Forget the gloom, sport’s broad palette offers many reasons be cheerful January 16, 2025 Elite sport may make us despair at times but we shouldn’t forget that the wider ecosystem offers so many opportunities to connect and participate, says Ed Warner. Memo to self: don’t always be a miserabilist. The data says that the most upbeat editions of this column garner as many readers as the more downbeat. So, [...]
Battle for IOC presidency needs rigorous candidate tests January 2, 2025 The position of president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) isn’t quite the leadership of the free world, but is arguably more influential on the global stage than the heads of many nations, both free and not-so-free. It comes with far fewer constraints on the post-holder’s power too. Little wonder that seven sporting presidents, vice-presidents, [...]
Ed Warner: Why the anti-doping fight desperately needs a shot in the arm December 19, 2024 Confirmation that Mykhailo Mudryk has failed a routine anti-doping test must rightly trigger the usual essential caveats. Chelsea’s Ukrainian winger has only been provisionally suspended. This is simply the start of a process with the facts to be established and the outcome far from certain. What is clear is that Mudryk’s case will be another [...]
Ed Warner: Sport owners mustn’t forget the loyal and local in rush to go global December 12, 2024 In the frenzied rush to create global franchises and events, the sport business risks forgetting local and loyal fans at their peril, says Ed Warner. Storm Darragh dashed many sporting dreams last weekend, including those of the Australian 15-year-old who spent all his savings on a solo trip from Down Under only for the last [...]
Ed Warner: It’s sports awards season, so here’s my team of the year December 5, 2024 ParalympicsGB are my team of the year – they succeeded where others failed and all without the fanfare they deserved, says Ed Warner. Sports award season is upon us. This of the Year and That of the Year, on red carpets and across multiple platforms with misty eyes and banging showreels. Not a vintage year [...]
Ed Warner: Why sports will have to change to stay down with the kids November 28, 2024 A leading cricket journalist bemoaned the lack of Test cricket on terrestrial TV to me recently, trotting out the well-worn argument that the England Wales Cricket Board had severely weakened the sport when it signed coverage over to Sky back in 2005. That’s as maybe, but if long-form cricket was free to view on mainstream [...]
Ed Warner: Gold rush for athletes as sport venures into crazy territory November 21, 2024 Too much money chasing too few goods spells inflation. In the madcap pursuit of novel sporting ventures it is the athletes whose prices are swelling.
Champions League was meant to get more exciting. It’s anything but November 14, 2024 Uefa has deepened the financial well of European club competition but its waters may have been poisoned in the process.
Ed Warner: Chair the football regulator? No thanks, not even for £130k November 7, 2024 The job ad for the chair is being circulated widely by opponents of the concept of a regulator in the hope that a moderate rather than a zealot will land the role.
Ed Warner: Have sports missed esports boat – or was there never one to catch? October 31, 2024 Ahead of the League of Legends Worlds 2024 in London this weekend, Ed Warner wonders whether sports have got esports all wrong.
