Writing Best Column - Longlist announcement

LAUSANNE, February 22, 2022 - The AIPS Sport Media Awards are pleased to announce the longlist for the Writing Best Column category.

The longlist represents the first judging stage and is based on the average ratings of the AIPS panel of specialists, the Executive Committee members and the members of the Jury.

Find out more about the judging stages here.

Here are the selected works, in alphabetical order of country:

 

WRITING BEST COLUMN
 

Nazim Bessol (Algeria), The FIFA Arab Cup: An attack on Saudi Arabia - Middleeasteye.net

Marcela Mora y Araujo (Argentina), Diego's sleeping - The Guardian

Sebastian Ignacio Torok (Argentina), Kicker, after the dark. The return of the tennis player punished for fixing matches: "I was ashamed" - La Nacion

Alejandro Wall (Argentina), Opinion: Maradona, the surname of a country - The Washington Post

Samantha Lewis (Australia), Cooney-Cross comes of age with W-League grand final winner for victory - Theguardian.com

Julian Linden (Australia), Swimming against the tide - The Daily Telegraph

Robert Livingstone (Canada), BidWeek: The IOC thought they could steal the Brisbane 2032 Olympics and hoped we wouldn’t notice - Gamesbids.com

Esteban Abarzua (Chile), We are still in debt to Arley - Las Ultimas Noticias

Yujia Dou (China), Su Bingtian, Su-per fast! - Weixin.qq.com

Kresimir Lackovic (Croatia), The rising sun - Glas Slavonije

Damian Delgado Averhoff (Cuba), ESPN backlash: Open letter to Canelo Álvarez 2.0 - Espndeportes.espn.com

Lars Jorgensen (Denmark), Whistleblowers call on the UN to close human rights gap in sport - Playthegame.org

Mario Canessa (Ecuador), The pressure: Neither a privilege of Djokovic nor anyone - Eluniverso.com

Sohad Elkhodary (Egypt), Execution of an athlete: Almwqeaa opens the persecution and violations file within the para-weightlifting federation - Almawq3.com

Ehab Zohdy (Egypt), Women’s football… The missing justice - AlBayan.ae

Wagdy Sawahel (Egypt), Tokyo Olympics: What is the role of universities in sport? - University World News

Jean-Michel Brochen (France), Our immortals - L'Equipe

Ronny Blaschke (Germany), The hypocrites - Cicero

Simon Ecker (Germany), In search of the self - Leipziger Volkszeitung

Patrick Kleinmann (Germany), Trans people in soccer: Where is my space? | 1644 question marks - Kicker.de

Okai Gyimah Edmund (Ghana), Precarious Arabian journey: Local African footballers being scammed into a paradise which never was - Sportsworldghana.com

Manos Staramopoulos (Greece), Exclusive interview with K H Rummenigge - VradiniI.gr

Soumitra Bose (India), Duds, suds and missed marks – Outlook

Vandna Vijay (India), Women's sport in India: An emboldened new generation breaking through barriers - BBC Sport

Anand Vasu (India), Yes, English football fans were a disgrace. But passion’s darker shades aren’t limited to either England or football | IPL plays on as BCCI’s cash cow while India’s Covid-19 crisis worsens - The Guardian / The Times of India

Maryam Navaei (Iran), A chance is lost - Hekayatgilan.ir

Ciaran O'mahony (Ireland), Have dopers escaped detection during Covid-19 lockdowns? - The Jaded Newsman

Neil O'Riordan (Ireland), World Cup bid will distract us from the real issues in Irish football - The Irish Sun

Emanuela Audisio (Italy), Those 11 dreamlike minutes - La Repubblica

Pierbattista Bergonzi (Italy), Interview to Pope Francis - La Gazzetta dello Sport

Francesco Paolo Giordano (Italy), How the PSG wants to become the most powerful sports brand in the world - Rivistaundici.com

Lorenzo Longhi (Italy), The weight of sports – Treccani.it

Roy Tomizawa (Japan), An Olympic lament: Tokyo2020 was gearing up to become the greatest Olympics in history - Theolympians.co

Khaled Khatatbeh (Jordan), Foreign professionals imported in ''pro bono'' prices - Alghad.com

Celestine Karoney (Kenya), Kenya Olympic medalist calls for third category in athletics - BBC

Petz Lahure (Luxembourg), Paris-Roubaix must not die - Tageblatt

Haresh Deol (Malaysia), What’s the difference between Hein Htet Aung’s three-finger salute and Malaysia banning Israel from competing in Kuching? - Twentytwo13.ny

Rajes Paul (Malaysia), Three-minute blunder: Heroic Ziyad just has to put best foot forward - Star Media Group

Dumitru Garcaliuc (Moldova), How match-fixing ruined football in Moldova - Josimarfootball.com

Anibal Santiago (Mexico), Somayeh Gholami: Taekwondo under the war - Revista Este País

Prajwal Oli (Nepal), For Nepali sports officials, Olympics again provides an opportunity for junket - The Kathmandu Post

Prasun Sangroula (Nepal), Nepal’s A-list basketball players dribble troubles galore, on and off the court - Nepal Live Today

