Governing Bodies
ORIGINAL 125-YEAR OLD OLYMPIC GAMES DOCUMENTS SOLD FOR $8.8 MILLION AT AUCTION
BY DUNCAN MACKAY.
The manifesto which led to the revival of the Olympic Games more than 120 years ago has sold for a record $8,806,500 (£6,764,543/€7,916,191) at an auction in New York City.
The historic artifact was expected to sell for between $700,000 (£535,000/€630,000) and $1 million (£770,000/€900,000), but ended up in the hands of a bidder for over eight times the estimate.
According to Sotheby’s which hosted the auction, it is the highest price ever paid for an item of piece of sports memorabilia, breaking the previous record set by a Babe Ruth New York Yankees baseball jersey that sold for $5.4 million (£4.1 million/€4.8 million) earlier this year.
The previous record at auction for a piece of Olympic memorabilia was the $1,466,574 (£1,132,239/€1,324,488) that a buyer paid for one of Jesse Owens’ four gold medals from Berlin 1936.
The 14-page document dates back to 1892 and was written by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The price skyrocketed as those present at the auction in New York participated in a lengthy 12-minute bidding war.
Sotheby’s has not announced who the bidders were or who eventually won the battle for the documents.
The 5,000 words hand-written document highlights why Coubertin wanted to bring the Ancient Greek tradition of Olympic competition back during an address he gave at the Sorbonne University in Paris two years before the formation of the IOC in 1894.
He outlined how he believed the Games could be a way to provide peaceful competition between countries.
“It is clear that the telegraph, railways, the telephone, the passionate research in science, congresses and exhibitions have done more for peace than any treaty or diplomatic convention,” Coubertin wrote in the manifesto.
“Well, I hope that athletics will do even more.
“Those who have seen 30,000 people running through the rain to attend a football match will not think that I am exaggerating.
“Let us export rowers, runners and fencers; this is the free trade of the future, and the day that it is introduced into the everyday existence of old Europe, the cause of peace will receive new and powerful support,” he wrote in the document.
“That is enough to encourage me to think now about the second part of my programme.
“I hope that you will help me as you have helped me thus far and that, with you, I shall be able to continue and realize, on a basis appropriate to the conditions of modern life, this grandiose and beneficent work: the re-establishment of the Olympic Games.”
The unique piece of history went missing for quite some time between the two World Wars.
Frenchman Marquis d’Amat went searching for it in the 1990s and eventually located it from a collector in Switzerland.
The sale set a personal record for the auctioneer, too, who has never hammered numbers quite this high in his 30-plus years of book and manuscript sales.
“It was a personal honor to serve as today’s auctioneer, as this marks my highest price on the rostrum in more than three decades at Sotheby’s,” Selby Kiffer, senior specialist in Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts Department, said.
-insidethegames
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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