Award-winning author and investigative journalist
About Karim ZidanKarim Zidan is an award-winning investigative journalist from Cairo, Egypt, who has reported on the intersection of sports, politics, and culture for more than a decade. He is a regular contributor to The Guardian, and has been published by The New York Times, Foreign Policy, among others. His reporting on authoritarian states has led to numerous award nominations, and has been featured in documentaries for HBO, BBC, and CNN. In 2023, he launched Sports Politika, a reader-supported media platform and newsletter dedicated to his niche. He was awarded a 2026 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize for The Ultimate Strongmen.
From Karim Zidan, award-winning investigative journalist who has spent the past decade embedded at the intersection of sports and politics, an “indispensable guide” (J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize) to the intertwined relationship between mixed martial arts, hypermasculinity, and authoritarianism.
THE ULTIMATE STRONGMEN
From Karim Zidan, award-winning investigative journalist who has spent the past decade embedded at the intersection of sports and politics, an “indispensable guide” (J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize) to the intertwined relationship between mixed martial arts, hypermasculinity, and authoritarianism.
Power Plays Podcast
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![Two FBI agents in black shirts with large Federal Bureau of Investigation seals stand before a blurred group.]()
UFC teaching the FBI to fight is its latest tie to Trump world
The mixed martial arts organization has had links to the US president for years. Now it could be involved in training federal agents
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![Crowd of Egyptian soccer fans cheering and waving Egyptian flags in stadium stands]()
Egypt’s World Cup adventure gave the country its first collective joy in 15 years
In a nation where more than 70% of people rely on food subsidies the team’s history-making campaign brought welcome celebration
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![Large crowd of Al Ahli Saudi soccer fans in green jerseys cheering in stadium stands behind blurred players]()
The Kingdom that sold the world
Saudi Arabia spent billions to secure its place as a global powerhouse in sports and entertainment. The Iran war lifted the facade.
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![Aerial view of a boxing match in a blue ring at a crowded Riyadh Season event under purple lights.]()
Rave. Fight. War.
As the U.S. orders its diplomatic staff to leave the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are relying on combat sports and raves to maintain a facade of normalcy in a time of war.
