International Sports Organizations Research Articles

Enforced Ostracism? Analysis of the International Sports Organizations’ Reactions to the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 triggered widespread reactions. The global call for the isolation of Russia and its collaborator Belarus has also involved the world of sport, leading to the expulsion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions. The decisions leading to the expulsion were analyzed from the perspective of their factors, timing, and the international sports organizations’ (ISOs) traditional approach to mixing sport and politics. During these developments, various stakeholders have been exerting pressure on the ISOs by voicing their expectations towards sanctioning Russia and even using the threat of boycott. Multiple Streams Framework has been employed in an attempt to understand the decision-making processes of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), demonstrating that external pressure has played the overriding role in the process leading to the isolation of Russia and Belarus in international sport, marking the continuation of the recent evolution of ISOs’ approach to the interconnection between politics and sport.

中国冰雪运动发展对构建人类体育共同体的价值探讨

Under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s great theory of ‘a community with a shared future for mankind’, we formulate and implement the ‘Belt and Road’ sports development action plan, actively build various sports exchange platforms, encourage rich and diverse non-governmental sports exchanges, and enhance the international influence of Chinese sports. It can strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international sports organizations and expand my country’s influence and voice in international sports affairs. This article proposes the concept of building a human sports community, which aims to provide a good communication platform and concept between people and between countries. Its ultimate goal is to achieve peaceful development and common progress of all mankind.

Dilemma of Competitive Equality: Transgender vs Cisgender Athletes in Women's International Sports Competition

This research aims to solve the human rights issue of the participation of transgender female athletes in international sports competitions in the women's division. The existence of transgender female athletes yields two perspectives: inclusivity as a human right for transgender female athletes and unfair competition for cisgender female athletes. This issue occurs due to the physiological advantages possessed by a transgender female athlete from the high level of testosterone they have, which creates unfairness in sports competition for cisgender female athletes, and the policies of international sports organizations that exclude the participation of transgender female athletes who have experienced puberty to take part in international sports competitions. Several controversial cases have sparked debate in the international community, such as the Tiffany Newel case in the running competition and the Lia Thomas case in the swimming competition; both are female transgender athletes who won sports competitions in the women's division. Although a transgender individual already has inherent human rights regulated through international law, these rights could not be a basis that overrides the rights and freedoms of other people. In this case, the right to equal and safe competition for cisgender women. The solution to this problem is to develop an 'open category' which aims to ensure the participation of all world athletes in sports competitions regardless of gender or gender identity.

Unique architecture in conditions of conflicting objectives and subjective factors (stadium case studies) (Moscow)

Unique buildings reflect a social demand for innovative urban space organization, new perspectives of human activities, and growing need for a safe and favorable environment. Architectural design of unique buildings, especially at early stages, is complicated by uncertainty of functional tasks, absence of regulatory requirements, and necessity for significant modifications during the process. The design experience of stadiums for 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia shows the development of a productive creative idea. The development of this typology is identified by a comprehensive analysis of the architectural heritage and scientific literature. Requirements of international sports organizations for spatial and planning solutions of sports arenas are summarized herein, which form the basis of the Russian construction standardization. Recommendations are provided for the architectural concept preservation.

Definition of the most popular ukrainian national sports martial arts

The article examines the development of the traditional Ukrainian martial culture. Ukrainian martial culture is part of the general culture of the Ukrainian people. The ancient martial arts of Ukraine have original techniques and tactics for fighting the enemy. Shown are Ukrainian national martial arts: horting, fight hopak, Cossack double combat, Ukrainian fight combat "Spas", Ukrainian wrestling on belts from Cossack martial arts. The sports technique and tactical arsenal of modern Ukrainian national martial arts were studied. The differences in the technical and tactical arsenal of martial arts created in Ukraine are revealed. With the application of sociological research methods, the popularity of individual Ukrainian national types of martial arts among coaches and martial artists was determined. A comparative analysis of the assessment of technical actions in the most popular competitive sections of the Cossack duel, fight hopak combat and horting was carried out. Shown are the technical differences between the competitive and those competitive sections in which only the striking technique of conducting a match is used and sections in which the rules of sports competitions allow the use of striking and wrestling techniques of conducting a sports match. The need for a scientific search for new methodical approaches to building a training process in Ukrainian martial arts is shown. The sports result is influenced by the level of technical, tactical, psychological and physical preparation. Prospects for the further development of Ukrainian national martial arts in the world and interaction with international sports organizations were considered.

