The symbolism was highly visible as about 25 volleyball representatives from different countries met this weekend under a heavy November sky at the Copenhagen Island Hotel – a brand new hotel which is built on an artificial island in the port basin. Here, a brand new world federation was founded by people who over the years have felt put out on an island and isolated by the International Volleyball Federation FIVB.

With boundless energy and speaking non-stop in three different languages Jean-Pierre Seppey, president of the new volleyball federation FIABVB, held the attention throughout the founding congress even though the room was full of people with whom he had fought bitterly during his time as secretary general of the FIVB.

In Somalia, the Islamic rulers have decreed that no sports team or individual athlete can leave the country without a letter of permission from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). This also applies to the national football team that was told by clerics to “defeat Catholic Ethiopia” or not return home from a tournament for East and Central African Football Associations.

Ethics has also become a focal point for the International Ski Federation (FIS). The FIS Council has decided to set up an Ethics Commission and has appointed former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix as its first member.

Two Argentinian sports journalists have been beaten up by football fans that were angry with one of the journalists after he had accused fans of threatening players in order to harm a rival team. The journalists were only rescued when police opened the doors into the changing rooms at the stadium to allow them an escape.

Iran did not do very well at the recent World Cup in football, so Iran’s government promptly decided to fire the football federation’s president and the entire board and install another president. Now FIFA has responded by banning Iran from international competitions.

The new international volleyball federation does not only face hard resistance from the old one, but must overcome challenges on the inside in order to present a real alternative, Play the Game’s director writes in this editorial comment.

Former Danish cyclist Jesper Skibby has admitted to doping during his professional career in the 1990’s. The confession came in an autobiography published last week. Skibby wants to stop living on a lie and in the book he reveals all about his doping use but does not say who supplied the drugs and helped him avoid testing positive.