Integrity Washing? The Implementation of Reporting Mechanisms by International Sports Organisations

Verschuuren, Pim

doi:10.1080/24704067.2021.1882204

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This may strengthen a growing view that modern-day football clubs frequently seek their own gains and instrumentally use different channels, including related charitable conduits, to signal virtues and make themselves and their actions more legitimated and accepted by the wider public. Such ideas would reinforce previous literature caveats in relation to clubs' possible sportswashing activities and highlight the consequent risk of great damage to the charities/nonprofits attached to them (Glazer and Konrad, 1996;Hyndman and McConville, 2018a, b;Verschuuren, 2021). It needs to be stressed, however, that, with the exception of Manchester United (whose charitable foundation was created a year after the much-discussed Glazer family takeover; see Table 1), the other charities/nonprofits included in this study were established well before any potentiallycontestable change in ownership took place.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

‘Be a game changer and keep the ball rolling’: exploring linkages between football clubs, charitable foundations and doing good

Hyndman

Liguori

2023

AAAJ

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PurposeThere has been limited research on why football clubs contribute to charity. This paper examines how football clubs and their charitable conduits report information when discussing their connectedness. In addition, it explores reasons why, and the extent to which, football clubs support altruism via such charitable vehicles.Design/methodology/approachCase studies of four major football teams (Manchester City/Manchester United in England and AC Milan/Inter Milan in Italy) are discussed, with formal reports of the clubs and their associated charitable conduits being analysed.FindingsBoundaries between the clubs and their charitable conduits are frequently blurred. Evidence suggests that acknowledging the co-existence of different factors may help to understand what is reported by these organisations and address some of the caveats in terms of autonomy and probity of their activities and reporting practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe research uses case studies of four major ‘powerhouses’ of the game and their associated charitable spinoffs. While this is innovative and novel, expanding the research to investigate more clubs and their charitable endeavours would allow greater generalisations.Practical implicationsThe study provides material that can be used to reflect on the very topical subject of ‘sportswashing’. This has the potential to input to deliberations relating to the future governance of the game.Originality/valueThe paper explores relationships between businesses and charities/nonprofits in a sector so far little investigated from a charitable accountability perspective. It suggests that motives for engaging in charitable activity and highlighting such engagement may extend beyond normal altruism or warm-glow emotions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

‘Be a game changer and keep the ball rolling’: exploring linkages between football clubs, charitable foundations and doing good

Hyndman

Liguori

2023

AAAJ

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“…Still, this guiding vision figures heavily in the IOC’s strategic reforms and shapes the ways in which the organization attempts to refashion its relationships with host cities in more socially responsible ways (Bayle, 2016; François et al, 2020). Rather than investigating the efforts at governance reform in order to restore organizational legitimacy (as in Verschuuren, 2021), this paper orients itself within the spatial politics of the host city. From this perspective, it explores the IOC’s attempts to reduce the fundamental risk in hosting: the potential misalignment between the short-term needs of the event with the long-term needs of the city.…”

Section: Crisis and Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building a better host city? Reforming and contesting the Olympics in Paris 2024

Wolfe

2022

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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Many cities have abandoned plans for hosting the Olympics due to crises of high costs, unnecessary infrastructures, and a range of socio-spatial exclusions. These problems stem from conflicts between the short-term needs of the event and the long-term needs of the city. In response, Olympic organizers launched a series of reforms to improve alignment between the Games and the host city. This paper examines these reforms, identifies urban development agendas in preparation for Paris 2024, and explores their implications on selected spaces of urban intervention within Paris. Thinking through rhizomatic philosophy, the paper advocates for a more nuanced approach to exploring the problems and potential of mega-event-led urban development. In so doing, the paper maps organizer and activist assemblages, and posits that efforts at reform are stymied by a too-narrow interpretation of who counts as a stakeholder. Subsequently, the spatial articulations of the mega-event risk perpetuating the exclusions that reform intended to resolve. Ensuring a wider representation of resident voices could help minimize the distance between word and deed in the latest rounds of Olympic reform.

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“…By extension, markets and contracts led to performance management regimes that have since become a key instrument/mechanism in changing the state's influence over sport governing bodies (Fahlén, 2017;Sam and Macris, 2014). In relation to sport integrity, new regimes appear to be forming, with an array of specific instruments that variously include ombudsmen, whistleblower mechanisms, helplines, reviews/ audits and education programmes (De Waegeneer et al, 2016;Kihl, 2021;Verschuuren, 2020Verschuuren, , 2021Vertommen et al, 2015;Tak et al, 2018).…”

Section: Reform Agendas: Two Key Institutional Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On this count, if one of the premises behind IG is the perceived threat of ‘reputational damage’ and stakeholder satisfaction (cf. Verschuuren, 2021; Wood et al, 2018) the integrity agenda may very well become colonised with ‘risk managers’ as well as integrity officers.…”

Section: Concluding Remarks: ‘New Brooms Rarely Sweep Clean’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrity governance: A new reform agenda for sport?

Sam

Stenling

Tak

2022

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

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Globally, “integrity” has emerged as a critical concept for sport, with scholars, government agencies and NGOs proposing the establishment of “integrity systems”, comprising measures such as new policy units, ombudsmen and mediation services. The purpose of this study is to assess the coherence of this reform agenda, to determine its core features and gauge whether it constitutes a new governing paradigm and departure from “professionalisation”. Drawing on case material from Australia and New Zealand, we trace the sport integrity agenda and its adoption into each country's government policies and programmes. The emerging agenda focuses on diverse risks at the periphery of “old” professionalised management, while demanding a sector-wide response and universal adherence. Coordination and regulation are emphasised (at national, state/regional and local levels), supported by central government policy frameworks and grievance detection regimes. While the integrity agenda has distinctive elements of a reform movement, preliminary evidence suggests it may become integrated under the existing logics of performance, audits and risk management. It nevertheless signals substantive changes to the conduct of sport organisations at multiple levels of the system.

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Integrity Washing? The Implementation of Reporting Mechanisms by International Sports Organisations

Cited by 15 publications

References 62 publications

‘Be a game changer and keep the ball rolling’: exploring linkages between football clubs, charitable foundations and doing good

‘Be a game changer and keep the ball rolling’: exploring linkages between football clubs, charitable foundations and doing good

Building a better host city? Reforming and contesting the Olympics in Paris 2024

Integrity governance: A new reform agenda for sport?

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