University College of Northern Denmark will host the annual conference of the European Association for Sport Management (EASM) in Aalborg, Denmark, on 18-21 September 2012 in partnership with Play the Game/Danish Institute for Sports Studies.

In a sensational session at Play the Game, FIFA’s new communications director, Walter De Gregorio, confronted Andrew Jennings during a session on corruption in FIFA and refuted the veteran investigative journalist’s claim that he was banned from the world body for his tough line on questioning corruption claims.

After years of trying to engage FIFA in open debate about issues of governance in world football, organisers of the Play the Game conference were surprised to learn that FIFA's new Director of Communications and Public Affairs had decided to attend the conference and listen to a number of presentations. The surprise grew as Walter De Gregorio later told a group of journalists that he was prepared to speak at the next Play the Game conference.

The governing body of aquatic sports is getting richer and becoming less unaccountable, a former Olympic swimmer told Play the Game.

UEFA revealed fresh details on the woeful state of European club football to Play the Game ahead of the introduction of the new Financial Fair Play measure that aims to curb the game’s endemic losses.

“We’re breeding white elephants. There are herds of them”, a leading stadium consultant has told Play the Game. Ian Nuttall, a consultant at stadiumbusiness.com, was referring to the underused mega-stadiums that are the legacies of events such as the FIFA World Cup, the European Championships, and the Commonwealth Games.

Mega-events may trigger the building of iconic stadiums and plenty of promises about a sparkling future. But in reality the result is often oversized, expensive structures that turn into financial burdens. A new, on-going study evaluates prestigious stadiums from all over the world.

With less than two weeks to go, it is time to register for a unique occasion to network directly with sports political heavyweights, leading experts and top media professionals in international sport.