Melting pot

By Roger Pielke Jr 20 March 2015 The salary that FIFA pays Sepp Blatter, its long-serving president, has never been disclosed. We know how much US president Barack Obama makes, $400,000, and the head of the United Nations (about $240,000) and even the CEO of the biggest company in Switzerland (Nestle, $10.6 million). But Blatter’s […]

. Another football transfer window has just shut and again the most commonly traded global commodity has been the Brazilian player. Official data shows players with Brazilian nationality were involved in 1,493 transfers in the calendar year of 2014 (more than any other nation) and they moved clubs for a collective total of $468m (the […]

. By Roger Pielke Jr 28 January 2015 In 2011, at the Play the Game conference in Germany, I heard Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1978 and the founding President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), make some remarkable claims about the unwillingness of sports officials to police doping. Then at […]

. By Roger Pielke Jr 7 January 2015 You almost certainly had no knowledge that it was happening, let alone followed it closely, but events at a cyclocross World Cup event held last month in Namur, Belgium, highlighted the ongoing disparities between the treatment of men and women in global professional sport. And this happened […]

. REVIEW . By John Roberts 28 November 2014 When the flamboyant Ron Atkinson was the manager of Manchester United, he answered a routine check call from a football reporter and told him: “I’m about to sign Ruudi Wakening from Vasta Sleep.” Big Ron was chuckling even before the reporter had time to make a […]

REVIEW By John Roberts 31 October 2014 During Everton’s celebratory dinner after winning the League title in 1963, Harry Catterick, the club’s manager, mentioned to Roy Vernon, one of his stellar players, that he was considering writing an autobiography. “I don’t want it published until after I’m dead,” Catterick added, to which Vernon replied dryly: […]

By Roger Pielke Jr 30 October 2014 As the MLS’s 2014 season moves towards a conclusion with the play-offs underway, it is notable there is no place in the post-season for the biggest-spending team, Toronto FC. Despite having a salary bill of almost $17m (£10.6m), which is the highest in MLS, the Canada-based franchise is […]

By Roger Pielke Jr 20 October 2014  Since 1928 international athletics has included separate categories for men and women. This separation makes sense to most people on a lot of levels. In terms of social equity, it is appropriate that women have the same chance as men to compete at the highest levels of athletic […]

REVIEW By Lizzy Ammon  6 October 2014 Kevin Pietersen is nothing if not canny. This week is an international week in football meaning the sports media cycle is dead. He’s released his book. It’s an explosive read. In a quiet week, he’s getting maximum column inches. He picked his ghost wisely in David Walsh, a […]

By Ian Herbert 3 October 2014 Are Manchester United fans wealthier than Manchester City fans? The question is not part of an attempt to demonstrate a new flank of red superiority but to resolve a debate which has turned into a serious preoccupation this week. It began on Tuesday night, when City attracted a crowd […]