Play the Game Podcast

About Play the Game Podcast

A podcast about the people, powers, and politics shaping sport. Play the Game Podcast will bring you some of the voices, stories, and debates that rarely get enough space in the world of sport. For almost three decades, Play the Game has worked to create space for open, critical, and informed dialogue about international sport. We have done so through our conferences, analyses, and journalism. Now, we are bringing that work to your headphones. You will hear from investigative journalists, researchers, athletes, whistleblowers, sports leaders, decision-makers, and other voices who help uncover what is happening behind the scenes of international sport. We will bring you interviews, narrated articles, conference presentations, and critical debates on some of the biggest challenges facing sport today — from corruption, matchfixing, doping, and human rights to geopolitics, gambling, sustainability, athlete welfare, and abuse in sport. Some episodes will give new life to important material from Play the Game’s conferences and website — presentations, articles, and conversations that deserve to travel further than the room where they were first heard. For many years, Play the Game has been known as a home for the homeless questions in sport. Today, there are still many such questions — and many people who need a place where difficult, uncomfortable, and important stories can be told. The Play the Game Podcast is for everyone who believes that sport deserves scrutiny, transparency, and open debate.

Publisher

Play the Game

Category

society & culture · sports · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 May 2026

Latest episode

30 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

12 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Manchester City: The money behind the success – with Nick Harris

   For years, questions about Manchester City’s finances followed the club from one trophy celebration to the next. An independent commission has now found serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules across nine seasons, involving overstated income and understated costs totalling more than £900 million. In this episode, we revisit some of investigative journalist Nick Harris’s work. Drawing on documents and years of reporting, Harris examines the money behind City’s sponsorship agreements and describes his efforts to get answers from the club. Host Stanis Elsborg places Harris’s reporting in the context of the commission’s findings, published on 29 September 2026. Manchester City rejects the commission’s findings and says it will appeal. At the time of recording, sanctions had not been decided. Host and narrator: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley and Cold Case by Riverside

2. 

   17 Sept 2026

   Interview: Sven Daniel Wolfe on sporting mega-events and the hard edge of soft power

   Sporting mega-events promise celebration, unity, development, international prestige, and unforgettable moments. But what happens behind the spectacle — and what remains when the cameras leave? In this episode of the Play the Game Podcast, Stanis Elsborg speaks with Sven Daniel Wolfe about the politics of mega-events and what Wolfe calls "the hard edge of soft power." Wolfe explains how his own fascination with sport developed into research on the infrastructures, investments, disruptions, and political interests that make global sporting events possible. His academic turning point came through the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, where he experienced both the emotional power of the event and its consequences for the city and its residents. The conversation explores why governments find the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games, and other mega-events so attractive. Wolfe argues that they remain some of the world’s biggest shared stages, giving political leaders a rare opportunity to communicate different messages to domestic and international audiences at the same time. The episode also examines the relationship between mega-events and authoritarian politics, from historical examples such as the 1934 World Cup in Mussolini’s Italy, the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and the 1978 World Cup in Argentina to Russia’s recent mega-event decade. Wolfe discusses Sochi 2014 as a watershed moment in Russia’s political development and reflects on how sport, national identity, security, and soft power became intertwined. But the discussion is not limited to authoritarian states. Wolfe argues that authoritarian practices can also emerge around mega-events in democratic settings, including displacement, surveillance, social cleansing, and extraordinary security measures. The conversation then turns to what happens after the spotlight. Drawing on his current research, Wolfe explains how organising committees disappear, promises become difficult to track, and the short-term needs of the event can override the long-term needs of host cities. Finally, the episode looks at the USA's current mega-event decade and Wolfe’s provocative comparison with Russia. He explains where he sees parallels, where the comparison has limits, and why major sporting events should be examined as political projects as well as sporting celebrations. Guest: Sven Daniel Wolfe, assistant professor of social and cultural geography at the University of Neuchâtel Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Voices by rexlambo & Cold Case by Riverside

3. 

