
In a crushing blow for Vladimir Putin's old-style propaganda system and its systematic doping of young athletes, figure skater Kamila Valieva has been handed a four-year suspension for her positive test in the run-up to the 2022 Winter Olympic in Beijing.
Armed guards, hidden cameras & misogyny in play: the face of the Brazilian Football Confederation
Allegations of sexual and moral harassment. A Big Brother setup in the president's office with cameras spying on employees, directors, media and coaches. The heavy presence of plainclothes armed police on election day to intimidate political opponents. A mafia movie? No. Welcome to the CBF.
Assédio, espionagem, homens armados em eleição: a verdadeira face da CBF
Denúncias de assédio sexual e moral. Um Big Brother Setup no escritório do presidente com câmeras espionando funcionários, diretores, gerentes, mídia e treinadores. A pesada presença da polícia armada à vista no dia da eleição para intimidar oponentes políticos. Máfia? Bem vindo à CBF.
European Aquatics: united in total lack of transparency
The head of Portugal's leading sports institute "repudiates and condemns" the lack of truth in statements made by António Silva, he has told national media on a day when the controversial, "self-suspended" boss of Portuguese swimming was reelected president of European Aquatics in Athens.
Wording of the judgement against Sheikh Ahmad: "Selfish actions, bad collaboration, nil awarness of wrongdoing"
We provide subscribers with the latest judgement. Read the document and make up your own mind. Ahmad and his supporters are still lying. To this day, the Olympic family continues to perpetuate lie that the criminal conviction is somehow just a private matter – but the case shows Ahmad's true colors.
The circle of life on Olympic Heights
The next chapters in the integrity saga surrounding the presidents of European Aquatics, the old and the new: António Silva gives a largely strange, world record-breakingly long interview to save his presidency, while Paolo Barelli claims a legal victory before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Sheikh Ahmad's criminal conviction: back to Lausanne
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah, the long-time associate of IOC president Thomas Bach, loses both his ministerial post in Kuwait and also in the appeal proceedings against his prison sentence in Switzerland – but his penalty is reduced.
When sporting bodies believe they're above the law
What is all the talk about good governance worth? Portugal and swimming regulators at global, European and domestic levels, now face the age-old question of what to do when national laws rule you unfit to govern but the sports family thinks it knows better.
Silva to be stripped of Portuguese federation crown and may lose the presidency of European Aquatics
A ministerial inquiry commission backed the claims of whistleblower Alexandra Jorge and ruled against swimming president António Silva. According to the law, the Portuguese Swimming Federation FPN must call new elections.
Nordic Noir (1): Besseberg, the IBU, Infront, Russia and the Olympic way of corruption
Anders Besseberg, former president of the International Biathlon Union, risks ten years in prison for corruption in a true Nordic Noir crime case that has exposed one of the largest sports scandals in the Nordic democracies in 25 years. Further investigations in other countries are still ongoing.
The Silva farce: hypocrisy rules at European Aquatics
The disturbing decision by European Aquatics to waive an integrity check on President António Silva has triggered a campaign: 27 national federations are needed to force Silva out of office.
Where Olympic sports reform finds itself in choppy seas
Swimming’s new Integrity Unit faces its first test of independence as questions swirl around European Aquatics’ Portuguese president António Silva. The board will have an emergency meeting this evening to fend a serious threat to Silva’s re-election later this month.
FIFA will start the tail between the legs of Chad (and Guinea)
Coming in large numbers to Chad to impose its single-candidate election, FIFA is for the moment empty-handed: the public prosecutor has cancelled the elections, and the security forces have prevented FIFA from passing in force. A failure after that of Guinea a few days earlier.
The IOC and Olympic decisions: ruleless, beyond control
Let's talk about future Winter Olympics in 2030, 2034 and 2038; about at least one future member of the IOC executive board – and about a possible IOC president that not many people have in mind yet.
