The foreword by Bernd Heller already gives clear ideas about the content of the book: “Sports, in all its facets, fascinates us and compels us to pay attention. The Olympic ideal is not just alive but is actually lived by athletes around the world in a variety of different ways. The time when sports, the most beautiful pastime in the world, was pursued only by amateurs is long paste. Today, amateur sport is the foundation upon which professional sport is built. (...) Along the way, a set of very different and competing interests developed with athletes on one side and sport organisation on the other side. Indeed, competitive sport is not possible without an organisational foundation. But which organisational form is the best? Who should make the decisions? Who should profit? What right do athletes have, considering that without them the entire spectacle would not be possible?"
