Athletes in Montenegro—silent voices

Corruption in sports: Lessons from Montenegro

“…The interrelationship between sports and politics have been explored in detail, therefore, the focus here is to contribute to the current literature by exploring the nature and extent of the malpractice in and through sports at the national level (Riordan, 1978;Paddick, 1984;Reshef and Paltiel, 1989;Henry and Nassis, 1999;Numerato, 2009a;Paradiso, 2014;Erturan-Ogut and Sahin, 2014;Begovic ́et al, 2020). Begovic ́(2019) found that major decision-making roles within sport governing bodies in Montenegro are occupied by politically exposed persons, where laws and regulations are adopted to spread the influence outside of the political system. Montenegro is not an exemption, and contrary to the merit-based system, as Nassif (2014) explained in the case of Lebanon, the development of sport policy is influenced by the people coming from the "certain community", where funding mechanisms are a tool for expanding the power of the particular community.…”

“…The governance structure of Montenegro's sport movement rests on the federated model as an association of clubs, where clubs are represented by PEPs (Begovic ́et al, 2020). Organizational culture rests on a clientelist model of governance with hierarchical (vertical) decision-making processes (Begovic ́, 2019). In researching the governance capacity of the sports movement in Montenegro, Begovic ́(2018) found that active politicians or representatives of public administration dominantly constitute sport governing bodies.…”

“…With this decisive influence, politicians and public servants shape politics and policies in sports unchallenged, creating the needed framework for the legalization of corruptive practices (Begovic ́, 2020). Together with the pyramidal structure, the sports movement has remained incapable of recognizing and tackling corruption through sport (Begovic ́, 2019). In politicized communities, arrangements are often part of informal agreements.…”

“…Moreover, in the current report on political rights and civil liberties for Montenegro the authors emphasize that "corruption and cronyism remain widespread, and the modest efforts by authorities to address the problem, prompted in part by EU accession requirements, have not produced significant results" (Freedom House, 2020). The widespread corruption occurred through the capture of major political, industrial and societal (such as cultural, educational and sports) institutions (Begovic ́, 2021b;Džankic ́, 2018;Uzelac, 2003). According to Begovic ́(2020), the legislation enables politically exposed persons and members of public administration to infiltrate sports governing bodies, serving as fertile soil for the politicization of sports, creation of a clientelist network aimed at shadowing corruptive actions (Begovic ́, 2019).…”

“…The widespread corruption occurred through the capture of major political, industrial and societal (such as cultural, educational and sports) institutions (Begovic ́, 2021b;Džankic ́, 2018;Uzelac, 2003). According to Begovic ́(2020), the legislation enables politically exposed persons and members of public administration to infiltrate sports governing bodies, serving as fertile soil for the politicization of sports, creation of a clientelist network aimed at shadowing corruptive actions (Begovic ́, 2019).…”