Le jeu de la FIFA : chantage et élections probablement invalides à la fédération tchadienne de football
Prévues le 30 novembre, les élections de la fédération de football tchadienne ont été suspendues par une décision du Tribunal de Grande Instance. De quoi irriter la FIFA qui a supporté un unique candidat, Ibrahim Foullah, qui attend son procès pour corruption et détournement de deniers publics.
The FIFA game: blackmail and probably invalid elections in Chad's football federation
Elections are to be held in the Chadian Football Federation on 30 November. However, an order from the High Court suspended the elections. This has provoked displeasure of FIFA, which supports the single-candidate, Ibrahim Foullah, who is currently awaiting trial for corruption and embezzlement.
On the value of journalism and devaluation of Olympic principles
The day after an exclusive publication, THE INQUISITOR was banned from the Olympic premises in Lausanne. But the new media outlet is not going away. Came to stay! Because the Olympic systems needs proper inquisitions.
The IOC, SportAccord, the IF Forum and Thomas Bach's friend Uğur Erdener
What is happening in Lausanne right now at the meeting of all Olympic and non-Olympic IFs? SportAccord continues to make itself superfluous in the interests of the IOC. The information provided by SportAccord and its stakeholders is a disaster. Pretentious. Is Uğur Erdener already president?
Touche fatale: what's going on in French fencing?
A few month before the Olympic Games, heralded by the IOC as a renewal of the movement, French sports are still tainted by the most serious scandals at all levels. The latest instance being the mysterious departure of the former president of the fencing federation, Bruno Gares.
Touche fatale: que se passe-t-il dans l’escrime française ?
A la veille des Jeux olympiques, présentés par le CIO comme le renouveau du mouvement, le sport français reste marqué par les plus graves scandales à tous les niveaux. Dernier exemple en date: le départ mystérieux et les affaires de l'ancien président de la fédération d’escrime, Bruno Gares.
Jens Weinreich
We would like to introduce you to some of our authors and partners. Each of them is an expert in a particular field – and well known in that subject area and in the region where the authors are based, but certainly not by all members, readers and subscribers, of THE INQUISITOR.
The case of Insidethegames: beware of Russian propaganda
Just in time for the birthday of the Russian would-be oligarch Umar Kremlev, the final sale of the media platform Insidethegames was announced. The new owners, who operate through a strange corporate construct, are old acquaintances and associates of Kremlin-affiliated Kremlev.
FIFA World Cup 2034 Saudi Arabia™
The news behind the news on the 2030 World Cup is that the 2034 World Cup will go to the sporting rogue state of Saudi Arabia and the chainsaw monster MBS. It sounds weird: FIFA does not act worse in awarding its mega-events than the IOC does with the Olympics, but comparatively transparently.
A heritage school, an oval, and the Brisbane 2032 Olympics
A city council election in Brisbane next year could spell trouble for the 2032 Olympics plans of the Queensland state government. It's a decision not without controversy.
Read the dubious dismissal order in the case of FIFA president and IOC member Infantino
FIFA President Gianni Infantino thinks he is in seventh heaven after a case against him was dropped on flimsy grounds. Our readers deserve to see not just the accompanying FIFA propaganda message but the original document - in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and in the original German version.
Romain Molina
We would like to introduce you to some of our authors and partners. Each of them is an expert in a particular field – and well known in that subject area and in the region where the authors are based, but certainly not by all readers and subscribers of THE INQUISITOR.
Lúcio de Castro
We would like to introduce you to some of our authors and partners. Each of them is an expert in a particular field – and well known in that subject area and in the region where the authors are based, but certainly not by all readers and subscribers of THE INQUISITOR.
Let's build something great and create a robust new media
Welcome to THE INQUISITOR! We're creating an outstanding independent media outlet in the global sports business that focuses on the core tasks of journalism: truth, incorruptibility, investigation, enlightenment, documentation, information, explanation and excellent analysis.
