With just 100 days to go to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Play the Game asked whether security concerns and the desire for positive coverage could stifle press freedom.

What are the true legacies and costs of mega-events? Play the Game 2013, taking place in Aarhus, Denmark on 28-31 October, raises a critical debate on a theme where sport meets big politics.

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

The preliminary programme of Play the Game 2013 is at hand now. Early bird-deadline is postponed to give you time to consider your favourite Play the Game themes.

Calls for boycott of a mega-event because of the host country's national politics are never far away, and the image battle rages in the media. In this article from The Conversation, David Rowe examines the relationship between sport and politics.

Currently, the IOC faces great international pressure because of Russia's new, strict anti-gay laws. Andreas Selliaas comments on the situation and on whether the IOC ought to take a greater political responsibility.

Up to $ 30 billion has been stolen from the budget of the Sochi Winter Olympics, argues Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, in a new report released yesterday.

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.