Sports Governance – Annual Review 2025/26

Welcome to the Governance chapter of the LawInSport Annual Review 2025/26.

With the recent passing of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the chapter begins by discussing a recent governance report on the seven full members of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) carried out by the sports governance agency, I Trust Sport. Using that report as a template, the chapter notes that having consistent and credible means of defining and measuring good governance (and thereafter using such findings to identify weaknesses in a sport’s governance and sharing good practice with other sports) is vital to the robustness of the good administration of sport globally. Matters specifically pertaining to governance issues in motorsports (the FIA) and, more generally, to the running of elections at the international federation level will then be discussed, using World Triathlon’s recent experiences in this regard.

The chapter then moves on to provide examples of regulatory issues in sports such as in esports where issues relating to governance opacity seem to have been central to the ending by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of its Olympic Games Partnership with Saudi Arabia towards the end of 2025. The chapter concludes with reference to recent developments whereby players are collectively challenging the (already fragmented) governance structures that exist in tennis and, in contrast, the consolidation of ownership structures of clubs (multi-club ownership in football).  

Article Overview

• Measuring Good Governance (the AIOWF Review)
• Concerns Over the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)
• Transparency of Elections
• Troubles Within Esports
• Looking Ahead: Fragmentation, Consolidation and Challenge