Mario Cizmek, a convicted match-fixer, tells his story about why he entered the corrupt world. Photo: Thomas Søndergaard/PlaytheGame
One of the most dominating topcis of Play the Game 2013 in Aarhus, Denmark, have been match-fixing.
And thanks to the former Croatian Football player Mario Cizmek, the participants have been able to get an insider’s view on why some professional football players decide to enter the world of match-fixing.
Mario Cizmek did. In this exclusive and unedited video-interview, he tells his full story.
It is not only in the world of the pro athletes that doping is an issue. As substances becomes more widely available, less skilled competitors now have better opportunities to cheat.
That should lead to a change on the view on the abuse of doping, says a member of the Federation of Gay Games, who says their members face a problem under the current policy. Watch and hear more:
In June 2012, the first case of match fixing in Norwegian football was detected and a new national plan involving different partners are aiming to address this issue.
Morten Johnsen from The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) explains here how that can be done.
Walter de Gregorio, director of communication, FIFA and Andrew Jennings, investigative journalist are talking after the session. Photo: Simon Tordrup
For the first time ever, one of the world’s most powerful sports organizations FIFA, The International Football Federation, is officially present at Play the Game.
Among the topics discussed were racism in football, governance in FIFA and the election of Russia and Qatar as hosts for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 both elected at the same FIFA-conference.
“The problem is that if you have two World Cups to award, there can be made deals. It was a major mistake to choose both hosts at the same conference,” Walter de Gregorio, FIFA’s director of communication, said during the session.
Below you can read the live blog from the heated debate between the speakers and the crowd, among others the well-known investigative journalist Andrew Jennings.
Tuesday, speakers from all over the world had a debate about this very subject at Play the Game in Aarhus, Denmark.
Investigative journalist Bonita Mersiades from Australia, Tim Walters, college professor from the UK and Deborah Unger from Transparency International were some of the profiles who attended this session.
Former vicepresident of the International Olympic Committee and president of the WADA, Richard W. Pound, have been awarded the Play the Game 2013 Award. Watch the video for the full story.
Monday afternoon some prominent speakers will discuss the fight against doping. Among them are former WADA president Richard Pound and the attorney who led the case against Lance Armstong.
In the blog below, you will finde the most important views and statements throughout the session.