   27 Aug 2026

   Visit Rwanda: From Arsenal to Aston Villa and the sports politics of Paul Kagame’s Rwanda

   Aston Villa’s new partnership with Visit Rwanda is the latest chapter in a much longer story about sport, image, power, and politics. In this documentary-style episode of the Play the Game Podcast, Stanis Elsborg looks at how Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, has used global sport to reshape the country’s international image – from Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, and Atlético Madrid to the NBA, cycling, FIFA, and now Aston Villa. The episode uses Aston Villa’s front-of-shirt deal with Visit Rwanda as a starting point to explore the political use of sport: how football shirts, elite clubs, international leagues, and major events can help promote tourism, investment, and national branding, while also raising questions about which stories are amplified and which are pushed aside. You will hear from Carine Kanimba, the daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, whose story inspired the film Hotel Rwanda. Kanimba argues that Visit Rwanda is not only a tourism campaign, but a political branding project. Her testimony brings the discussion from sponsorship strategy into the lived reality of critics, political prisoners, and families who have challenged Kagame’s government. This is a story about how sport can become part of a government’s international image – and why the meaning of a sponsorship is shaped not only by clubs and sponsors, but also by fans, critics, journalists, activists, and affected communities. Host and narrator: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Voices by rexlambo & Lost in the ocean by Limujii

4. 

   19 Aug 2026

   FIFA’s latest crisis shows why sport needs independent oversight

   FIFA’s latest crisis has once again raised a fundamental question for international sport: Who holds those in power to account when sport’s own systems fail? In this episode of the Play the Game Podcast, you can hear a narrated version of the opinion piece “FIFA’s latest crisis shows why sport needs independent oversight”, written by Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game, and Jens Sejer Andersen, founder and senior advisor. The piece responds to the recent crisis around Gianni Infantino’s plan to restructure FIFA’s commercial operations — a proposal that triggered protest, pressure, and internal criticism before it was withdrawn. But the argument goes beyond FIFA and Infantino. The episode looks at a recurring pattern in international sport: when sport’s own safeguards fail, it is often journalists, whistleblowers, survivors, lawyers, prosecutors, and public authorities who expose what the system did not confront. From corruption and doping scandals to abuse, match manipulation, and other integrity breaches, Play the Game argues that internal reform is no longer enough. The episode presents the case for permanent and genuinely independent oversight in international sport — and introduces ClearingSport, Play the Game’s proposal for an independent international entity able to counter crime, corruption, and other integrity breaches in sport. Host and narrator: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Authors: Stanis Elsborg and Jens Sejer Andersen This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Voices by rexlambo & I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley

5. 

   16 Jul 2026

   Lindsey Kennedy: Scams, slavery and surface-to-air missiles – Online sports betting in Southeast Asia

   Online sports betting is often presented as entertainment – a fast-growing industry built around odds, apps, sponsorships, and fan engagement. But behind parts of that industry lies a much darker story. In this episode, you can hear investigative journalist Lindsey Kennedy expose how illegal online gambling networks in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines have developed into sprawling criminal empires built on human trafficking, forced labour, torture, corruption, and organised crime. Thousands of people from around the world are lured by fake job offers and end up trapped in compounds where online gambling and scam operations thrive. As these compounds expand, they have even become entangled in armed conflict – turning parts of the global betting industry into something far more dangerous than a question of gambling regulation. The episode also connects the story to international sport. According to Kennedy, companies linked to these criminal networks have been able to sponsor major European football clubs, using sport to clean their image, build legitimacy, and move closer to the mainstream. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Speaker: Lindsey Kennedy, investigative journalist and research director at the Eyewitness Project This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Voices by rexlambo

6. 

