Jens Alm

Good governance in international sport organizations: an analysis of the 35 Olympic sport governing bodies

In this article, structural issues with regard to the quality of the self-governance of the 35 Olympic sport governing bodies (SGBs) are analysed. First, this article presents empirical evidence on the lack of accountability arrangements in SGBs. In particular, the watchdog function of their member organizations is severely undermined by the general absence of objective criteria and transparency in the distribution of funding to members. With regard to checks and balances, arguably the most topical issue is the complete lack of independent ethics committees. Second, our survey demonstrates that most SGBs have institutionalized athlete participation. However, in the overwhelming majority of the organizations, they have not been granted a share of formal decision-making power. Third, with regard to executive body members, there is the rather anachronistic dominance of the European continent and also the preponderance of male officials. In addition, the general lack of term limits poses serious threats with regard to the concentration of power, which is evidenced for instance by the overall number of years SGB presidents are in office. The empirical evidence clearly supports the recent calls for improved governance in sport, according to which SGBs need to agree upon, and act in accordance with, a set of well-defined criteria of good governance. Only then will the self-governance of sport be credible and the privileged autonomy of these organizations justifiable.

Hosting major sports events: the challenge of taming white elephants

While the literature on the economic impacts of major sports events has grown considerably over the years, the question of utilisation of venues built for these events after the party is over has received little attention. This article fills some of the gaps in the literature. By means of a Stadium Utilisation Index, it measures the post-event utilisation of venues that were constructed of significantly refurbished to host major sports events in the period from 1996 to 2010. It reveals some of the challenges facing the utilisation of the venues once ‘the circus has left town’. The regressions identify that private owned stadiums have a higher rate of utilisation than publicly built venues. The stadiums with the highest capacity tend to have higher utilisation. Last, but not least in terms of importance, stadiums in nations with a high degree of corruption had the lowest utilisation.

Swedish municipalities and competitive sport’s stadium requirements : competing or mutual interests?

ABSTRACT This paper examines the extent of an institutional change within the organisational field of municipalities and competitive sport in Sweden. First, there is both a continuation of and a challenge to the institutional relationship between municipalities and competitive sport as a result of new institutional logics. Second, although there are competing institutional logics, the municipalities have an ambivalent approach towards the stadium requirements from competitive sport. On the one hand, the municipalities wish to continue their mutual exchange with competitive sport, and finance and support it, while avoiding competing institutional logics within the organisational field. On the other hand, if they are not able to have an increased influence over the development of the stadium requirements, the municipalities express that they define the stadium requirements as private issue and a task for competitive sport itself. The conclusion is that the financing of stadium requirements and the definition of them as a public issue is under negotiation and the new institutional logics have resulted in a battle over policy formulation and a less predictable policy area.

The Challenge of Utilizing World Cup Venues

The body of literature analysing the impacts of mega-sport events has grown considerably over recent years. The majority of academic studies have concluded that the tangible revenues generated in the host region tend to be quite moderate compared to the investments (Baade & Matheson, 2002, 2004; Billings & Holladay, 2012; Du Plessis & Manning, 2010; Feddersen & Maennig, 2013; Porter, 1999; Spilling, 1998; Solberg & Preuss, 2007; Teigland, 1999; Tien et al., 2011; Zimbalist, 2011). Although event revenues can be substantial, a large proportion of them are usually transferred back to the governing organizations (such as FIFA): in particular when it comes to FIFA which generated US

From Standard to Directive: A Case Study on the Peculiar Policy Processes of Danish Stadium Funding

2.35 billion1 from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This exceeded the costs of all venues, amounting to

From acquiescence to avoidance: the case of Ängelholm municipality and elite football’s standardizations

2.07 billion (Audit & Molloy, 2013).

Isomorphic Forces and Professional Soccer Standardizations: Instruments of Governance for Municipal Investments?

ABSTRACT In 2003, the Danish Football Association introduced a new club licensing system for its first-tier clubs. Among the criteria for the system was a requirement for clubs to play at a stadium with a minimum capacity of 10,000 spectators. This paper aims to understand how the Danish Football Association and the Danish league clubs have succeeded in their efforts to make their licensing criteria a public concern by standardizing them at a municipal level. It presents a case study examining how the policy process surrounding the decision of building a new stadium in the Danish village Hobro changed – in a peculiar way – what in institutional theory is understood as a (voluntary) standard into a directive for Mariagerfjord Municipality. The case is illustrative of policy processes regarding stadium funding in other parts of Denmark and most likely in other Scandinavian countries.

Stadionleje i Danmark : notat om danske superligaklubbers lejeforhold

Abstract Using the concept of standards and a framework examining strategic responses to institutional processes, this article aims to understand why a municipality has resisted to implement elite football’s stadium requirements and, from this perspective, assesses the options municipalities actually have to refuse implementing them. At first, the municipality in focus, Ängelholm in Sweden, demonstrated a lack of awareness of the intrinsic power of standards and the ways in which they can influence municipal decisions. However, as it emerged that the standards contradicted other municipal priorities, the municipality became more critical and eventually decided not to follow them. Another finding of the study is that municipalities, as the ‘adopters’ of elite football standards, cannot affect how these standards are written. Therefore, the options to accept or decline them are perceived to be limited. Consequently, standards constitute a central form of governance within local sport policy.

Good Governance in International Non-Governmental Sport Organisations: An analysis based on empirical data on accountability, participation and executive body members in Sport Governing Bodies

ABSTRACT This article aims to explain why Danish municipalities usually choose to comply with stadium requirements from the Danish Soccer Association (DBU) even though, in most cases, they do not have the supporter base that could fill the renovated or new stadiums to their capacities. Using institutional theory as a theoretical framework, the article shows that coercive forms of isomorphism are part of the homogenization process leading to the municipalities’ compliance. It also suggests that mimetic forms of isomorphism are present in the sense that municipalities believe that if they comply with these requirements they will strengthen the conditions of their local clubs. In turn, they have encouraged other municipalities to follow suit. In sum, the analysis shows that the central form of governance through standardizations together with isomorphic forces have contributed to a uniformity among the municipalities.