During one entire month 
Euro2016monopolised attention across the entire media spectrum. It is one of these moments where media are particularly keen to get hold of original, differentiating expertise. As a result, David Ranc and Albrecht Sonntag received a very large number of invitations.
- David was a guest, for instance, of the special edition on Euro2016 of the radio programme Toute l’Europe on France Bleu 107.1 (5 juin 2016). The programme is still available online here.
He also responded to an invitation by the LCI soir television programme on 9 June 2016 (see photo), and participated in a public debate in front of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris on the question “Où va l’Europe du foot” organised by the magazine So foot on 29 juin 2016 (more here).
Albrecht avoided television but responded positively to a series of requests from German quality newspapers wishing to understand the role football plays in French society and the potential impact of the European mega-event hosted by the country. Some of the more extensive nterviews can be consulted under the following links:
- “Frankreichs willkommene Auszeit”, for a press group covering newspapers in Northern Germany,
- “Sich danebenzubenehmen war mal“, for the Berlin-based “tageszeitung” (taz),
- “Sie wollen doch nur spielen”, for the Suedkurier covering the Constance lake region.
In addition, Albrecht was quoted in a variety of other papers and web-based news sources:
- France Football
- slate.fr
- Le Télégramme de Brest
- yahoo.com
- the German cultural radio deutschlandfunk.de
- the Neue Züricher Zeitung www.nzz.ch
- the Frankfurter Rundschau www.fr-online.de
- the Sueddeutsche Zeitung www.sueddeutsche.de
Finally, he responded to invitations from civil society to provide in-depth analysis on the impact of football on international relations, for instance
- in a contribution to an online dossier on French-German relations published by the Foundation Heinrich Böll;
- in an article for ARTE Magazine,
- or in public speeches and debates in Stuttgart, Freiburg and Paris.
Albrecht Sonntag leading a debate on diversity and integration at the Goethe-Institut Paris
Media have their own rules and practices, and sometimes they provide an incomplete, perhaps superficial reflection of complex thought. But taking ideas from the world of research into the public arena is part and parcel of academic engagement. Impact of research is not only measured in citation indices or the like, but also in contact with civil society.