   2 Jul 2026

   Stanis Elsborg on Infantino’s FIFA: Ten years of power, politics, and so-called ethics

   Ten years ago, Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA president with a promise of reform, transparency, accountability, and a “new FIFA”. At the time, world football was still shaking from one of the biggest corruption scandals in sports history. Senior FIFA officials had been arrested, investigators were uncovering bribery and money laundering schemes, and journalists and whistleblowers had exposed a system built on loyalty, money, and power. In this episode of the Play the Game Podcast, Stanis Elsborg looks back at Gianni Infantino’s first decade as FIFA president and asks a simple question: What kind of FIFA did he actually build? The episode traces FIFA’s journey from the corruption scandal of 2015 into the Infantino era - looking at reform promises, politics, weakened independent scrutiny, and FIFA’s growing proximity to political power. It also explores Infantino’s relationships with Vladimir Putin, Qatar’s leadership, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Donald Trump - and asks what these relationships reveal about FIFA’s direction under his presidency. Along the way, the episode revisits the role of investigative journalists, whistleblowers, and reform figures who challenged FIFA’s culture of impunity, including Andrew Jennings. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley & Cold Case by Riverside

7. 

   24 Jun 2026

   Interview: Karim Zidan on how sport became part of Donald Trump’s MAGA machine

   In this episode of the Play the Game Podcast, Stanis Elsborg speaks with investigative journalist Karim Zidan about Donald Trump’s long and increasingly political relationship with sport. For decades, Trump has used boxing, professional wrestling, golf, mixed martial arts, and football to build his brand, cultivate power, and place himself at the centre of the spectacle. Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has attended major sporting events, signed executive orders on sport, created White House task forces for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and surrounded himself with a network of sports executives, athletes, influencers, and political operators. Karim Zidan explains how sport has become part of Trump’s political infrastructure - a space where strength, masculinity, nationalism, loyalty, grievance, and entertainment are turned into political power. The conversation looks at Trump’s relationship with combat sports, from boxing and professional wrestling to the UFC; the role of figures such as Dana White, Joe Rogan, Casey Wasserman, and others. Karim Zidan is an investigative journalist who writes about the intersection of sport, politics, power, authoritarianism, and human rights. He is also the author of the forthcoming book The Ultimate Strongmen, which examines how mixed martial arts has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Guest: Karim Zidan, investigative journalist and author This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Lost in the ocean by limujii & Cold Case by Riverside

8. 

   17 Jun 2026

   Across Mexico, World Cup 2026 projects are putting communities and ecosystems under pressure

   This story is written by Monika Streule for Play the Game and narrated by Stanis Elsborg. In this episode, urban anthropologist Monika Streule takes us to Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara, where 2026 World Cup-related projects, infrastructure upgrades, and urban development are colliding with local struggles over water, land, housing, public space, and environmental protection. In Mexico City, residents near the Azteca Stadium continue to resist projects they fear will increase water scarcity, displacement, and gentrification. In Monterrey, the build-up to the World Cup has intersected with long-running conflicts over public land, air pollution, water access, and the protection of rivers. And in Guadalajara, the Akron Stadium and its surroundings near La Primavera forest raise questions about urban expansion, wildfire risks, pressure on water resources, and the limits of sustainability branding. The episode looks beyond the global spectacle and asks what happens locally when the world’s biggest football tournament arrives. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Author: Monika Streule, urban anthropologist and professor of social anthropology based in Mexico City This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Cold Case by Riverside

9. 

   11 Jun 2026

   Jules Boykoff: Sportswashing, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games

   Jules Boykoff: Sportswashing, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games As the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins in North America, Jules Boykoff asks us to look beyond the spectacle. For millions of fans, the tournament will bring football, drama, beauty, and emotion. But behind the spectacle lies another story – one about power, money, political prestige, and who gets to use sport, and for what purpose. In this episode, you will hear Jules Boykoff speak about sportswashing, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Boykoff is a political scientist, author, former professional football player, and one of the most critical voices on the politics of sport and mega-events. His analysis focuses on the concept of sportswashing: how political leaders, states, and powerful institutions use sport to build prestige, stoke nationalism, and deflect attention from chronic problems at home. In the case of the 2026 World Cup, Boykoff turns his attention to FIFA, Donald Trump, and the political and commercial machinery surrounding the tournament. But his argument does not stop with football. Two years after the World Cup, the Olympic Games will come to Los Angeles – raising many of the same questions about power, profit, public money, policing, displacement, and political image-making. The episode also comes as Boykoff releases his new book, Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Speaker: Jules Boykoff, political scientist, author, and former professional football player This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley.

