Management and Solution to Unethical Environments in Sports
4.4 CSR as a Solution to Unethical Environments in Sports
73
Qatari government to release data on migrant workers related to World Cup infra- structure construction deaths for the past 5 years and causes of death. Likewise, it also demands FIFA to insist that Qatar should carry out investigations into workers’
deaths and make comprehensive data publicly available, as well as insisting that Qatar puts in place reforms to protect workers (Human Rights Watch 2017).
Another criticism is that its choice as headquarters is against the principle of sustainability, since in a country with 2.5 million inhabitants between 8 and 12 foot- ball stadiums will be built, in addition to the necessary infrastructure to accommo- date all the spectators. The fact of organizing the World Cup in a country that exceeds temperatures of 45 °C in summer has also been strongly criticized, because the initial solution provided was cooling the stadiums with the energy cost involved.
However, it seems that now moving the dates of the event to November and December is being considered, which is a proposal that has been strongly criticized for disrupting the calendar of European football clubs (Desk 2015). The suspicion of corruption within FIFA, both in the award of the World Cup to Russia in 2018 and to Qatar in 2022, ended in 2015 with the arrest of senior management accused of racketeering, wirefraud and money laundering (Boudreaux et al. 2016).
According to Boudreaux et al. (2016), some of the reasons for organizations such as FIFA or the IOC for being corrupt have to do with the design and functioning of their organizational structure. On the one hand, the lack of accountability, as there seems to be no clear mechanism by which the president and his executive committee should be held accountable. In addition, when dealing with international organiza- tions, they do not respond directly to any country. On the other hand, national com- mittees or federations do have an obligation to respond to them. On the other hand, the lack of regulation and enforcement due to the negligence of governments, as they would have more to lose than to win. The authors give examples of Switzerland, the country in which the FIFA headquarters is located and therefore would be responsi- ble for monitoring the organization’s actions. However, to do so, Switzerland would have more to lose than to win, as FIFA could penalize their football teams in the future.
Doping together with betting-related match-fixing are other unethical behaviours that concern the sports world. In relation to doping, the recent case of the Russian doping scheme stands out. Two investigations commissioned by the World Anti- Doping Agency found a system of doping in Russia. One investigation found the covering up of positive tests from 2011 to 2015, a period that included swapping urine samples at the Sochi Olympics (Axon 2018; BBC 2017). Supposedly they are not isolated cases of doping, but a system in which the structures of the State and sports federations would be involved.
Another threat to the very basis of sport, and linked to cheating, is match-fixing because it artificially removes the fundamental property of sports competition: the uncertainty of process and outcome (Jackson et al. 2018). Its consequences are very serious for the sports industry, as they can result in the collapse of an entire sports competition, as well as all of its related partners and industries (Chappelet 2015).
According to Tak (2017), the root of the problem of match-fixing is not in a problem of individual morality by sportspeople, although it is easier to blame them than to large institutions, but rather in the interests and the deeply entrenched ethic of integ- rity around sports betting of the stakeholders.
75 After this introduction to the main unethical behaviour that is taking place in the sports world and that mainly affects the large sport-related bodies, the risks of unethical behaviour in which organizations can fall are summarized below. These are presented from two perspectives, the risks that can occur from the organization itself and the risks that third parties would incur due to lack of monitoring by sports organizations (Table 4.1).
With these risks faced by the sports world, the implementation of a CSR policy by sports organizations can be a valid solution to the unethical behaviour men- tioned, given that it provides a framework based on ethics and morals. Moreover, doing good for the sports sector, as well as for the sports organizations.
The following are some recommendations to ensure an effective implementation of CSR in sports organizations.
• Designing a long-term CSR strategy in line with the organization’s strategy. The CSR policies to be implemented must be written in a formal document with a long-term vision. In addition, the policies have to be aligned with the general strategy of the organization, as well as having involved the stakeholders in the drafting process.
• Alignment with international initiatives. When designing CSR policies, taking into account international initiatives such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, among others.
• The management of the organization must be the CSR sponsor. For CSR policies to be truly effective, the highest decision-making body must believe in CSR and
Table 4.1 Risks of unethical behaviour in sport From the sports organization
By third parties due to lack of monitoring by the sports organization Acceptance of bribes for awarding venues for sporting
events Match-fixing
Creation of a system for doping sportspeople Violation of the human rights of sportspeople Sponsorship agreements with companies that go against the regulations of the organization and/or its principles and values
Selling of broadcasting rights to broadcasters that control
Focusing resources exclusively on what ‘sells’, forgetting the promotion of sport among all groups (basic sport, women’s sports, special groups) Falta de transparencia
Lack of transparency
Abuso de poder por parte de los máximos órganos del deporte
Abuse of power by the highest sports bodies Greenwashing
Purchase of votes in the bidding processes of countries/cities for the organization of sporting events.
Match-fixing
Diversion of money through additional costs in the construction of sports infrastructures
Doping of sportspeople
Violation of the human rights of its inhabitants by the governments of host cities/countries
Negative impact on the environment Greenwashing practices through the sponsorship of sports organizations, events, clubs or sportspeople.
Source: Own elaboration
4 Corporate Social Responsibility, Management and Solution to Unethical…
be convinced of its application. Otherwise, all the actions designed run the risk of ending up as a useless piece of paper.
• Cross-sectional application of CSR. It is not worth creating a CSR department within the organization if it does not have a cross-sectional vision that affects all areas. It has been observed that many football clubs have foundations through which they organize their philanthropic actions outside the organization, but who is responsible for ensuring that the CSR principles are met within the organization?
• Creating a reporting system. It is necessary to create a CSR reporting system in accordance with the needs of sports organizations. In addition to reporting, orga- nizations should submit their reports to external audits to verify that the data presented is real.
• Making the CSR strategy and its results public. Sports organizations must make their CSR strategies and the results obtained in their sustainability reports public through their websites and in an act of transparency.
To conclude, as it has been observed, CSR planning and implementation within sports organizations would be seen as a valid solution to solve unethical behaviour that has taken place in some sports organizations in recent years. However, the implementation of CSR policies must come from those held most responsible of sports organizations, they must really believe in it and must make all the areas of the organization believe in it. It does not work with deploying a small scope that only affects one or several areas of the organization, because it runs the risk of entering into inconsistencies, as well as falling into a simple marketing campaign and PR that will be branded as greenwashing (Levermore and Moore 2015).
On the other hand, we must be aware of the initial shortage that CSR suffers from the fact of its voluntariness. That is, its application is left to the discretion of sports organizations, which can only be punished for their non-compliance with a vague social sanction (Solano 2013). For this reason, given the current non-existence of legal obligations with respect to CSRs, it is important for both the public adminis- tration and the sports control bodies to design strategies that ensure compliance with CSR by sports organizations.
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