The Olympic protests over Russian anti-gay laws can soon be replaced by protests over Russian handling of the situation in Syria. The Syria-question has the potential to become the biggest political issue in the run-up to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 Syria in the UN Security Council

In order to know more about the football supporters’ significance in the Turkish demonstrations, Andreas Selliaas has interviewed Tolga Senel, Turkish expert on football and sports politics.

Turkish football club Fenerbahçe remains in Champions League in spite of several arrests and sentences regarding match-fixing, supporters of rival club Trabzonspor, are calling on UEFA to adhere to their own zero tolerance policy and relegate Fenerbahçe.

The former president of the German Football Association, Theo Zwanziger, and head of FIFA’s Independent Governance Committee, Mark Pieth, are among the keynote speakers at the EASM conference in Aalborg, Denmark, taking place on 18-21 September.

Qatar’s increasing engagement in European soccer and international sport is just one leg in the small Gulf State’s high-risk attempts to position itself as a global player ‘on the right side of history’. But the accompanying social and political changes also spark local opposition in a conservative culture, James M. Dorsey writes in his second analysis on the Gulf State’s growing influence in international sport.

Alongside their successful bids for high profiled sports events, Qatar and other Gulf states are gaining an increasing influence in European football through their acquisition of European soccer clubs, broadcasting rights and sponsorships. James M. Dorsey maps the Middle Eastern offensive, which is welcomed by some fan groups, but questioned by other stakeholders.