10. 

    10 Jun 2026

    FIFAs betting expansion raises integrity fears ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup

    This story is written by journalist Steve Menary for Play the Game and narrated by Stanis Elsborg. Is FIFA moving into the betting industry faster than it can protect the integrity of the game? Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, football’s global governing body is deepening its relationship with betting operators, prediction markets, data companies, and streaming rights - and, on June 9, FIFA announced Kraken as an official crypto exchange supporter of the tournament. The result is a rapidly expanding commercial landscape where new betting opportunities are emerging not only around the World Cup itself, but also around low-level matches streamed on FIFA+. Some of those matches involve amateur or poorly paid players in countries where online gambling is illegal. Yet they can still end up on global betting markets, raising questions about offshore operators, cryptocurrency, weak regulation, and match-fixing risks. This episode looks at how FIFA’s commercial partnerships are bringing thousands of matches closer to betting markets, why sports integrity experts are concerned about prediction markets ahead of the 2026 World Cup, and whether football’s systems of protection and accountability can keep up. This is a story about money, governance, betting, and the integrity of football – from the biggest World Cup ever staged to some of the smallest leagues in the game. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Author: Steve Menary, journalist This episode is produced by Play the Game. Music: Cold Case by Riverside

11. 

    8 Jun 2026

    Qatar 2022 whistleblower: Abdullah Ibhais on prison, pressure, and media control

    “Silence is sport’s worst enemy!” That is the message from Qatar 2022 whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais, the former media manager for Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, who paid a heavy price for speaking out about the treatment of migrant workers ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the opening episode of the Play the Game Podcast, Stanis Elsborg speaks with Ibhais in an exclusive interview about the latest developments in his case. After travelling to Norway to speak publicly about FIFA, Qatar, and the World Cup, Ibhais says he was stopped at the airport on his return to Jordan, questioned, and had his passport confiscated. The episode also features Ibhais’ powerful presentation from Play the Game 2025, where he describes Qatar’s media strategy in the years leading up to the tournament — a strategy he sums up as: “Deflect, discredit, and deny.” This is the story of an insider turned whistleblower – a story about prison, pressure, media control, FIFA, migrant workers, and the global politics behind Qatar 2022. Host: Stanis Elsborg, head of Play the Game Guest: Abdullah Ibhais, whistleblower, communications and advocacy consultant, Jordan *This episode is produced by Play the Game* Music: I Walk With Ghosts by Scott Buckley

12. 

    28 May 2026

    Welcome to the Play the Game Podcast

    Welcome to the Play the Game Podcast Play the Game Podcast is a new podcast about the people, powers, and politics shaping sport. The podcast brings you voices, stories, and debates that rarely get enough space in the world of sport. For almost three decades, Play the Game has worked to create space for open, critical, and informed dialogue about international sport through conferences, analyses, and journalism. Now, we are bringing that work to your headphones. In the podcast, you will hear from investigative journalists, researchers, athletes, whistleblowers, sports leaders, decision-makers, and others who help uncover what is happening behind the scenes of international sport. Episodes will include interviews, narrated articles, conference presentations, and critical debates on some of the biggest challenges facing sport today — from corruption, match-fixing, doping, and human rights to geopolitics, gambling, sustainability, athlete welfare, and abuse in sport. Some episodes will give new life to important material from Play the Game’s conferences and website: presentations, articles, and conversations that deserve to travel further than the room where they were first heard. Others will open up new conversations about the questions that sport still struggles to answer. Play the Game Podcast is for everyone who believes that sport deserves scrutiny, transparency, and open debate. Subscribe now, and listen soon on all major podcast platforms. For more information visit www.playthegame.org/podcast

Contact Play the Game Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.