Coventry selected as host for Play the Game 2009

'Silhouette of the Past' - Coventry Cathedral. Photo coyright of Flickr user Sunface13, and uploaded under a Creative Commons 2.0 licence.

Around 400 media professionals, academic researchers and sports practitioners are expected to gather in Coventry next June, to examine some of the pertinent issues facing world sport, such as good governance, anti-doping and encouraging participation in sport by everyone. The conference will also address the legacy issues associated with London and Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

Play the Game will release speaker details in early 2009. Previous speakers have included Richard Pound, then President of the World Anti-Doping Agency; Pat McQuaid, President of the International Cycling Union; Gerhard Heiberg, IOC member and now Chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission; Shaka Hislop, former Premier League footballer and now Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Players Association and football commentator; Matthew Reeb, General Secretary for the Court of Arbitration for Sport and leading investigative sports journalists such as Andrew Jennings, David Walsh and Declan Hill.

Coventry’s bid to host the Play the Game conference was chosen ahead of submissions from the Spanish city of Maspalomas in Gran Canaria, whose bid was led by the Blume gymnastics organisation, and the German capital Berlin, as put forward by German sports debate association Sportnetzwerk. Strong interest was also shown from the Netherlands and Norway early on in the bidding process. However Play the Game opted for Coventry as a host city due to the commitment and enthusiasm of Professor Simon Chadwick and CIBS.

“We are impressed by the level of local enthusiasm for hosting Play the Game shown by Coventry, and CIBS will be an excellent partner to facilitate a continued development of the conference form and content,” says Jens Sejer Andersen, director of Play the Game.

“Celebrating Play the Game in the United Kingdom means reaching the most dynamic environment we know for sports media, sports research and sports business. Coventry is only one hour from London, the next host city for the Olympic Summer Games, and the city’s long-standing commitment to international peace and reconciliation suits the profile of Play the Game perfectly,” Andersen adds.

Coventry University’s successful bid was aided by the support of the regional development agency Advantage West Midland and hosting the conference will give Coventry the chance to showcase itself to an international audience.

“Being the first UK city to host such a prestigious international conference is indicative of the University’s international expertise in relation to sport management and business,” said Professor Simon Chadwick, Director of the Centre for the International Business of Sport at Coventry University. “It also demonstrates that Coventry is an increasingly appealing location, with important sporting connections.”

CIBS and Play the Game will continue to seek additional funding over the coming months, to ensure that the conference in Coventry is the most successful to date.

The exact programme content will be decided later this year by Play the Game’s Programme Committee, to which a number of international experts and Coventry locals will be appointed.

Themes currently under discussion include: The legacy of the Beijing Olympics - What did we learn?; London 2012 - Can a mega-event boost the daily sports life?; Match-fixing - Attacking the core of sport; Gene doping - Distant threat or harsh reality?; Development - Can sport promote reconciliation and peace? Bribes or benefits: Will sports federations come clean?; and Paralympic athletes - More different than the rest?

For more information and updates about Play the Game 2009, subscribe to the Play the Game newsletter at www.playthegame.org or contact conference manager Maria Suurballe at maria@playthegame.org.

The Centre for International Business of Sport (CIBS) is an applied research institute at Coventry University. The Centre for the International Business of Sport (CIBS) delivers high quality applied research, training, consultancy and networking outputs across a range of sports and in a number of different disciplines.

Visit CIBS at http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/d/691