18 Ways in Which Saudi Arabia Bought the FIFA Club World Cup
They own a club, they sponsor the tournament, they provide the prize money, they sponsor FIFA, they own the media rights, they fly players in, and it's just the beginning.
saudi arabia
Table tennis elections: when the handcuffs click
Presidents of the ITTF and IWF are being elected in Doha and Riyadh these days. In Qatar, president Petra Sörling, an IOC member, must hold her own against host Khalil Al-Mohannadi. An official who once caused difficulties for the Qatari had been arrested and threatened with several years in prison.
At a crossroads in olympic history. It is time to act.
The world is out of joint. So far, the fascist madness in the White House has had little direct impact on the Olympic system. But let's not fool ourselves: what despots, billionaires, warmongers and Nazis do will also have a lasting impact on organized Olympic sport.
Naming and shaming (1): BDO Switzerland and the disgraceful support for FIFA
Today marks the beginning of a very long series: in a loose sequence, companies and people will be presented who work as henchmen, propagandists and other helpers for corrupt sports officials, mafia-like sports organisations and sports rogue states – for princely fees. Part 1: BDO.
The darling of Shiny and Lying Klaus, who lost 50:51 and still became UIPM president
Modern Pentathlon has the boss it deserves, after a strange election that fits the location of Riyadh perfectly: US-American Robert Stull, previously known for some dubious business practices, was "elected" president with the support of SG Shiny Fang and Frequent Traveller Monarch Klaus Schormann.
Pentathlon leadership in the sights of law enforcement authorities
Welcome to the UIPM congress! Decades of dubious Olympic deals in World Pentathlon could have serious legal consequences: an explosive secret report about the machinations of UIPM executives is being examined by criminal authorities, tax investigators and anti-corruption units in several countries.
Usmanov's important confidant in fencing, feared by many: Vitaly Logvin, a Soviet-Uzbek-Mexican string-puller
He is the oligarch's all-purpose weapon in the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE). His CV is at least as interesting and controversial as his reputation. You must get to know Vitaly Logvin Grechuhin, shortly before FIE's election congress in his and Alisher Usmanov's hometown of Tashkent.
Ethics complaint against UIPM monarch Schormann for "acting corruptly" and improper influence on "the result of any UIPM election"
Part II: For months, an explosive ethics complaint has been filed against the UIPM president, which is receiving special treatment and being kept secret. This casts the strange events surrounding treasurer John Helmick in Paris in a new light and could have been an act of perfidious revenge.
The notorious practices of UIPM monarch Klaus Schormann (I): the trade in Olympic accreditation, disguised as sponsor contracts
Part I: Read the original of a so-called sponsor contract that Klaus Schormann, in violation of the UIPM statutes, signed on his own authority, with a strange consulting firm whose owner had just been convicted of tax fraud and went to prison shortly after the contract was signed.
The first female IOC president will be Nawal El Moutawakel if ...
... she submits her candidature by Sunday. Go ahead and bet while the odds are still attractive. Could anybody beat the Moroccan? Nicole Hoevertsz? At least nobody would have to talk anymore about the non-transparent IOC rules and the strange opinions of a dubious IOC Ethics Commission.
Seine-sational: the insanely arrogant lack of transparency of the Olympic UIPM and its 'internal investigations' into a possible corruption case
UIPM board member and treasurer John Helmick, son of former corrupt IOC member Robert Helmick, was sent home from Paris. The pentathlon official is alleged to have traded in accreditations on his own account. UIPM president Klaus Schormann refuses to answer specific questions about the case.
Olympic Games 2036: Al-Thani vs Ambani. Advantage Qatar.
During the memorable IOC session 2023 in Ambani Town, it looked like the 2036 Olympics would be awarded to India by the IOC with a vengeance. In the meantime, things are looking different. Qatar's Emir Tamim is trying everything to outdo the Ambanis. The decision could be made as early as 2025.
State of the IOC Union in the "Mecca of sport" Saudi Arabia
In a blatant shameful session without any democratic intervention, Saudi Arabia was praised as a savior and model country – by a princess and a prince and by IOC members. There were no dissenting voices when the Olympic Esport Games were awarded. Those who remain silent and nod off are also guilty.
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?
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.
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.