New report shows need for fundamental reform across all international sports
Press Release
Not only FIFA needs an overhaul. Most international sports federations fail to comply with basic standards for democracy, transparency and accountability. The new report ‘The Sports Governance Observer 2015’ identifies serious gov-ernance deficiencies in international sport.
Despite worldwide calls from the public for less corruption and better governance in sport, most international sports federations fail to comply with basic standards for democracy, transparency and accountability.
Although, in theory, sports organisations are democratic institutions extending their influence all the way from the grass-root association to the world federation, reality is different. Athletes, local club leaders and other key stakeholders are most often effectively excluded from influence in a centralised system in which the international leaders can stay in power as long as they please.
The top leaders are free to manage the financial, political and cultural assets of their sport without any convincing external or internal control, regardless of the best interest of their sport and far away from the public eye. This reality severely challenges the legitimacy of international sports federations’ monopolies on the global regulation of sport.
These conclusions can be drawn from the first in-depth analysis of the governance structures of all 35 Olympic international federations published in the ‘Sports Governance Observer 2015’ report to be launched Sunday 25 October at the open-ing of the 9th international Play the Game conference in Aarhus, Denmark.