Behind the political scenes of world sports: the USSR and international sports organizations in the second half of the 20th century

Behind the political scenes of world sports: the USSR and international sports organizations in the second half of the 20th century

S8-1 Health Promoting Sports Federations: theory, tools, case studies and future directions

Abstract Purpose Beyond promoting their sports and contributing to elite success, sports federation have a broader health and sport for all promoting role, to include everyone in sport. The symposium has as objective to showcase theoretical grounds, case studies and tools to support health and physical activity promotion among international and national sports federation. Methods The symposium will entail four presentation reflecting on different aspects of health and physical activity promotion. The first presentation will focus on theoretical grounds and guidelines created by 15 researchers and in collaboration with the World Health Organisation. The second presentation describes a case study among 51 national sports federation in France, to explain how they promote health and showcase the use of the indicators of health promoting sports federation indicators created by authors of the first presentation. The third presentation will describe a World Athletics project on the promotion of physical activity through competitions organisation and its stakes, as a practice-oriented example. The fourth presentation offer insights on the development and use of the “International and European Sport Organisations Activate Citizens” Capacity Building Framework, created through an Erasmus+ project, which entails a set of tools to empower international sports federation to promote sport for all. Results After the four presentation, an open discussion will be engaged with the audience on the success and challenges, as well as a small interactive session on future directions for international and national sports federation to consider their health enhancing physical activity potential and fully exploit it. Conclusions The symposium will equip the audience with theory, tools and example of practice, as well as reflect on how to move the research and practice agenda for health promoting sport federation.

Analysis of the Evolution of Communication Pathways in the Sports Media Industry during the Short Video Era

With the advent of the 5G era and the rapid development of short video social media, the trend of the small screen (mobile media) defeating the large screen (TV media) is gradually emerging under the background of diversified and innovative communication methods. Moreover, with the rapid increase in the total number of short video users, short videos greatly influence the operation and communication of international sports organizations and large-scale sports events. Therefore, it is especially important to deeply study and analyze the communication mode of the sports media industry in the short video era. This paper takes the short video content released by the official accounts of FIFA’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for the 2022 Qatar World Cup as the research object, analyzes the change path of sports media industry communication in the short video era, and then explores the new development space and economic growth space of sports media.

Peculiarities and stages of development of sportsmanship of qualified athletes in the system of long- term performances in professional boxing

The article examines the peculiarities of the formation of the highest sportsmanship of athletes in professional boxing. A comparative analysis of the dynamics of competitive activity of men and women during many years of performances in the professional arena was carried out. Considered options for building a professional career of boxers, taking into account the experience of performances in prestigious amateur competitions, as well as existing trends of liberalization and globalization of the modern Olympic movement. The individual dynamics of the long-term career of famous male and female professional boxers, who at one time owned championship belts in various weight categories, are presented. The optimal age range for demonstrating the highest sports results in boxing has been determined. The influence of international sports organizations (WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF, etc.) on the formation of sports careers of athletes in professional boxing is analyzed.
 Systematized and considered stages of formation of the highest sportsmanship in professional boxing: 1) formative stage of 18-24 years (quantitative intensification of competitive activity); 2) - the stage of optimal opportunities (championship phase) - 25-35 years; 3) the stage of preservation and gradual decline of sports results - 35 years and more. It has been established that men have a longer formative phase of their professional career, which is characterized by a significantly greater number of preparatory matches in the initial stages of its formation and a longer period of time to maintain the achieved results in the final stages of multi-year improvement. The need to take into account the important regularities of the formation of the highest sportsmanship in boxing and the rational logistics of planning matches during the annual training cycle, taking into account the stage of the sports career and the age of the athletes, is substantiated.

A national anti-doping education programme reduces doping susceptibility in British athletes

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s International Standard for Education instructs that national and international sport organisations evaluate their education programmes. We addressed this directive by examining the effectiveness of a national anti-doping programme. Athletes (N = 302, 41% female) completed measures of doping susceptibility, intention to use dietary supplements, Spirit of Sport and moral values, anti-doping knowledge and practice, and whistleblowing, prior-to and three-months after attending an anti-doping education programme. At three-month follow-up, athletes reported decreased doping susceptibility and intention to use dietary supplements coupled with increased importance of values, anti-doping knowledge, anti-doping practice and whistleblowing. Within-participant, moderated-mediation analyses revealed that programme-related changes in doping susceptibility were indirectly related to changes in intention to use dietary supplements, and, that this indirect relationship was moderated by moral values. These findings confirm the effectiveness of a national anti-doping education programme and highlight the contribution of dietary supplement use and personal values to changes in doping susceptibility.

