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Sport events must be strategically leveraged if desired participation outcomes are to be achieved. However, uncertainties remain over which event stakeholder/s should lead this process. In addition, there is a lack of theoretical explanation to support the findings from extant studies in this area. This study analyzes how stakeholder salience influences event leverage for sport participation, focusing on a case study of an Australian state sport organization (SSO) and two major sport events. Data were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews with the SSO's employees and content analysis of over 60 organizational documents, websites, and media reports. Findings revealed that strategies for leverage were ineffective due to demands enforced by the national sport organization, a highly salient stakeholder. This research provides new insight on the utility of sport governing bodies leading event leveraging strategies, highlighting the significance of stakeholder salience and strategic control systems in achieving desired outcomes.

Sport events must be strategically leveraged if desired participation outcomes are to be achieved. However, uncertainties remain over which event stakeholder/s should lead this process. In addition, there is a lack of theoretical explanation to support the findings from extant studies in this area. This study analyses how stakeholder salience influences event leverage for sport participation, focusing on a case study of an Australian state sport organisation (SSO) and two major sport events. Data were collected through 15 semi-structured interviews with the SSO’s employees and content analysis of over 60 organisational documents, websites, and media reports. Findings revealed that strategies for leverage were ineffective due to demands enforced by the national sport organisation, a highly salient stakeholder. This research provides new insight on the utility of sport governing bodies leading event leveraging strategies, highlighting the significance of stakeholder salience and strategic control systems in achieving desired outcomes.

The notion of sport policy is a relatively recent subject of study, but it has been frequently used over the last 20 years, particularly referring to governmental sport policies. However, less research has been conducted in the field of national sport federations (NSFs), which are key non-governmental structures in governing, organising and sustaining the development of sports. The objective of this article is to propose a conceptualisation of the notion of sport policy adapted to NSFs. The proposed approach consists of two steps: first, we conducted an extensive integrative literature review around the notion of sport policy. Second, based on the literature review, we developed a model that conceptualises what an NSF sport policy is. This conceptual model is intended to be a useful analytical tool to design, implement and assess the success of a sport policy for both researchers and practitioners working in the field of NSFs.

Recent events have once again shone a spotlight on the principle of political neutrality invoked by many Sports Governing Bodies to justify their inaction in response to political issues in the world of sport. The war in Ukraine and the hosting of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar have tested the political neutrality of both FIFA and the IOC. The consequences of this stance have led to FIFA overlooking a number of human rights issues in Qatar and the IOC ignoring human rights concerns in host states, awarding Russia and China recent versions of the Winter Olympics. This article outlines the most salient examples of the politicization of sport, exposing the myth upon which the principle of political neutrality is based. The aim is to offer a clear understanding of the processes behind the politicization of sport, the attraction of sport to governments of all political hues, and its use in ‘sportswashing’ activities and ‘soft power’ acquisition. Such an analysis of sport politics provides a glimpse behind the veneer of apoliticality enshrined in the principle of political neutrality and hence a better basis for scholars of sports law to understand the politically sensitive cases arising in sport in the present day.

In recent decades there has been an increasing concern among stakeholders surrounding sport organisations regarding the implementation of governance principles and processes. It is believed that these can help them to overcome sustainability problems and to promote organisational success. This research aims to analyse the governance of Catalan sports federations (CSFs), an area that has not been analysed to date. The study, based on previous approaches in the sport management literature, proposes a model to measure three dimensions considered key to good governance in sport organisations: democracy and participation, ethics and integrity, and accountability and transparency, which are measured by quantitative performance indicators. 38 CSFs were assessed, and the results showed considerable room for improvement with respect to metrics in divergent areas of organisational governance. Six clusters were determined using the Hierarchical Ascending Classification, and statistical correlations were also found between the dimensions analysed and the size of the organisations. In addition to the interest for stakeholders in the context of Catalonia, the authors believe that this research supports recent calls for good governance in sport and can serve as a foothold for scholars to investigate other contexts.

