Fraud vulnerabilities in sport federations: the role of culture, leadership, and control

Abstract

However, we fall short in understanding meso-level processes which contribute to fraud vulnerabilities. Drawing from the Organizational Fraud Triangle (OFT), this research assesses the role of culture, leadership and management controls, providing insight into organizational processes which affect fraud vulnerabilities in sport federations. Research methodPrimary (17 semi-structured interviews) and secondary data (archival documents) were collected within five sport federations across three sports in Belgium. Results and FindingsSport federations increasingly act against fraud. Federations engage in (in)direct fraud prevention by addressing matters of transparency and communication. However, federations struggle in addressing elements beyond management controls. By extent, control mechanisms mainly target athletes rather than governance. Findings show that existing initiatives are not yet fully embedded throughout the sports' cultures, despite its relevance for success. ImplicationsThis study suggest a broader perspective in the antifraud narratives, within which leadership and culture are cornerstones to address when developing and embedding preventive measures within sport federations. Likewise, by applying the OFT -and more specifically by shedding light on the OFT pillars as well as the relationships between them -we introduce a novel perspective to assess fraud vulnerabilities in sport federations.

Sexualitäten und Geschlechter

“…Both in academic and public discourse, there is a focus on micro-level explanations for fraud at the cost of meso-and macro-level understanding of processes that facilitate or prevent fraud (Numerato and Baglioni 2012). Sports studies target individuals (i.e., bad apples) and on-thefield activities rather than dealing with off-the-field systems, structures, and the role of sports governing bodies (i.e., wrong basses) that influence fraud in sports (Souvenir et al 2023).…”