Stanis Elsborg

Excited to share that we are launching a new podcast on integrity and the darker sides of international sport🎧 Corruption, human rights, geopolitics, gambling, and abuse in sport are among the issues in a new podcast from @playthegame-org.bsky.social www.playthegame.org/news/play-th...

🎙️“FIFA and Qatar tried to break me" That line from Qatar 2022 whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais has stayed with me! In this episode, we talk about prison, pressure, media control, migrant workers, Qatar, and FIFA. 👉 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

The #ManCity case owes much to Rui Pinto and the journalists who investigated the leaked documents. In @politiken.dk, Jeppe Laursen Brock paints a fascinating portrait of the man behind the biggest leak in sports history. Thanks for sharing, Jeppe! 👉 politiken.dk/del/JPyKHBAH...

New❗ @theguardian.com ’s “6,500” story is back in the dock. The new documentary 'Game of Double Standards' accuses Qatar’s critics of double standards. I examined the evidence. In the end, the film has chosen its title more aptly than it intended. 👉 www.playthegame.org/news/qatar-2...

"Scrutiny cannot be a spotlight you swing towards your opponents and switch off above your friends." Stanis Elsborg reviews A Game of Double Standards, the new documentary on Qatar 2022. www.playthegame.org/news/qatar-2...

The documentary A Game of Double Standards about the 2022 FIFA Wordl Cup puts Qatar’s critics in the dock. But its own case rests too often on anecdotes, omissions and convenient comparisons. Here are my thoughts 👇 www.playthegame.org/news/qatar-2...

Another #ManCity connection worth revisiting. In 2020, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala, where City’s Chairman is CEO, committed $2bn to a strategy led by Silver Lake, a shareholder in City Football Group. Mubadala also invested in City’s then sleeve sponsor Nexen Tire in 2017.

With the breaking news about Manchester City's cheating, I think its time to make all of you aware of this group of people! The City case underlines the value of persistent investigative journalism. Great initiative by @philippeauclair.bsky.social go.bsky.app/6oxTr7j

Reading the independent report into Man City's financial "arrangements" now, stopping after every paragraph, saying "Jesus"..."JESUS!"..."Holy fuck!" and again. This is beyond anything anyone imagined. Also started to wonder whether criminal proceedings are in the picture now.

This speech is about Man City and their cheating, and it's from 2022, and fast forward to 13 mins on the video to see the start

#ManCity, plutocracy, entitlement, skullduggery and success❗️ Listen to @sportingintel.bsky.social’s outstanding presentation! Also @tariqpanja.bsky.social, @philippeauclair.bsky.social, @jamescorbett.bsky.social, @davidgoldblatt.bsky.social, and K. Pijetlovic 👉 vimeo.com/721879685

This was a fun conversation. Thank you for having me!

More than 10 years ago, @sdwolfe.bsky.social's work on the 2014 Sochi Olympics helped shape my own research on sport and politics. Now we finally sat down to talk mega-events, political power and the hard edge of soft power. 🎙️ New Play the Game Podcast👉 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

Much of what we know about the darker sides of international sport came to light because journalists kept asking questions. If you believe sport needs independent scrutiny, please consider supporting the Play the Game Journalism Fund. 👉 www.playthegame.org/journalism-f...

“International sport cannot remain the sole judge of its own conduct.” Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting at the 10-year anniversary symposium of MAiSi – the Erasmus Mundus Master in Sport Ethics and Integrity. More info👉 lnkd.in/p/e3JiiJYf

"Can I let my friends know if I feel great?" An athlete asking Play the Game where the line falls, now that people can bet on him. As the first World Athletics Ultimate Championship opens in Budapest, gambling is arriving in athletics faster than the rules. www.playthegame.org/news/betting...

Some new words from me

“A moving beast” The odds are moving fast. Hannah Borenstein – anthropologist and assistant professor of Global Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University – examines who bears the risk and who sets the rules www.playthegame.org/news/betting...

If you're an illegal betting operator looking for an offshore licence, there's Curacao, but there's also Anjouan now, part of the Comoros, which I wrote about for @playthegame-org.bsky.social. Introducing Ron Mendelson, the Vancouver carpet-seller turned licence provider to illegal casinos.

This investigation by @stevemenary.bsky.social, @samindrakunti.bsky.social, @matthijsvndam.bsky.social of @trouw.nl, Jack Kerr and I was produced in conjunction with @playthegame-org.bsky.social, for whom we visited Curaçao's capital Willemstad. This is what we found there.