Frequently asked questions about THE INQUISITOR
THE INQUISITOR aims to be the world’s leading independent, investigative media dealing with organised sports crime and governance that lacks transparency and integrity, focussing on the Olympic system but including non-olympic sports and organisations.
IOC's safeguarding: a Schengen move when it suits
What to make of the IOC's new passion for safeguarding & crossing borders into the jurisdiction of sovereign states? An analysis by Craig Lord.
IOC directors earn more money than Olympic champions – and more than any single Olympic sport
It is one of the most intriguing questions about the dubious dictatorship of IOC President Thomas Bach: Why were the salaries of some IOC directors almost doubled in the middle of the COVID crisis? Why do his loyal servants earn more money from the IOC in one Olympiad than any Olympic IF?
What would Andrew Jennings do? He would push this project forward.
The most important investigative Olympic journalist has died in 2022, in the year of the sporting rogue states with mega events in China and Qatar. We honor the legacy of Andrew Jennings with THE INQUISITOR project. Read about decades in which our network has been built. This goes beyond journalism.
Olympic Game of Thrones: Bach's IOC suspends Sheikh Ahmad until after presidential election
One of the biggest crime stories in the Olympic world takes another surprising turn. The Executive Board of the IOC has suspended the highly influential Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah as an IOC member for three years. The consequences are hard to foresee. It has the potential to blow up the Olympic family.
"I love you, president"
Fatma Samoura is stepping down as FIFA's General Secretary. There is no reason to regret that. There is no reason to celebrate Samoura for anything. The woman from Senegal is a princely paid mascot of FIFA dictator Gianni Infantino. She has always covered up for his dirty dealings.
What did Fatma Samoura contribute to football?
It was not long ago in the Rwandan capital Kigali following FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s re-election by acclamation that Fatma Samoura yelled “I love you, president,” but the love story between the world federation and its current secretary general has come to an end.
More than a betting operator
Russian-owned betting company 1XBet has been declared bankrupt and owes millions. Yet it still operates, using porn stars to attract punters, and is a partner of FC Barcelona. It expanded into Ukraine, but was recently banned for its support of Putin’s war machine.
The outlier in football
Football has long had a problem with female executives. At the UEFA Congress, the Norwegian FA president Lise Klaveness clearly lost the election for the Executive Committee against the male majority, many of whom have questionable CVs.
Seb Coe and Thomas Bach: united in history, divided by history
While World Athletics president Sebastian Coe sides with democratic nations, the IOC President Thomas Bach rejects their statements on Russia's war of aggression as uninformed and a violation of sport’s autonomy.
Spree of buying clubs threatens football integrity
Investors assembling a portfolio of football clubs is changing football and existing regulation may not be big enough to cope with the burgeoning phenomenom of multi-club ownerships, which has tied up more than 9,000 football players and swathes of financially weak smaller clubs.
A rare act of resistance: Harald Vervaecke’s furious letter to all world sport federations
"The IOC is not the official body representing sport", writes the Secretary General of a non-Olympic federation. This letter can be seen as a direct attack on the IOC leadership. It is tantamount to blasphemy. However, the fight against the dissolution of the GAISF comes too late.
World sports federations give up their own independent platform GAISF
A great majority of non-Olympic sports federations may be ready to weaken their position vis-à-vis Olympic federations if they vote to dissolve their common association GAISF at a General Assembly on 29 November. This will further strengthen IOC’s grip on world sport.
Lost in translation
What we won’t miss: Sun Yang & an entourage that still has questions to answer over 2014 doping positive.
The coalition of Olympic perpetrators
The IOC and the Olympic federations are obliged to punish Russia and its warmonger, Vladimir Putin. Jens Weinreich calls for a comprehensive independent criminal investigation of the longstanding deep connection of the Olympic institutions with the Kremlin within the framework of the EU.
Vladimir Putin stripped of FINA Order
FINA has stripped Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia and aggressor in the invasion of Ukraine, of the highest honour of the global regulator, the FINA Order, granted in 2014.
