Good Governance in Sport Geeraert, Arnout; Eekeren, Frank van
2021, 2022, 20211003, 2021-10-03
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This book fills an important gap in the sport governance literature by engaging in critical reflection on the concept of ‘good governance’. It examines the theoretical perspectives that lead to ...different conceptualisations of governance and, therefore, to different standards for institutional quality. It explores the different practical strategies that have been employed to achieve the implementation of good governance principles. The first part of the book aims to shed light on the complexity and nuances of good governance by examining theoretical perspectives including leadership, value, feminism, culture and systems. The second part of the book has a practical focus, concentrating on reform strategies, from compliance policies and codes of ethics to external reporting and integrity systems. Together, these studies shed important new light on how we define and understand governance, and on the limits and capabilities of different methods for inducing good governance. With higher ethical standards demanded in sport business and management than ever before, this book is important reading for all advanced students and researchers with an interest in sport governance and sport policy, and for all sport industry professionals looking to improve their professional practice.
This article explores the limits and opportunities for enhancing the democratic legitimacy of EU actions in the field of professional sport using new modes of governance. It presents a conceptual ...toolkit by which the ‘throughput legitimacy’ of an EU policy can be analysed. Analysing the throughput legitimacy of the European social dialogue, we establish that, by improving the latter, both input and output legitimacy can be increased. The EU could borrow some of the positive elements of the social dialogue approach and incorporate them in the steering of other issues in professional sport. For instance, it may be interesting to pre-establish certain conditions on representativeness and relevance for participation in the policy process. Crucially, working on a clear theme-per-theme-basis instead of organising outsized gatherings such as the EU sport forum would definitely benefit throughput legitimacy.
In this article, structural issues with regard to the quality of the self-governance of the 35 Olympic sport governing bodies (SGBs) are analysed. First, this article presents empirical evidence on ...the lack of accountability arrangements in SGBs. In particular, the watchdog function of their member organizations is severely undermined by the general absence of objective criteria and transparency in the distribution of funding to members. With regard to checks and balances, arguably the most topical issue is the complete lack of independent ethics committees. Second, our survey demonstrates that most SGBs have institutionalized athlete participation. However, in the overwhelming majority of the organizations, they have not been granted a share of formal decision-making power. Third, with regard to executive body members, there is the rather anachronistic dominance of the European continent and also the preponderance of male officials. In addition, the general lack of term limits poses serious threats with regard to the concentration of power, which is evidenced for instance by the overall number of years SGB presidents are in office. The empirical evidence clearly supports the recent calls for improved governance in sport, according to which SGBs need to agree upon, and act in accordance with, a set of well-defined criteria of good governance. Only then will the self-governance of sport be credible and the privileged autonomy of these organizations justifiable.
This article combines insights from historical institutionalism with the literature on ideational policy change to explain why Belgian sport institutions like the national football team appear as ...outliers in the story of the country's unidirectional move towards a decentralised federal state. It shows how Flemish nationalist ideas drove the asymmetrical decentralisation of the originally unitary Belgian sport system. On one hand, mechanisms of gradual institutional change led to the complete decentralisation of public sport policy. The Flemish government consequently has the authority and means to generate symbols and policies that boost Flemish identity through sport, while no comprehensive policies can be developed at the federal level for instrumentalising sport to build Belgian identity. On the other hand, mechanisms of institutional stability including vested interests, strong veto players and Flemings' dislike of secessionism prevent the full decentralisation of the Belgian non‐governmental sport governing bodies. This implies that Belgium continues to be represented in international sport competitions as a nation and that sport can thus also be employed to create and sustain Belgian alongside Flemish identity. Sport therefore contributes to sustaining the Flemings' dual Flemish‐Belgian identity, which ultimately stands in the way of a fully autonomous Flemish state.
Research question: This article explores whether self-regulation has the potential to achieve the universal adoption of good governance by international sport federations (IFs). It introduces a ...framework on the basis of compliance theory to analyse IFs' recent self-regulation initiatives, namely the Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance of the Olympic and Sports Movement (PGG) and the Key Governance Principles and Basic Indicators (KGP).
Research methods: The analysis relies primarily on an extensive document analysis. In addition, 7 semi-structured interviews with officials who participate in relevant policy processes were conducted. The data were coded on the basis of the six compliance mechanisms identified in the theoretical framework.