Sport cannot solve its integrity problems alone. And governments should not run sport. In a new opinion piece, Jens Sejer Andersen and I respond to former Danish NOC president Niels Nygaard’s criticism of Play the Game’s proposal for ClearingSport. idraetsmonitor-dk.translate.goog/nyheder/deba...

“Human rights abuses can be overlooked if the check is big enough.” 🎧 Listen to the Play the Game Podcast in your app of choice👇 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

Curaçao doesn't just host the offshore betting industry. It powers it☝🏼 617 licences. More than 10,000 betting sites. Fewer than 30 staff to police them🚨 Read Play the Game’s full investigation, directly from Willemstad👇🏼 www.playthegame.org/news/the-isl...

Aston Villa’s Visit Rwanda deal is about much more than a shirt sponsor. In this episode, I look at how Paul Kagame’s Rwanda has used sport to shape its international image – and bring in the voice of Carine Kanimba on what that image can push aside. 🎧 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

Aston Villa’s Visit Rwanda deal is about much more than a shirt sponsor. In this episode, I look at how Paul Kagame’s Rwanda has used sport to shape its international image – and bring in the voice of Carine Kanimba on what that image can push aside. 🎧 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

🎙️The Play the Game Podcast is for everyone interested in what happens when sport meets power. We already have episodes on FIFA, Qatar 2022, betting, Trump, World Cup impacts, and independent oversight. I hope you will listen and subscribe 👇 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

"FIFA’s latest crisis shows why sport needs independent oversight" by @staniselsborg.bsky.social & @jenssejer.bsky.social @playthegame-org.bsky.social www.playthegame.org/news/fifa-s-...

Whenever outsiders expose what sport’s own safeguards missed, world sport reaches for another band-aid reform. Play the Game calls for a permanent independent oversight to protect the sports we love. 🎧 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm 📰 playthegame.org/news/fifa-s-...

This clip from Miguel Maduro is one of the key moments in our podcast on Infantino’s FIFA. In a minute, he explains why FIFA reform is so difficult – concentrated power, weak scrutiny, and a system that cannot truly reform itself from within. 🎧https://play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm/

48 hours after his release, Qatar 2022 whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais was blocked from departing Jordan to testify in U.S human trafficking case related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Attached is a Press Statement by his attorney Aaaron Halegua!

Play the Game urges the Danish government to take the lead and make the first move towards establishing an independent international entity able to counter crime, corruption, and other breaches of integrity in sport.  www.linkedin.com/posts/stanis...

Vi har fået lov at bringe denne i vores kanal. Det er @staniselsborg.bsky.social, der på 45 minutter fortæller den fulde historie om Gianni Infantino. Det er det bedste portræt, jeg har hørt om et årti med den 'pæne embedsmand fra UEFA' der skulle 'restore' FIFA open.spotify.com/episode/3qVU...

Devastating news about Qatar 2022 whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais www.linkedin.com/posts/stanis...

There is always something of the Tony Soprano about Infantino when he's criticised - all self-pitying and tetchy. Why are people making such a big deal about such a small mistake? Don't they realise how much pressure he's under? Why aren't people celebrating him and being grateful for all he does?

FIFA closes ranks: it admits “mistakes”, but no one takes responsibility. It promises a review while clearing itself in advance, and warns it will not tolerate “attacks” on its integrity. This is not accountability. It is FIFA clearing itself and warning its critics to back off.

Oh. www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Something I wrote on the relationship between Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump. inews.co.uk/news/world/i...

How did we get here? This podcast looks back at Infantino’s ten years in power - and the decisions, alliances and governance failures. The podcast was only possible because journalists and whistleblowers spent years exposing how FIFA really works. 🎧 play-the-game-podcast.captivate.fm

Weighing in on BBC News this evening after an extraordinary week in football politics. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has withdrawn his commercial proposal, while UEFA has declared that it has lost confidence in his leadership. The proposal is gone. Infantino's leadership crisis remains.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino says he has scrapped the controversial plan to sell off stakes in the governing body's major competitions, following widespread opposition❗️ www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

A lot of attention ok FIFA these - not least due to the excellent work by journalists. They do it everyday. All year. To follow the great journalists who write the most important stories on football, check out this group! Great initiative by @philippeauclair.bsky.social go.bsky.app/6oxTr7j

Another extraordinary twist in what has already been an unprecedented week at FIFA. This time, one of the organisation’s most senior executives publicly turns on Gianni Infantino. Via @tariqpanja.bsky.social Story by @gdunbarap.bsky.social 👉 apnews.com/article/cord...