Wunderkinder are too valuable for the Olympic system to set age limits
Kamila Valieva' doping case raised questions about a minimum age for Olympic athletes. The Games thrive on high-performing children – some of them so young that they are not even allowed to compete in the Youth Olympic Games. Children are vulnerable to authoritarian states chasing medals and glory.
Compromat. KGB. FSB. GRU. An intelligence overview of Putin’s relationship with the IOC
For decades there has been speculation about information and possibly incriminating material on IOC members and other big names that might be stored in Moscow's secret service archives. If anyone had access to compromat, it was Vladimir Putin. The spying activities span half a century.
Why I don’t cover the Propaganda Games in Beijing
Normally, for most of the Winter and Summer Games I have covered so far, thirteen times in total, I started my coverage exactly one week before the Opening Ceremony. Today I would like to outline why I did not fly to Beijing, to the Genocide and Propaganda Games of CCP
Wild West: gambling advertising at Premier League grounds
Did you place a bet over the Christmas period? You certainly wouldn’t be alone. Betting on sports is big business, and the FA Premier League (FAPL) is globally recognised as football’s most commercially successful league. And online sports betting is a regulated, legal activity in the UK.
Fixing friendlies – zero scrutiny
Low level club friendlies remain at greater risk of match fixing but football’s international governing bodies are doing little or nothing to try and regulate what are essentially privately organised fixtures with no integrity safeguarding.
Olympic powerbroker Sheikh Al-Sabah sentenced to prison
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah has been sentenced to prison. Our author has observed the Kuwaiti Sheikh for many years and has been threatened by the Sheikh’s aides several times. He describes the methods that brought Ahmad to power and the implications of the conviction for Al-Sabah and the Olympic system.
RIP Gian Franco Kasper
An incomparable era is coming to an end. In 97 years of the FIS, there have only been 5 presidents, 70 years of which two Swiss men determined the course of events in their federation. In these 97 years, the Catholic Church has had 8 popes, at least. An obituary for Gian Franco Kasper (1944 - 2021).
Technically banned from the Olympics
The second anti-doping violation committed by Chinese swim controversy Sun Yang has now led to a damning ‘guilty’ verdict for a third time, the latest and last Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling having confirmed that the athlete must serve a penalty, now set at four years, three months.
Bullying investigation highlights Olympic Movement’s control of WADA
IOC's WADA representatives Francesco Ricci Bitti and Patrick Baumann were accused of intimidating Beckie Scott at a 2018 meeting, where a decision was taken to reinstate RUSADA, despite Russia not meeting WADA’s requirements. So why did WADA’s investigation cost the insane amount of $1.6 million?
«La CAF est devenue un département de la FIFA»
L’élection la semaine dernière du nouveau président de la Confédération africaine de football, le Sud-Africain Patrice Motsepe, a montré, au grand jour, l’ingérence de Gianni Infantino. Mais peu de voix osent s’en offusquer ouvertement.
The playbook that keeps Thomas Bach in power at the IOC
Thomas Bach has been re-elected as IOC President for a final term without any opponents or opposition. Using Bach’s doctoral thesis as a departure point, Jens Weinreich describes how constantly planning for the future has provided Bach with an unprecedented hold on power in the Olympic system.
Whistleblowing and the curious case of Rui Pinto
Hacking implies criminality. Leaking implies opportunism. Whistleblowing implies heroism. A reflection on the subtle differences of publicising dirty dealings.
The list of all IOC payments for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and what it means for Tokyo
For the first time ever it can be revealed in detail how much cash the IOC paid to an Olympic host. Investigative journalist Jens Weinreich publishes the list of 117 payments to Rio 2016 in a worldwide exclusive in his magazine SPORT & POLITICS.
How dependent sports federations are on the Olympic revenues
Most of the international Olympic sports federations are financially heavily dependent on their share of the revenues from the Olympic Games. The IOC traditionally does not publish how it will distribute the revenues from the Olympic Games among the 28 permanent summer sports federations.