Sport throws up its own controversies, rows over tactics, disputes over refereeing calls, the spectre of drugs cheats. Then there are those with dark political overtones. Fair Game? Tackling Politics and Sport takes a look at controversial moments when sport and politics have collided during the past century, some tragic, others plain sinister, a few bizarre; all the subject of hot dispute. Ranging from the infamous Berlin Olympics, hijacked by Hitler and the Nazis, the tragedy of Munich, and the Cold War boycotts, to the curious case of the Gaelic Athletic Association throwing out Irish President Douglas Hyde. It shows how sport can be cynically manipulated by some of the most unsavoury characters in world history; and how ultimately athletes and the fans end up losers.

Author Biography

John Leonard is a journalist with more than three decades' experience. He began his career on local newspapers in Staffordshire as a reporter for the Stafford Newsletter and then the Leek Post and Times before working for BBC News in London. He moved to ITN, employed there as a sports producer before becoming a programme editor for Five News and ITV News. A lifelong Stoke City fan, he enjoyed an ill-starred brief sporting career as an athlete running for Staffordshire Moorlands AC.