NO HOLDS BARRED

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Labels: Andrew Jennings, boxing, corruption, Eddie Goldman, Jens Sejer Andersen, journalism, No Holds Barred, Olympic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen, the international director of Play the Game.

This year's conference, the 11th of Play the Game's biannual events, will be the first one taking place outside Europe and in the U.S. It will take place October 13-16, 2019, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Colorado Springs.

This is THE major world event advocating sport reform. More details on the conference can be seen here.

We spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen by Skype Monday.

World sport has been beset by a seemingly endless and growing number of scandals, including the FIFA corruption and bribery scandals, the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal, the rape and sexual assault scandals in many sports, and countless more. But there has been "one very interesting impact of the combination of scandals," Jens Sejer Andersen noted.

"It is that athletes now, especially elite athletes of course, are starting to speak up. They are starting to say, 'Hey, we do not really feel protected by our top leaders. We do not feel our interests are represented well,'" he said.

"And that is a trend, a global trend now, that more and more elite athletes organize in unions, or they form interest groups, or they form independent committees to take care of their interests vis-a-vis their national and international federations.

"And that's why we have called our conference this time, the subtitle is 'Athlete Power On The Rise'."

We discussed this trend of the rise of athlete activism, why this year's conference is in the U.S., what may happen with the re-opening of the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal due to new allegations of tampering with the data retrieved from the Moscow lab, the effect of these scandals on the future of the Olympic Games and movement, how the fight against sports corruption has broken some "taboos", and much, much more.

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Labels: athlete activism, boxing, corruption, doping, Eddie Goldman, IOC, Jens Sejer Andersen, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Play the Game, Russia, sport, sports, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen, the international director of Play the Game.

This is another in a series of discussions celebrating the tenth anniversary of this No Holds Barred podcast, which began in March 2006. These interviews will focus both on the legacy and issues raised over the years on this show, as well as contemporary issues and the future of the combat sports and martial arts.

We spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen by Skype Thursday.

The list of scandals and exposures of corruption in world sport continues to grow. The Olympics were once the world's most respected and prestigious sporting event. Now the people of many cities around the world are opposing hosting the Olympics. There have been mass demonstrations against the Olympics and major events like the FIFA World Cup in usually sports-positive places like Brazil. Discussions about bribery, match-fixing, doping, and the role of organized crime in sport now get as much or even more attention than analyses of the sporting events themselves.

"I think one of the main reasons that we have reached this low point for international sport is that the sports organizations themselves have for too many years oppressed and neglected this problem. They have tried to tone them down. They have denied that they existed. They have told critics that they were just negative people focusing on isolated individual incidents, etc., etc.," he said.

"There has been no power that could hold from the outside," he said, "the international sports bodies accountable. And they have been subject to no competition at all."

Such a monopoly situation and bureaucratic top-down control have inevitably resulted in a world of corruption.

"Lack of challenge from the outside, lack of challenge from the inside. Lack of understanding that critical questions are necessary if you want to progress. That, I think, has been sort of the cardinal sin of the sports organizations."

One tired defense of the growth of these elite sports organizations and events is that there is a trickle-down effect which benefits youth and grassroots sports. Yet the facts speak otherwise, as grassroots sports programs are often neglected and even discontinued.

"If you want mass sport, if you want grassroots sport and participation in sport, you just have to invest in it. Don't invest in elite sport if what you wish is grassroots sport. And don't invest in grassroots sport if what you wish is elite sport. Those are two worlds apart. They both deserve respect," he said.

"I think there is a growing recognition and understanding, slowly but surely, that hosting the Olympics will not increase physical activity in a country. On the contrary, there is a big risk that money will be diverted from grassroots sport to elite sport during the preparations."

We discussed how after the 2012 London Olympics youth participation in sport actually declined in the U.K., the many potential disasters facing the 2016 Rio Olympics, the need for strategies to make sure that all children are provided physical activity, the international fight against sports corruption, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: corruption, Eddie Goldman, grassroots, IOC, Jens Sejer Andersen, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Play the Game, sport, sports

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen, the international director of Play the Game.

The 2015 Play the Game conference, which is held every two years, will take place October 25-29 at the Marselis Aarhus Hotel in Aarhus, Denmark.

