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Governance in Sports Organisations

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The Palgrave Handbook on the Economics of Manipulation in Sport

Abstract

With the revelation of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) corruption scandal in May 2015, the integrity and thus the general configuration of (international) sports organizations were publicly contested. The principle of moral behavior in international sports organizations (Arnold 1994) was clearly violated, and the high (self) esteem of sports suffered. The accusations of corruption regarding the Men’s FIFA World Cups (BBC 2015) as well as the bribing scandals during the Olympic bidding processes stained the integrity of sports. Sports values, also condensed in the concept of “Olympic spirit” (or “Olympism” (Adi 2014)), are based on the philosophy that best performances (should) lead to best results and rewards. This article deals with the concept of (good) governance in sports organizations, existing challenges and issues that have yet to be resolved. It lays out ideas for enhanced good governance through the example of mega-events.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The next World Cups will take place in Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022). The announcement of the latter host was especially surprising, as the county’s human rights record is disputed, and its weather conditions are not optimal for a soccer mega tournament. The alleged corruption scandals also include the decisions regarding the World Cups in Brazil 2014, South Africa 2010, and Germany 2006 (BBC 2015).

  2. 2.

    The most famous example is the bidding process for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (2002), in which at least six members of the IOC were bribed to vote for Salt Lake City to host the Games (Maennig 2002).

  3. 3.

    For a review of recent contributions, see Alm (2013).

  4. 4.

    For an overview on good governance regulations in the 35 Olympic Sports Governing Bodies, see Geeraert et al. (2014).

  5. 5.

    Bos and van Eekeren (2013), for example, provide a good overview of the different dimensions and objectives of transparency. Not every type of transparency is implementable in every corporate firm or large (nonprofit) organization. Therefore, the principles need to be defined before they can be implemented.

  6. 6.

    Kirkeby (2016) points out that introducing good governance in the grassroots sports sector bears difficulties, as many people help as volunteers and governmental structures hardly exist.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Wolfgang Maennig

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  1. Wolfgang Maennig
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Correspondence to Wolfgang Maennig .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, SRH University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Markus Breuer

  2. Centre for Sports Business, Management School, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    David Forrest

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Maennig, W. (2018). Governance in Sports Organisations. In: Breuer, M., Forrest, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook on the Economics of Manipulation in Sport. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77389-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77389-6_13

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