Results and findings: The empirical analysis demonstrates that the PGG's system includes only general persuasion and social learning stimulation while the KGP's system includes mechanisms that promote knowledge transfer, rule specification, persuasion, and social learning. These mechanisms constitute a necessary step towards truly achieving a common governance standard in IFs. However, because the KGP's system lacks fully independent external monitoring of minimum criteria and because non-compliant federations do not face sanctions, this system is not likely to achieve the universal adoption of good governance by IFs.
Implications: The universal implementation of good governance standards in IFs requires either co-regulation, where self- regulation's persuasion and management mechanisms are supplemented by sanctions implemented by public and/or civil society actors, or meta-regulation, which entails that public actors impose a minimum standard for self-regulation that includes robust monitoring and sanctioning mechanisms.
What explains the reversal of transnational private rule‐making authority? Embedding constructivist insights within a rational principal–agent model, this article advances a five‐step sequential ...process that nuances the traditional explanation of delegitimation. It argues that entrepreneurs must first successfully promote the belief that the high costs of ineffective private policies follow from the private rule‐setter's flawed institutional attributes. Subsequently, a de‐delegation solution that minimizes transaction and uncertainty costs must be proposed. The examination of two cases in the field of international sport governance, namely the deliberate reversal of private authority in anti‐doping governance and the lack thereof in anti‐match‐fixing governance, lends support to these propositions. It sheds new light on the creation of the World Anti‐Doping Agency (WADA) and explains why there will probably be no counterpart to fight match‐fixing.
Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the body responsible for overseeing the organisation of the Olympic Games, has placed a high premium on environmental sustainability for more than ...two decades, recent editions of the Olympic Games have fallen short of their sustainability goals, or have caused outright environmental harm. By applying a new (principal-agent) perspective and conceptualising the environmental harm caused by the Olympic Games as an agency cost, this article demonstrates that the mechanisms the IOC deploys to control Games organisers are ineffective because they fail to alter the incentives of Games organisers towards compliance with environmental sustainability objectives and that recently proposed changes through the IOC's Agenda 2020 reforms fail to address this issue. In order to lower agency costs, the IOC must increase its control by involving qualified and independent third parties in its host selection process, provide for a clear mandate in the Host City Contract, and introduce credible sanctions that impose a significant cost on hosts for failing to adhere to environmental objectives.
This article demonstrates that the European Union (EU) can curtail the autonomy of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ...by building upon insights from the principal-agent model. It explores and explains the EU's control over these organizations by mapping the actors and instruments that define EU control of FIFA and UEFA and discussing their activation and mitigation. In this light, it introduces a new perspective (exogenous control) and instrument (steering). Whether or not the EU deploys the control instruments at its disposal is defined by a constant interplay between FIFA and UEFA, their political and football principals and their EU supervisors. Activating and mitigating control within this triangular set-up will dictate whether or not FIFA and UEFA can expect their autonomy to be curtailed if and when they break from good governance practices.
It’s Not That Easy Being Green Geeraert, Arnout
Journal of sport and social issues,
02/2016, Letnik:
40, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This article starts from the assumption that the European Union (EU) could play a leading part in reducing the negative environmental impacts of sport. The extent to which the EU fulfills its ...potential in this regard depends upon the integration of environmental objectives in EU sports policy. The article has a dual purpose. First, it analyzes the integration of environmental objectives at the different stages of the policy process. Second, it identifies the main barriers to the integration of environmental protection and explores the way forward. It is shown that establishing an Expert Group focusing solely on mitigating the environmental impact of sport is a suitable strategy for integrating environmental considerations at the heart of the decision-making process.
By analysing the political arena of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee in the Professional Football Sector, the aim of this paper is to offer a better understanding of the Committee and ...its opportunities and prospects. First and foremost, the normative, legal context of the Committee precludes the conclusion of agreements that deviate from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association transfer rules or are contrary to European Union (EU) law. Furthermore, while EU involvement in the matter of social dialogue in professional football is democratically legitimate, the lack of solid support from the European Parliament and the Council is problematic. Most importantly, the power relations between the actors are a decisive element for the prospects of the Committee. After analysing the added value of the Committee for the respective actors, it is clear that currently, hopes for a wider bargaining agreement in professional football are not realistic.
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