This year's conference will be held amidst an ever-growing list of scandals in world sport, the arrest of numerous top figures in many popular sports, and mounting popular opposition in many countries to hosting the Olympics.

Thus, the theme of this year's conference is both provocative and timely: Global Sport: Reform or Revolution?

We spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen by Skype Wednesday.

While the International Olympic Committee and various sports bodies like FIFA claim to be reforming their ways, many people do not believe that they are capable of reforming themselves.

"Our question is, if these reforms fail, what's left?" he said.

"Yet we then have a revolution.

"And in many ways you can say this revolution is perhaps taking place in front of our eyes. We see ordinary citizens in democratic countries going to the polls and saying no to hosting Olympic Games in their town or in their region. We see large part of the population finding new ways of physical activity all organized outside the traditional sports framework, outside the clubs, outside the federations. They go to the private gym or they go running in the forest or they make parkour in the cities."

He noted, "All in all, the patterns of the way we practice sport and practice physical activity are changing, but the structures of sport remain the same. And if that goes on, it will automatically be a revolution."

We discussed why these major sports organizations need to be thoroughly reformed, how world sport reached a "tipping point" when the British press wrote about the controversy over the awarding of FIFA World Cups to Russia and Qatar, how the growth of the number of scandals in world sport are "still in the landslide process," the great role of organized crime in sport, how most sports organizations have "very, very bad governance" and bad structures, issues like match-fixing and doping, what can be done to improve these situations, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: corruption, Eddie Goldman, FIFA, Global Sport, IOC, Jens Sejer Andersen, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Play the Game, Reform or Revolution

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen, the international director of Play the Game.

Based in Denmark, Play the Game is an international conference and communication initiative aiming to strengthen the ethical foundation of sport and promote democracy, transparency, and freedom of expression in sport.

The Play the Game 2013 conference was held October 28-31, 2013, in Aarhus, Denmark, with 148 speakers addressing many of the burning issues in world sport. All the conference presentations are now online.

We spoke with Jens Sejer Andersen by Skype on Tuesday.

Among the many key areas of interest and issues which he identified as being focused upon at this conference were: match-fixing, especially in international football (soccer); "mega-events: what are they good for?"; "the quality of sports governance, the quality of the sports leaders, their honesty"; "doping as a permanent item on the international agenda"; and the "whole concern about which interests is sport serving".

Describing this as "the best conference we've had so far," he also explained that there is more "public involvement" in the fight for good governance and against the various forms of corruption in sport than ever before. One of the many examples of this was the popular uprising in Brazil earlier this year against the corruption and massive government spending on the 2014 FIFA World Cup while the needs of the people were not being met.

We also discussed how the "sports-business complex" uses mega-events to their advantage and often against the interests of the majority of people; the issue of rights for LGBT people in Russia and the upcoming 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics; who are the new and current "superpowers" in world sport; the exposure in the media of horrific working conditions for those involved in the construction of facilities for the 2022 Qatar World Cup; the lack of democracy and good governance in many of the international federations which are affiliated with the International Olympic Committee; how it is "outrageous" that safety for athletes is not the number one issue in many sports; allegations of corruption in some of the lower-profile sports such as weightlifting and wrestling; the growing problem of many youths not being involved in sports at the grassroots level and having sedentary lifestyles; the role of the sports media; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

LenneHardt.com, the web site of the world's greatest ring announcer, Lenne Hardt. Need a unique and cool combat sports-related gift? At LenneHardt.com, you can order personalized messages, wedding calls, ringtones, phone answering messages, and more, all recorded by Lenne herself, in the style of your choice. For more information, go to LenneHardt.com.

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

GrappleGnostic, sponsored by Defense Soap. Where the will to win meets the power of knowledge. Features, interviews, analysis, health tips, and information on wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and all the grappling arts, written by some of the best writers and experts in the world. Check out their web site, a http://defensesoap.com/grapplegnostic.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at http://defensesoap.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: conference, corruption, democracy, doping, Eddie Goldman, FIFA, football, IOC, Jens Sejer Andersen, LGBT, match-fixing, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Play Game, soccer, Sochi, sport

Labels: corruption, Eddie Goldman, Emmily Bristol, Jens Sejer Andersen, No Holds Barred, Play the Game, rape, sport, UFC