China is a text-book case of why you cannot wait to uproot corruption. The Chinese soccer leagues are a national disgrace and an international joke. Do not take my word for it. The top Chinese politican – President Hu Jintao – has declared his embarrassment over the state of their sport. However, the Chinese government has waited far too long to fight it.

The pensioner was talking himself into a rage. “Football is becoming too commercialized”, he scolded. “The young people today are too focused on money”. In his time, Eusébio da Silva Ferreira argues, everything was better. Back then, you focused on the game.

By the end of 2009, the official IOC evaluation of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is expected to be published, however the main points were presented at the IOC session in Copenhagen by Head of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Beijing Olympics, Mr. Hein Verbrüggen.

Beijing native Kang Kang, a journalist for Chinese national TV-station CCTV, told Play the Game at the IOC session in Copenhagen how he had experienced the city develop.

No mention of issues with press restrictions as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were officially evaluated by both the BOCOG and by the IOC evaluation commission for the Beijing Olympics.

Mega-events as drivers of social change: Experts on China went head-to-head in trying to assess the legacy and impact of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The IOC charter states that “only sports that adopt and implement the anti-doping code, can be included or remain in the programme.” According to the minutes from a WADA executive board meeting in May 2008, IOC was aware that several countries and IFs were not compliant with the WADA anti-doping code when they competed in Beijing.

China’s Olympic Games performance took the world by storm, but it gets mixed reviews in a report issued today on official treatment of overseas journalists and media covering the Games.