Qatar’s controversial World Cup

Few people, even the FIFA officials bribed to promote it, think that staging the World Cup in Qatar is a good idea, but events over the next month will decide whether or not the tiny gulf state has pulled it off.

Sport in Australia: global engagement, national and local significance

Australia is no backwater in world sport and hosts big international tournaments each year. Daryl Adair says a balance of global and local events is important for the sustainability of the Australian sport marketplace.

London calling: Australia and the 2012 Olympic Games

Did our Olympians let us down in London, as the media seems to be suggesting? Or are we proud of their sporting spirit and whole-hearted participation? Daryl Adair says we need to reflect sensibly on what is realistic and stop obsessing about gold.

Australia plays on the world stage at the Olympics

Will the London Olympics result in national pride or national shame for sports-loving Australians? Ahead of the Olympics Daryl Adair looks at the level of anxiety already surrounding our medal chances.

Australia has a longstanding connection with the modern Olympic Games. Two points illustrate this.

First, only five nations have had representatives at every summer Olympics; Australia is one of them. Second, the Games have only been held in the southern hemisphere twice; the host cities have both been in Australia (Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000). This leads to a fundamental question: why has Australia sought to engage so enthusiastically with the Olympics?