Through an evaluation of Hamburg’s referendum for the 2024 Games, this third article in a series about civil society, contestation, and the Games examines the role of citizen participation and discusses some of the reasons why the NOlympia campaign gained so much resonance in the city and outside Germany.

This second article in our series on civic contestation of mega-events looks to Russia and the protests that have played out here in spite of the efforts by authorities to stifle and suppress popular resistance.

In this first introductory article, Dennis Pauschinger from the University of Neuchâtel and John Lauermann from the City University of New York discuss similarities and differences of the various movements that have arisen and discuss whether it is a global movement, or rather a locally founded ‘globalised way of protesting the World Cup and the Olympics’.

Qatar has announced its national development strategy for 2018-2022, which has great emphasis on sport as a major factor in strengthening the country’s economic development and its image internationally. The following analysis is a summary of a bigger research conducted by the author.

The “Foundation for Sports Integrity” was recently launched in a lavish setting that made several participants ask about the source of the money. Two of them were Andreas Selliaas and Jan Jensen, who have tried to track the secret backers of the new initiative.

In this report about the opening days of the World Cup in Russia, Andreas Selliaas discusses the Saudi Arabian influence in international football, Gianni Infantino’s announcement of running for a new term as FIFA president and the ghost of Sepp Blatter.

The North American bid has taken clear lead in front of Morocco’s before the FIFA decision on the World Cup 2026 hosting. For weighty financial and political reasons, FIFA seems strongly in favour of an American world cup.

Will the legacies of major sporting events always be cost overruns, abandoned venues, and human rights clampdowns?