Transcript Lecture Seven *issues of governance and ethics in sports business

Lecture Seven –issues of governance
and ethics in sports business
Jarvie – as an introduction looks at the
commercialisation of sport and the implications of
governance for sport
Governance –regulatory rules and officialdom
Also refers to degree of public and private ownership
and interventions.
We will examine football case studies specifically are
they are more widely reported in the media
Sport and the law
• Sports and its domain often has laws that are different from
civil laws and this often what differentiates sport from normal
life. E.g. –citing in sport (rugby) - could be a civil assault
• Thus, mini-legal systems are created in sports to deal with
drug taking, cheating, insurance, libel claims etc etc
• There exists inconsistencies across various sports in terms of
fairness and competence
• These ‘laws’ can markedly different from normal morality and
can be open to abuse from dominating bodies and selfishness
• Laws made from world bodies (fifa, Olympics) have been
subject to much criticisms in terms of the transparency and
appeals process.
Corruption part of sport – yes?
• Olympics –many examples – sweeteners, tickets, personal
fortunes of members, vote rigging, buying power of major
brands (visa, coca cola, adidas, Sony etc)
• Football – agents –who regulates them –bbc programme
World cup bidding corruption –rival countries ‘ganging’ up on
other countries.
The refusal of football to involve technology could be classed as
undemocratic and denying the fan the right to fair play
Gambling and betting scams have increased yet sports bodies
have struggled to keep up
Democracy in sport
• Dominant countries and sports can be in charge of
governance and how is it delivered – this can unfair and un
democratic
• Evidence of bias of western countries towards other global
continents (football rugby athletics bias) – where events and
hub are contained for example
• Distribution of wealth could be undemocratic creating a wider
gap between wealthy nations and emerging nations
• Global companies are favoured over smaller ones (Nike,
adidas etc etc)
Need for regulation?
Jarvie argues that global sport is in crisis and that major sport
bodies are more famous for their corruption than their
democracy
Who are the Olympics and FIFA answerable to ?
Many governments are very reluctant to become involved in
regulation of sports bodies –contrast German fuss ball
bund with English premier league (debt and distribution of
wealth)
Key messages
• Katwala asks for:• Greater stakeholder participation
• Greater transparency
• Co-operation between governments European Union and
governing bodies of sport
Ethics in sport
• Ethics –set of values
• Historically sport has been championed as the carrier of all
things moral and ethical (playing fields of Eton etc etc)
• Sport can reflect and display moral and ethical behaviour
• The competitive nature of sport means that there are regular
conflicts of ethics and morals
Examples
• Drug abuse in sport is widely reported –should governing
bodies allow open drug taking
• Equal pay – is it moral to pay men more than women
sportspeople (tennis golf for example)
• Technology – does its introduction affect the historical
integrity of many sports (cricket, rugby, tennis)
• Debt and receivership in sport - how ethical is it to allow
sports bodies to go into administration and re-invent
themselves owing the public purse –lots of examples