transparency international – Declan Hill – Investigative Journalist & Academic

Murdered Bikers, IOC/FIFA and Dead Men Walking

The links between organized crime bike gangs and the IOC/FIFA Okay, everyone calm down. This blog is not about Thomas Bach’s previously unknown (and utterly fictional) history as a Hells Angels member or Sepp Blatter’s non-role as a Bandido drug enforcer. Rather it is about the reason why those nine motorcycle gang members were murdered in Waco, Texas and how it is linked to a key issue around international sports organizations. Brand protection. The superficial reason for the killings last weekend was...

The Devil is in the Details

To start with the important point: it is a good idea. This is the proposal that came out of a meeting of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) sports integrity forum last weekend. The IOC’s reputation has suffered so much damage over the years that the words – ‘meeting, ‘sports integrity’ and ‘IOC’ - immediately plant in many people’s heads the image of a conclave of mobsters chatting with Monty Burns from The Simpsons. The truth is more prosaic. The committee meetings of the...