Understanding the nexus of sustainable development and sport: the systems thinking perspective

This study aims to explore how international sport experts make sense of sport’s interaction with sustainable development. We adopted the interpretivist lens, combining the viewpoints of identified experts with the systems thinking approach. We conducted 29 semi-structured interviews with higher management decision-makers in international sport organizations and used an inductive approach for theory building to analyze the data and the systems map to show the various interrelations of the categories that were identified. The systems map offers a visualization of perceived causal connections that stem directly from the interviews with the experts. The map contains 58 variables, including nine themes and 49 categories, which are connected via 112 causal links, indicating the interconnected structure. The themes “environment,” “social inclusion,” “economic growth,” and “health and wellbeing” represent outcomes of sport, while “visibility,” “safety,” “communication means,” “educational tools,” and “governance and integrity” are mechanisms of how sport can interact with sustainable development. The systems map presents a tool for understanding the complexity of relationships between key variables at play that can help policymakers, practitioners, and researchers when formulating, testing, and implementing various policy options directed toward increasing sustainability of sport stakeholders.

Game Over for Russian Athletes? Human Rights Aspects of Measures Adopted by International Sports Organisations as a Response to the Russian Aggression against Ukraine

Summary The Russian invasion of Ukraine has tested the mettle of the international community, prompting not only States but also non-state actors to take deterrent action in response. Indeed, international sports organisations, namely the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Federation of European Football Associations (UEFA), have been relatively successful in shifting the power dynamics by introducing a complete ban on the Football Union of Russia (FUR), i.e., the Russian national and club teams. This article investigates the human rights implications of such actions by international sports organisations. First, the article departs from an assessment of the legal status of FIFA and UEFA under international law. It reflects how a legal link could be established vis-à-vis their human rights obligations. Second, it examines the human rights aspects of the impugned measures by FIFA and UEFA on the part of the Russian athletes, further scrutinising them against the international human rights law principle of non-discrimination through a proportionality test. Finally, it draws basic pathways for how possible human rights violations committed in the context of measures adopted by such organisations could be remedied, outlining the challenges of arbitration and litigation in Switzerland.

TRANSGENDER’S ISSUES IN SPORT COMPETITIONS

The recognition and development of the rights of transgender people raises various problems, one of which is their possibility to participate in sports. The aim of the article is to identify and analyze the issues of transgenders’ participation in sports, reviewing possible ways of solving them. There used such research methods as analysis of new scientific literature and legal documents, qualitative content and comparative analysis, historical analysis. Study showed that international sports organizations and research bodies do not have a unanimous view how to ensure transgender rights to participate in sports with equality and fairness. New scientific researches may help to change this unclear and ambivalent position as well as established legal regulations and a unified policy of states in this area can help to solve such problems.

Who should be allowed to host sporting mega-events? On the public acceptance of criteria to justify hosting decisions

ABSTRACT Criticism has accompanied some of the most recent decisions of international sports organisations for the staging of Olympic Games or FIFA World Cups. Many hosts – from Russia and China to Qatar – have been heavily criticised in Western countries (e.g. Germany) for political and societal grievances up to and including calls for protests and boycotts. This raises several questions concerning the public acceptance of hosting decisions: What criteria does the public consider to be most important when hosting decisions are made? What role should be given to political vs. sports-related criteria? Which population groups are more likely to prioritise political criteria over sports-related criteria? The paper provides insights into these questions based on a representative survey (N = 1,002) from Germany. Results show that Germans consider political and sustainability criteria as of highest importance for justifying hosting decisions. The findings also reveal a latent conflict between political criteria and sports-related criteria. Support for prioritising political considerations (instead of sporting criteria) when making hosting decisions comes from younger, female, politically engaged and politically left individuals, but much less strongly from the core group of media sports consumers.

Are dietary supplement users more likely to dope than non-users?: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

In the past decade, a body of evidence has reported that dietary supplement use is related to prohibited performance enhancing substance use (i.e., doping). To help international and national sport organisations understand the degree to which dietary supplement use is related to doping, the objectives of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to 1) compare the prevalence of doping between dietary supplement users and non-users and 2) identify whether supplement use is related to doping social cognitive factors. We searched for studies sampling athletes and that measured both dietary supplement use and doping in EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and SPORTDiscus from database creation to May 2022. Risk of bias was assessed using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for cross-sectional studies and the STROBE checklist. Twenty-six cross-sectional studies, involving 13,296 athletes were included. Random-effect models revealed that doping was 2.74 (95% CI=2.10 to 3.57) times more prevalent in dietary supplement users (pooled prevalence = 14.7%) than non-users (6.7%), and that users reported stronger doping intentions (r=0.26, 0.18 to 0.34) and attitudes (r=0.21, 0.13 to 0.28) compared to non-users. Preliminary evidence also suggests that dietary supplement users were less likely to dope if they were more task oriented and had a stronger sense of morality. Results of the review are limited by the cross-sectional design used in all studies and lack of consistency in measurement of dietary supplement use and doping. Data indicate that athletes using dietary supplements are more likely to self-report doping Anti-doping policy should, therefore, target dietary supplement use in anti-doping education programmes by providing alternative strategies for performance enhancement or highlighting the safest ways they can be consumed. Similarly, as a large proportion of athletes use dietary supplements without doping, further research is needed to understand the factors that protect a dietary supplement user from doping. No funding was received for the review. A study protocol can be found here: https://osf.io/xvcaq.

