Sporting Witness

About Sporting Witness

Sporting Witness is a short BBC World Service podcast that tells the biggest stories in sport through the people who were actually there. Each episode is about nine minutes – roughly the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea – and is built around one person’s memories. You don’t even have to follow sport to get hooked on our podcast. A lot of the episodes are about so much more – like identity, obsession, and politics. Take the surprising story behind the West Germany shirt from the 1990 World Cup final – a zigzag of black, red and gold that’s now one of the most collected pieces of kit in football history. Or the tale of Tonton Zola Moukoko, a virtually unknown Swedish-Congolese footballer who became an accidental cult hero to millions of gamers, thanks to a stats glitch that turned him into an internet legend. Then there’s the plasterer who somehow ended up in a boxing ring with a genuine legend, the forgotten Women’s World Cup that FIFA didn’t recognise for decades, and the man who swam the entire length of the Amazon. Finally, there are the stories that stick with you simply because they’re so unlikely: the moment Diana Ross missed a penalty at the World Cup, the day a person finally beat a horse in a race, and the tennis player who fled the Nazis to keep her career alive. Join the millions of listeners around the world who tune in to Sporting Witness. You don’t need to know the offside rule or the ins and outs of cricket to become a fan.

Publisher

BBC World Service

Category

history · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Jul 2011

Latest episode

7 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

663 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Nov 2026

   The International Island Games

   In 2007 Faroese swimmer Pal Joensen competed in the 12th International Island Games held on the Greek island of Rhodes. Athletes often describe the International Island Games as a mini-Olympics for small nations, designed for athletes from islands around the world who would not normally have the opportunity to participate in an actual Olympic Games. The International Island Games first began in 1985. Founded on the Isle of Man they’ve been staged every two years ever since. Initially 15 islands and 600 competitors took part in 7 sports. But by 2007 when Pal swum in Rhodes, the event had expanded to include 24 island nations and 2,500 athletes. Islands taking part included Jersey, Rhodes, Bermuda, Aland, Caymans, Gozo, Falklands, Gotland, Iceland, Orkney and the Isle of Man. Pal describes the event to Howard Shannon and tells him how important the games became to him. A Whistledown production. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created. (Photo: Pal Joensen swimming for the Faroe Islands in 2010. Credit: Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)

2. 

   31 Oct 2026

   Germany’s first football shirt sponsor

   In 1973, the head of the alcohol brand Jägermeister, Gunter Mast, decided he wanted to sponsor his local football team Eintracht Braunschweig. However, under the rules of the West German Football Federation, the DFB, advertising on shirts was banned. He launched a legal challenge against the rules and initially got around them by changing the club’s crest to the logo of the drink. Shirt sponsorship is now a multi-million-pound industry around the world. Bernd Gersdorff played for Eintracht Braunschweig between 1969 and 1976. He has been speaking to Tim O’Callaghan about his memories of this period. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created. (Photo: Mast with two players from Eintracht Braunschweig with the new sponsored shirts. Credit: Rust\Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

3. 

   24 Oct 2026

   The first Refugee Olympic Team

   In 2016, a new team competed at the Rio Olympics, made up of refugee athletes from around the world. 800m runner Rose Lokonyen fled South Sudan as a child to a refugee camp in Kenya. She tells Rachel Naylor about how when she was scouted, just months before competing, she'd never heard of the Olympics. The Refugee Olympic Team now represent more than 100 million forcibly displaced people globally. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes, you become a fan in the stands as we take you back in time to examine memorable victories and agonising defeats from all over the world. You’ll hear from people who have achieved sporting immortality, or those who were there as incredible sporting moments unfolded. Recent episodes explore the forgotten football Women’s World Cup, the plasterer who fought a boxing legend, international football’s biggest ever beating and the man who swam the Amazon river. We look at the lives of some of the most famous F1 drivers, tennis players and athletes as well as people who’ve had ground-breaking impact in their chosen sporting field, including: the most decorated Paralympian, the woman who was the number 1 squash player in the world for nine years, and the first figure skater to wear a hijab. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the tennis player who escaped the Nazis, how a man finally beat a horse in a race, and how the FIFA computer game was created. (Photo: Rose Lokonyen carrying the Olympic flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Who has been a guest on Sporting Witness

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Donald Dell
• Eric Murangwa Eugene
• Eddy Treijtel
• Michael Henke
• Mokonami Sakae

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

18 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 61 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

85

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

96

Contact Sporting Witness

Guest appearances

Books guests

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

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