Sports journalism focuses almost exclusively on results, tournaments and top athletes. According to new research on sports coverage in 80 newspapers from 22 countries presented at the Play the Game conference in Cologne on 3 October, sports politics and economic issues are of little interest to the printed media.

FIFA has lost all public confidence that it is willing to, or even capable of, handling the problems of corruption that the organisation is currently facing. So blunt was the assessment from long-term IOC member, Richard W. Pound, when he spoke about corruption in sport at today's opening session of the 2011 Play the Game conference in Cologne, Germany.

The IOC should take the lead in mobilising sports organisations to deal with corruption. Although sports organisations are unable to fight corruption without the help of authorities, it would be wrong to expect governments to take the lead, former WADA President and long-term IOC member, Richard W. Pound, said at the opening of the 2011 Play the Game conference in Cologne.

Match fixing is going through the same transition as popular music sales went through in the 1990s when it went online, author Declan Hill told delegates at the 2011 Play the Game conference. Asian sport is already much destroyed, he claimed, and if allowed to continue unabated, match fixing “will destroy modern sport” across the world.

With 330 participants and 140 speakers, Play the Game 2011 has opened in Cologne. It is the largest conference since Play the Game started focusing on sport's most urgent challenges 14 years ago.

Are you unable to attend Play the Game? Instead you can watch presentations from some of the many interesting speakers and follow the key debates through live streaming from the conference or video on demand.

Senior FIFA Vice President Julio Grondona's bid for a ninth term as Argentina Football Association president is being challenged by Fernando Raffaini, head of the football club Velez Sarsfield.

That FIFA has governance problems is now generally recognized, but what are the prospects for reforms, asks Roger Pielke in this analysis based on the paper 'How Can FIFA be Held Accountable?', which will be presented at Play the Game 2011 in Cologne in October.