The International Conference on Extreme Sports Medicine is back after the COVID-19 hiatus

In 2011 investigative journalists Andrew Jennings and Jens Weinreich ont received Play the Game pour leur travail sur “Documentation and Public Experience of Corruption in Mathematical Principles in the World”, because they are not waiting to be hired.

It was fitting that the two of them received the award together. They were colleagues and close friends, and when Jennings died at the age of 78 in January 2022, Weinreich mobilized his joint network of journalists, academics, sports executives, friends and some foes, to contribute in a few weeks’ time to a major written tribute to a businessman. The man everyone agrees on was a formidable journalist and a force for change in the world of sports governance.

The honor was published as a special 81-page issue of Weinrich’s “Sport and Politics” with texts written by 53 authors from 17 different countries.

Cover of the special issue of “Sports and Politics” magazine

Weinrich writes in his opinion piece that there was no intention to produce a comprehensive account of Jennings’ work, but he believes that anyone who wants to understand the revolution in investigative journalism in sports politics and the importance of Andrew Jennings in the thirty years since ‘The Lord of the Rings was published by Jennings should Co-author Vyv Simson should read the texts carefully: “More than 50 puzzle pieces fit together to form a large integrated unit.”

Not only are the pieces all shaping up, but it’s also a multi-dimensional puzzle, put together by Weinreich with the help of people who know and admire Jennings well, as well as people who have benefited from his journalistic interest, such as the former president from FIFA. Sepp Blatter.

“Through his books and articles he has shown us a mirror, and although I do not agree with much of what he has written, I tip my hat to him,” Blatter wrote, adding: “When I look at what is happening in FIFA today, he would be happy if Andrew Jennings It still exists.

How do you get the documents?
The magazine not only allows those who know Jennings well with memories, but also gives new readers the opportunity to enter the intertwined worlds of Jennings and sports politics through well-written and often entertaining articles detailing some of the incredible stories Jennings discovered alone or helped others. You find it outside.

The magazine also contains many stories about Andrew Jennings as a man, friend, teacher and, above all, as a relentless journalist who avoided press conferences and media documents.

His journalistic approach and methodologies are covered in numerous articles highlighting his insistence on obtaining incriminating documents which have always been the basis of his work. And how do you do that? The magazine republished an article by Jennings in “The Global Investigative Journalism Casebook” published by UNESCO in which he explains his methods in this personal style that has bothered quite a few pens over the years:

“Go to the press conference hosted by Mr. Page & Nasty. Don’t tastefully wear a press kit. Silk ties are a job killer. Be a killer. Stand up and accuse Mr. Page of whatever’s on your mind; bribery, pedophilia, the list is yours to write. You send. A message to the staff that if Mr. Paige is as bastard as you think, working for him is going to be a dirty nightmare. He frightens men and sniffs women… You’re implying that you don’t care… You only come because you want to fight…. If your performance Well, the documents should start arriving.

The importance of the press.
The documents circulated under Jennings’s direction for many years, painstakingly compiling and curating them, patiently extracting and publishing stories about sports villains that eventually led to the downfall of several corrupt FIFA officials.

One of the magazine’s articles was written by Special Agent Stephen Berryman, who led the US Treasury’s global investigation into taxation, international money laundering and corruption in sports governance within FIFA. For him, the investigation began when he read a 2011 article by Jennings on corruption in FIFA, culminating in late May 2015 with convictions and arrests of several FIFA officials in Switzerland and other countries in South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

“Know that much of this would have never come to light without the tireless and dedicated research and reporting that investigative journalists around the world have done over the decades, and this is especially true of the late Andrew Jennings, but he never forgot it,” Berryman writes.

At Play the Game 2022, Jennings and investigative journalism will be celebrated as conference attendees will be invited to an ‘An Evening with Andrew Jennings’. Here, stories about his life and career will be mixed with discussions about how best to support and grow investigative sports journalism for years to come.