Roel Wiche (Netherlands), How Sifan Hassan elevates the historical Games to art - De Limburger

Michael Burgess (New Zealand), The legacy behind the 'golden kid' Maradona - Rnz.co.nz

Loanny Picado (Nicaragua), Being a sports journalist in times of dictatorship - Zona de penal

Precious Odabi (Nigeria), Why German teams struggle to dominate in Europe - Bundesligadaily.com

Oluwashina Okeleji (Nigeria), An African Super League seems a super-silly idea - Newframe.com

Yehya Al-Yacoubi (Palestine), Nidal Al-Da'our: breaking the laws of “bodybuilding” with one hand - Palestine online | With the crutches of hope the amputee children kick painful memories – Felesteen.news

Hasan Elsaadny (Palestine), The Judaization of Palestinian football.. How theft of the was century done! - Alwatanvoice.com

Fadi Hijazi (Palestine), For how long will players in Gaza remain " just a commodity"? - Alresalah.ps

Armando Rivarola (Paraguay), Banco de Cartes opens accounts for the Léoz in FIFAgate - ABC Color

Francis Thimsel Ochoa (Philippines), A capacity for greatness - Inquirer.net

Nasser Harbi (Qatar), The money war for game of the masses and coup of the rich! Establishing a veto for major European clubs Security Council. - Yemenetihadi.net

Alexey Avdokhin (Russia), The Olympics are dying, and we are saving them: A lot of host countries, a month-long tournament, more variety - perhaps even eating sausages at speed - Sports.ru

Sergey Lisin (Russia), CAS full acquitted Russian athletes: Match TV journalist defended the case - Matchtv.ru

Igor Sergeyev (Russia), Gazprom’s subsidiary now finances Nizhny Novgorod, and Dynamo’s sponsor allegedly lends to Lokomotiv - Sports.ru

Ebrahim Mousa (Saudi Arabia), Athletes in danger part 2-2 - Mubasher News KSA

Daniel Gallan (South Africa), Quinton de Kock resolutely stands on the wrong side of history - Firstpost.com

Miguel Angel Lara Adán (Spain), On the hunt for the nazi goalkeeper - MARCA

Carles Vila (Spain), Or Brasilazio. The Fantoni saga in fascist Italy - Historiasdeoutsiders.com

Fred Mwambu (Uganda), How CAF clubs, countries 'weaponised' Covid-19 - Daily Monitor

Makhtum Muziransa (Uganda), Women barred from Olympics for being ‘manly’ - Daily Monitor

Oliver Brown (UK), Heading in football must now be on borrowed time - The Daily Telegraph

Andrew Downie (UK), At the Maracanã - Lrb.co.uk

Jessica Ennis-Hill (UK), I lived in fear of a wardrobe malfunction: Athletes should be able to wear what they want - The Telegraph

Nancy Gillen (UK), Olivia Breen and Norway beach handball incidents show we must stop policing women's bodies - Givemesport.com

Steve Menary (UK), Rising popularity of cricket in Europe has led to major match-fixing problems - Playthegame.org

Liam Morgan (UK), Threats, a judging cabal and toothpaste tubes: How AIBA corrupted Olympic boxing - Insidethegames.biz

Dan Palmer (UK), Manipulating time and space: Why more people should know about Kaori Icho | Taking a tumble down a Liechtenstein rabbit hole - Insidethegames.biz

Steven Price (UK), FIFA boss Gianni Infantino’s African Super League plan and the many problems it faces - Forbes.com

Don Riddell (UK), Navid Afkari: Executed Iranian wrestling star's voice is 'everywhere now' – Cnn.com

Kate Rowan (UK), Groped, kicked and shown the kitchen: What it's really like being a woman in rugby - The Telegraph

Hannah Ryan (UK), How misogynoir is oppressing black women athletes - CNN Sport

Isabelle Westbury (UK), Women's sport is the new currency in town. But it is on all of us to provide long-lasting change - Telegraph.co.uk

Paul Fein (USA), Does Djokovic have the perfect game? Sportstar magazine

Dvora Meyers (USA), Why it’s not surprising that Simone Biles cheered for Angelina Melnikova - Fivethirtyeight.com

Daniel Eguren (Venezuela), Shut up and play - Idioma Fútbol

Jován Pulgarín (Venezuela), Diego Maradona: Do we remember the artist or the chavista? - Elestímulo.com

Manuel Alejandro Ramírez (Venezuela), Depression in athletes: What are the causes and how do you combat it? - Eldiario.com

Juan Sayago (Venezuela), The Impala of San Lázaro - Triángulodeportivo.com

Yousef Basonbel (Yemen), Don't blame them, their results are a reflection of their physical preparation - Al-Ryadi.com

Mthokozisi Dube (Zimbabwe), Why SA clubs play second fiddle to North Africans – Farpost.co.za

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT - Now, the EC members will narrow the longlists into a shortlist of candidates to be presented to the Jury members, who will conduct the three remaining voting stages.

The final ceremony will take place in May in Europe, date and location are still to be confirmed following the evolution of the pandemic.

To know more about the judging method and the AIPS Sport Media Awards 2021, click here

Stay tuned for the rest of the longlists!