2010 World Cup

Insideworldfootball

So what has Qatar in common with South Africa? On the face of it you would think this is an absurd, Christmas quiz, question. But it is not.

In footballing terms they have a lot in common. The common factor is both countries are pioneers for the world’s most popular game, staging the World Cup in their part of the world for the first time. And both countries have had the need to convince the world they are worthy of having this honour.

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Insideworldfootball.biz

The European Championship once again raises the question of whether we are right in believing that sport, and in particular football, can reach out to society in the way nothing else can. The answer so far from the Euros is a chilling one: those of us who believe in the redemptive power of modern sport need to re-examine our beliefs – or at least ask if we do not need to prepare much better before we burden sport with this heavy load of transforming society.

The championship has been plagued by constant allegations of racism. They began even before the tournament began and have now led to UEFA charging Croatia with racist behaviour directed at Mario Balotelli (pictured below, in blue). It has raised the question: should UEFA have taken the competition to this part of the world?

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Campaigner Paul Elliott talks of the issue resurfacing in England and its impact at the Euros

Evening Standard

Hot topic: a steward picks up a banana, which was allegedly thrown at Mario Balotelli (inset) by Croatia supporters. Image courtesy of Evening Standard

Paul Elliott has a chilling story of how he was regarded by one of his white team-mates when he played for Charlton back in the Eighties.

“We were at the team hotel,” recalls Elliott. “A player ordered scrambled eggs and beans. When the waiter came to me, the gentleman said to the waiter, ‘Get Paul some coon flakes.’”

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Despite talk of reform, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Beijing Olympics proved to be catalysts for rights abuses. Mihir Bose asks whether human rights should be a criterion for hosting coveted international sporting events

Xindex

On the evening of 13 July 2001, as Beijing held a press conference in Moscow to celebrate securing the 2008 Olympics, they had an unexpected visitor: François Carrard, the Swiss lawyer who was executive director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Normally on such occasions the IOC keeps its distance and lets the victorious city have its moment in the sun. But Carrard felt he had to address the media on the human rights issue.

In the lead-up to the vote, Beijing’s rivals, in particular Toronto and Paris, had made much of China’s human rights record. As the members gathered, some 50 protesters assembled outside chanting “Free Tibet”. The Russian police, some wearing riot gear, broke up the protest and six people were seen being taken away in a waiting bus after demonstrators tried to unfurl three banners on the Moscow River embankment, opposite the World Trade Centre where the IOC was meeting. There were reports of 12 arrests.

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Chatham House debate

Highlights of the Chatham House debate on the role of sport in diplomacy.

Location

Chatham House, London

Participants

Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Simon Anholt, Independent Policy Advisor

John Steele, Chief Executive Officer, Youth Sport Trust

Chair: Mihir Bose, Writer and Broadcaster

With the upcoming London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the speakers considered:

• Can hosting the Olympics help the host engage new and emerging powers?
• How is a country’s image and ‘brand’ affected by hosting international sporting events or by the success or failure of its sports team?
• Can or should international sport be used to support political change?

Click here to listen to a recording of the full discussion