Play the Game called to speak in the German Parliament

The past year’s debate about mismanagement in FIFA, widespread match fixing and other forms of corruption in sport has caused an increased willingness among European politicians to find ways to respond to the credibility crisis in sport.

Now, politicians of the biggest country in Europe are taking another step. The German parliament Der Bundestag have decided to bring up the issue by inviting Play the Game and two other major stakeholders to a hearing in the sports committee Wednesday 28 September, coincidentally a few days before hundreds of international experts gather at the German Sport University Cologne to debate the same kind of topics at Play the Game 2011.

A representative of Transparency International – which last week suggested concrete reform steps in FIFA – has also been invited as well as a state attorney specialized in fighting corruption. Play the Game will be represented by its International Director Jens Sejer Andersen.

The hearing will not be transmitted on the Internet, but is open to the public. Currently Germany has no law regulating sports fraud, and the hearing is meant to set out political deliberations about which measures the public authorities in Germany can take to prevent corruption in sport.