Objects of marketing in student sports

The article analyzes the main objects of marketing in Russian student sports, examines the opportunities for marketing in university sports– international sporting events and sports organizations that create and earn from their marketing products. The relevance of this study is justified by the need to find new sources of funding for the development of university sports in Russia. The objective is to identify existing marketing markets, marketing objects and marketing products in university sports, assess the potential for their implementation and leverage of additional financing. Based on the results of the research, we have identified marketing objects in university sports, segmented markets and studied marketing opportunities for different objects, opportunities and options for realizing the marketing potential of university sports. Currently, university sports in Russia has all the attributes of a developing marketing market – it creates and offers marketing products, works with interested audiences, and has clearly defined marketing objects in the form of sports events, student sports leagues, student sports clubs, student athletes. The market has positive potential for further growth and increase in extra-budgetary revenues of student sports organizations.

Who Is to Blame and What Is to Be Done? The Rise and Fall of Russian Authority in the Olympics

Who Is to Blame and What Is to Be Done? The Rise and Fall of Russian Authority in the Olympics

A Game of Politics? International Sport Organisations and the Role of Sport in International Politics

ABSTRACT Recent events such as the exclusion of Russian teams from international competitions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the debate on Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, have once again reignited the debate over the relationship between sport and politics. From athletes displaying political symbols to states vying to exclude their rivals from major tournaments, the strong connection between sport and politics in the international arena is evident. International Sport Organisations (ISOs) play a central role in connecting the global sport arena and the international system. Larger international organisations (and particularly mega international sports organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA), despite their claim to neutrality, are important political actors that frequently use their influence and leverage in the international arena. In particular, the significant role played by FIFA in the politics of World Cup bids and its recent involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian issue demonstrates the impossibility of being politically neutral as an ISO.

Current issues of the implementation of the right to protect state symbols in sports activities

This article is devoted to current problems of protecting the right of the state to use state symbols (anthem, flag) within the framework of international sports and other events. The subject of the research is to consider the right to perform the national anthem, display the national flag and other symbols through the prism of the state’s intellectual property. The current position of the Russian Federation on the international sports and political arena raises the question for the legal community of the need for legislative regulation of the state's intellectual property rights to state symbols. The authors analyzed the current positions of international organizations in the field of sports regarding the participation of athletes from the Russian Federation in international sports events. The subject of the study is also international legal acts related to the holding of international sporting events and regulations of international sports organizations and federations (IOC, FIFA, UEFA). The legal system, both at the national and international levels, should be structured in such a way that international sports organizations do not have the right to ban the performance of the national anthem and the using of the national flag by a country participating in international sports competitions, because such a ban is a violation of the state's right to identity. The bans imposed by foreign organizations and judicial institutions on the Russian Federation as sanctions are presented by the international community as a compromise for the admission of Russian athletes to participate in international sports competitions in a neutral status, however, from a legal point of view, this approach requires reconsideration. The authors proposed amendments to a number of regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation: the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Sport management in the context of criminal liability for corruption

The problem of corruption in the management of sports organizations has long since ceased to have an exclusively national character, becoming a global problem, particularly at the level of federal and international sports organizations. It is possible to state a specific limitation in studying problematic issues of criminal responsibility for corruption crimes in sports and the insufficiency of the development of certain aspects of establishing accountability for the specified offenses.This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of criminal legal measures in the form of criminal liability in the fight against corruption crimes in the management of sports organizations. The following methods were used in this study: information-analytical method; system approach method; method of comparison and comparison; method of descriptive analysis; method of pragmatic approach; forecasting method. According to the research results, the author's concept of corruption in the management of sports organizations was proposed. It has been established that criminal liability for corruption crimes in the field of management of sports organizations is an effective but insufficient measure to combat this phenomenon. This is evidenced by scientific studies of the last 5 years regarding the fight against match-fixing in certain types of sports in certain countries, which indicates the insufficient effectiveness of establishing criminal liability for corruption crimes in the management of sports organizations. There was a need to develop new, more effective measures to prevent and combat corruption crimes in the field of sports management. At the international level, it is necessary to create the Instruction on tackling corruption in the management of sports organizations, which will include measures and directions for combating and preventing corruption in sports, including improving criminal liability for these crimes. This study opens up the prospects for further research in the fight against corruption in the field of sports, in particular, ensuring control over the activities of national and international sports organizations by improving both the legislative framework and the practical implementation of its provisions in the field of regulation and management in the sports field. Keywords: Corruption crimes, bribery, criminal legislation, sport management, match-fixing, doping, tricks.