Sport’s inability to work for the good of society was the key theme in a session entitled ‘Playing with credibility: The corruption of international sports’ in which more speakers agreed that sport is in need of revolutionary change.

The growing recognition of governance failures and corruption within organisations that govern international sports fuelled a sharp debate during the first plenary session at the main conference venue of Play the Game 2015, with many calling for the International Olympic Committee to take more responsibility for improvement.

The second half of the opening session of Play the Game 2015 focused on FIFA reform and the ongoing criminal enquiry into corruption at the organisation.

FIVB President Ary Graça and Director General Fabio Azevedo are both in the spotlight of Brazilian authorities for business deals made in their time as top officials in their home country.

FIFA’s ethics committee today decided to ban the FIFA president, vice-president and secretary general for a provisional 90-day period pending investigations.

Sepp Blatter’s right hand, FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke, has been put on leave and released from his duties due to allegations of World Cup ticket scheme.

The Azeri journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who has been reporting about alleged corruption in the Azeri elite, has been sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

FIFA has appointed former IOC director general Dr. François Carrard as independent chairman of the 2016 FIFA Reform Commission. The composition of the commission has already sparked critique.