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Dear readers,

In April, I will resume regular German-language reporting here under the SPORT & POLITICS label. You will continue to receive occasional snippets of articles from THE INQUISITOR magazine. In order to read all the articles and to get all the newsletters, please register as a reader at THE INQUISITOR. It's worth it.

As the team of THE INQUISITOR we would like to make you a special offer today. For one week, up to and including 4 April 2024, we are offering two special annual subscriptions.

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Thank you – and kind regards. Stay curious!

We will continue our reporting in the next week and have important topics planned for the upcoming months. It remains exciting.

Here are some of our most important articles from the first few months of this unique project THE INQUISITOR. One thing we can already say: Lausanne is not amused. ICYMI …

Ten reasons why IOC’s Sun King Thomas Bach is causing irreparable damage to the Olympic movement

The IOC president sought to get close to Putin even after the Sochi Doping Games. He fraternised with Xi Jinping. He politicised the 2018 Games in South Korea, driven by the dream of the Nobel Peace Prize. All a miserable failure that dragged the Games deeper into a political quagmire. A commentary.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

Why did WADA re-instate North Korea against all reasonable doubt?

In January, WADA removed North Korea from the global list of non-compliant signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code. The decision was based on a single mission inside the dictatorship in four years. Although, according to ITA the situation in North Korea raises “a number of legitimate concerns”.

THE INQUISITORLars Jørgensen

The tentacles of the Russian state invade Kamila Valieva

Is it still state doping in Russia under the supervision of the FMBA? Russian athletes are spoilt for choice between the carrot and the stick. Either they toe the FMBA line and compete, or face the wrath of the Russian state and expulsion from the sport.

THE INQUISITORAndy Brown

Nordic Noir (3): the naked truth of Scandinavian sports corruption

The prosecutor in the criminal trial against the former IBU president Anders Besseberg calls for an unconditional sentence of 3 years and 7 months in prison. The verdict will be handed down on 12 April. Besseberg describes himself as the victim of a hounding: like a “wild boar” that must be shot.

THE INQUISITORLars Jørgensen

Kuwait sports authority calls for investigation against top Olympic official Husain Al-Musallam

Did Husain Al-Musallam, president of World Aquatics, award a company owned by his wife and children contracts from public funds? Kuwait’s sports authority has handed the case over to the public prosecutor’s office. Did he also provide for his family from OCA accounts?

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

On the road to Paris 2024: “omerta at all levels”, a “rape culture” and “systemic dysfunctions” in sport

France’s sport has received an increase in funding for Paris 2024. President Macron wants more medals. France also receives the 2030 Winter Games. The other side of the coin: the sports system is dominated by scandals and mismanagement at all levels, as a breathtaking investigation report documents.

THE INQUISITORAndy Brown

Olympic status quo: IOC directors earn more money than athletes, Olympic champions – and more than any IF

The salaries of the directors of the International Olympic Committee remain exorbitantly high. Around $50 millions are paid over the four-year cycle - probably several millions more. Read the full list for 2022 after we published it last autumn for 2021.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

Calls for Israel to be banned from the Olympics: influenced by ideological-religious whataboutism

For several weeks now, an online petition has been calling for “Suspend Israel from International Sports”. The appeal was launched by the left-wing collective movement DiEM25. In the petition paper, fundamental facts are being omitted or deliberately distorted.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

European Aquatics: united in total lack of transparency

The head of Portugal’s leading sports institute “repudiates and condemns” the lack of truth in statements made by António Silva, he has told national media on a day when the controversial, “self-suspended” boss of Portuguese swimming was reelected president of European Aquatics in Athens.

THE INQUISITORCraig Lord

Armed guards, hidden cameras & misogyny in play: the face of the Brazilian Football Confederation

Allegations of sexual and moral harassment. A Big Brother setup in the president’s office with cameras spying on employees, directors, media and coaches. The heavy presence of plainclothes armed police on election day to intimidate political opponents. A mafia movie? No. Welcome to the CBF.

THE INQUISITORLúcio de Castro

IOC vs Al-Sabah brothers: the end of the Kuwait empire

Exclusive: the (non-independent) IOC Ethics Commission opens proceedings against Sheikh Ahmad. A district court in Lausanne dismisses a complaint by Sheikh Talal. Read the complete document of the IOC here.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

When sporting bodies believe they’re above the law

What is all the talk about good governance worth? Portugal and swimming regulators at global, European and domestic levels, now face the age-old question of what to do when national laws rule you unfit to govern but the sports family thinks it knows better.

THE INQUISITORCraig Lord

Touche fatale: what’s going on in French fencing?

A few month before the Olympic Games, heralded by the IOC as a renewal of the movement, French sports are still tainted by the most serious scandals at all levels. The latest instance being the mysterious departure of the former president of the fencing federation, Bruno Gares.

THE INQUISITORRomain Molina

The case of Insidethegames: beware of Russian propaganda

Just in time for the birthday of the Russian would-be oligarch Umar Kremlev, the final sale of the media platform Insidethegames was announced. The new owners, who operate through a strange corporate construct, are old acquaintances and associates of Kremlin-affiliated Kremlev.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

The IOC, SportAccord, the IF Forum and Thomas Bach’s friend Uğur Erdener

What is happening in Lausanne right now at the meeting of all Olympic and non-Olympic IFs? SportAccord continues to make itself superfluous in the interests of the IOC. The information provided by SportAccord and its stakeholders is a disaster. Pretentious. Is Uğur Erdener already president?

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich

The IOC and Olympic decisions: ruleless, beyond control

Let’s talk about future Winter Olympics in 2030, 2034 and 2038; about at least one future member of the IOC executive board – and about a possible IOC president that not many people have in mind yet.

THE INQUISITORJens Weinreich