There is an observed general low performance of Ethiopian Sport Governing Bodies (SGBs) in service delivery. Evidence shows that the trend can be corrected with proper understanding and insight into the process of organizational and management factors of these SGBs. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of organizational and management factors as determinants in effective service delivery in SGBs. For this study, a cross-sectional research design was employed. Purposive sampling was used to choose 350 samples from 154 internal and 196 external stakeholders. The instruments used for the study were the key informant interview and the questionnaire. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and multiple regression were used to analyze the data at the 0.05 significant level while qualitative data were content analyzed. The findings confirmed that organizational and management factor variables had a significant positive relationship with sport service delivery (organizational structure (r=0.515), organizational capabilities (r=0.701), communication (r=0.549), management practice (r=0.571), materials & resources (r=0.527) and stakeholders satisfaction (r=0.742). Management factors jointly predicted effective sport service delivery (F (3, 329)= 165.868, R2= 0.612); organizational factors had a joint significant contribution to effective sport service delivery (F(3, 329) = 148.743, R2= 0.576). Further, organizational and management factor variables had a joint relative significant influence on effective sport service delivery in Ethiopian SGBs (F (6, 326) =130.81, R2= 0.707). Interviews revealed that there are weak relations with stakeholders, an unaligned structure of regional sport bodies with federal bodies, and managers with improper experience and knowledge in sport which influences effective sport service delivery in Ethiopian SGBs. Therefore, working together with stakeholders, structural advancement, designing rules and regulations that can serve a longer time, taking correction based on feedback from stakeholders, networked structures and collaborations with local sports organizations as means of improving service delivery employing shared burden and coordinated effort are recommended. Keywords: Management, Organization, Service delivery, Sport governing bodies

This article explores the nature and extent of the human rights responsibilities of Sports Governing Bodies (SGBs). The relationships between SGBs and other actors in the sports ecosystem have increasingly become viewed through a human rights lens, with a particular focus on responsibilities as defined in the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), with the UNGPs now acknowledged as the authoritative framework and roadmap for SGBs on human rights. Progress in this regard has been mixed. Some SGBs have demonstrated resistance to embracing international human rights norms and standards, arguing that the UNGPs are non-binding and apply only to commercial actors, whereas sports organisations are mostly non-profit organisations with a high degree of autonomy. Others have chosen a different path, becoming pioneers in applying the UNGPs not only to Mega Sporting Events (MSEs), but also to their policies, governance mechanisms and operations. In recent years, two complementary trends have been observed: the UNGPs have become increasingly crystallised in cases and legislation in a number of jurisdictions and States have intervened in sports-related issues on the basis of their duty to protect affected groups where national sports bodies have not complied with international human rights norms and standards. Rather than presenting a challenge to the world of sport, embracing human rights responsibilities should be seen as an opportunity to underpin the value of sport, retain the trust of stakeholders and maintain a social license to operate under the commitment to a responsible autonomy.

295 rugby players have begun legal proceedings against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union. The claimants report they are suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Among the allegations against the defendants is that the player safety regulations (i.e. the Pitch Side Concussion Assessment and Return to Play protocols) in place at the time of injury were done without proper medical foresight and increased the risks of concussion to players. World Rugby’s safety regulations are informed by the work of the Concussion in Sport Group which maintains that the link between collisions and concussion is unclear. However, recent studies report an unprecedented confidence that sports-related concussion causes brain disease. In 2022, the Concussion in Sport Groups lead author resigned due to 10 counts of plagiarism. This saga risks damaging public respect for both the safety regulations and the science underpinning it. This article examines the state of the scientific literature and considers the challenges in proving (1) the governing bodies breached their duty of care and; (2) the causal link between collisions and brain injury. This article argues that 2022 marked the year that defendants can no longer deny the dangers of sports-related concussion, however, defining the moment when the risks ought to be known remains onerous. On causation, this article examines the principles of material contribution, doubling of the risk, and the material increase in risk. The article concludes with policy considerations inviting an extension of the material increase in risk principle to sports settings.

This paper aims to examine the legal framework and principles governing the Statutes of the Iranian Football Federation [FFIRI (The acronyms FFIRI and IRIFF have been interchangeably employed in various correspondences involving the AFC and FIFA). The FFIRI Statutes, which defines and explains the legal structure of the organization, is central to the establishment of judicial principles governing the football organization. It serves as the official framework for establishing substantive legal principles, and as such, is subject to challenges. The challenges surrounding the FFIRI Statutes are primarily concentrated around three main areas: sports-related laws, legal structure definitions in the Statutes, and the jurisdiction of judicial bodies within the Football Federation. In this article, a comparative analysis of the latest version of the FFIRI Statutes with its previous version is presented to assess the resulting improvements and shortcomings, as well as identify any remaining unaddressed issues, both in terms of form and substance.

PurposeThis research aims to focus on the strategic management by National Olympic Committees (NOCs) during the COVID-19 crisis. The authors investigate “How are strategies being developed within European NOCs to tackle the impact of the corona crisis?” and “which measures have proven to be particularly helpful?”Design/methodology/approachThe research uses a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach. Five high-level representatives of European NOCs were interviewed using expert interviews to gain insights into their strategy development process. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, and a questionnaire was developed based on the results. Nineteen other European NOCs were surveyed using this questionnaire to verify the strategy development process steps on a larger sample.FindingsThe research resulted in a six-step NOC strategy development process framework, with helpful measures for each step. It can help the organizations to better cope with current or upcoming crises.Originality/valueThis framework can serve as a guide for NOCs to find the right steps and measures to better perform in crisis situations.