The race between Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo as Olympic hosts in 2020 promises to be as close and unpredictable as ever after the IOC's publication of the report on the strengths and weaknesses of the respective bids. In this article, David Gold takes a closer look at the IOC evaluation report.

The German IOC vice-president Thomas Bach stands out as clear favourite to become the next Olympic president at the elections in Buenos Aires on 10 September 2013. But recently German investigative journalist Jens Weinreich heard a whisper in the corridors: “ABB”. Read what it stands for in the first of two articles analysing the election of the next IOC president and the choice of the 2020 Olympic host city.

Countless Brazilians are taking to the streets in protests that started as an uprising against increasing transportation prices and evolved into country-wide demonstrations against the World Cup spending among other things. In this article, Erich Beting, Brazilian journalist and sports business expert, gives his account of the demonstrations.

A televised legal battle against corrupt politicians and two upcoming mega-events are sharpening people’s awareness of how sport is governed in South America’s largest country.

There are so massive national interests at stake when Brazil hosts the World Cup and the Olympic Games that the government has to play an active role against the corruption that follows. But consideration of the sports movement and the autonomy of the Brazilian states set certain limitations.

Analysis: Several scandals centring around Brazil’s Olympic president and Rio 2016 chairman, Carlos Nuzman, is creating unrest regarding Brazil’s image and internal dispute between the government and the Brazilian Olympic Committee

The turmoil surrounding Brazil's former national stadium reflects the conflicts that characterise the country in the preparations for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.

The Sochi Games next year have taken their share of critique. On top of dramatic budget overruns, ecological damages and construction being behind schedule, a recent report from Human Rights Watch documents multiple cases of workplace abuse and exploitation among the many immigrant workers on the Olympic constructions in Sochi.