Scandals in sports have become increasingly common in recent years. The world of sports has seen its fair share of scandals including doping scandals, match-fixing scandals, financial scandals, illegal gambling activities and sexual scandals. Very recently, according to multiple sources including the BBC and CNN, the scandal surrounding a Spanish footballer and the president of the Spanish Football Federation in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup led to protests and the sacking of Spain’s women’s football team coach. But there are many other scandals in sports in the world. The FIFA corruption scandal in 2015, the doping scandal during the 2014 Olympics and the New England Patriots’ Deflategate scandal in 2015 are some examples of recent sports scandals.
It is notable that regulatory and other steps have been made to address scandals in many sports organizations. Conducting thorough investigations, implementing stricter regulations and penalties (including the implementation of lifetime bans for sportsmen involved in doping scandals, longer suspensions, the imposition of fines on teams or players found guilty of match-fixing and criminal charges in severe cases) and promoting transparency and accountability are some crucial steps. The Federation of International Football Association — along with other organizations including the International Olympic Committee and the International Cricket Council — has strict regulations and penalties. Some sports organizations have introduced stricter monitoring systems and random drug testing to deter illegal activities. Additionally, many sports organizations have started to provide ethical training and education for players, coaches and officials to prevent scandals.
There are, consequently, more regulations in sports at present than in the past. But there are regulatory steps based and other flaws in steps taken to address sports scandals, which often involve players or teams trying to gain an unfair advantage or manipulating the outcome of a game for personal gain. A lenient implementation of regulations and penalties and insufficient transparency and accountability in the implementation of regulations are crucial limitations. Deficient transparency and accountability in implementation, where investigations are often conducted behind closed doors, leave room for manipulation and cover-ups. Among others, insufficient scandal preventive measures, ineffective enforcement mechanisms, ineffective communication strategies and a culture of impunity for some individuals are notable flaws in different sports organizations.
There are, furthermore, financial, power based and other underlying factors that lead to scandals. The pressure to win at all costs and financial incentives are crucial causes of sports scandals. Additionally, the intense competition and desire for success can sometimes lead individuals or teams to make unethical choices in order to gain an advantage. The culture that perpetuates objectification and sexualization of sportswomen and power imbalances within sports organizations can contribute to the occurrence of sexual scandals. A lack of awareness about ethical behavior and integrity among players and/or team officials contributes to a scandal. But the diverse range of causes contributes to sports scandals mainly because of the lack of effective regulatory measures and their implementation.
Addressing scandals in sports, which not only tarnish the reputation of individual players and sports teams but also raise questions about the integrity of the entire sporting industry, is crucial. For this, the emphasis definitely needs to be given to regulatory measures. Addressing flaws in regulatory measures, adopting robust regulatory policies including anti-doping policies, conducting thorough investigations into match-fixing and other allegations of scandals in sports and bringing those who are involved in sports scandals to justice are imperative. The strengthened roles of independent regulatory bodies or committees including the World Anti-Doping Agency are crucial for addressing big scandals in sports. Promoting financial transparency and accountability within sports organizations with thorough financial audits can help prevent financial scandals.
But scandals in sports also highlight the need for awareness about a code of conduct. For this, implementing comprehensive education and training programs for athletes, coaches and staff members involved in sports to promote awareness about ethical behaviors and prevention of scandals and implementing a strong code of conduct may be helpful in preventing scandals from occurring in the first place. Among others, encouraging whistleblowing by creating a safe and confidential reporting system — which ensures protection for victims — may be helpful in addressing scandals in sports including sexual scandals. But options need to be there in sports to make corrections with limited punishments where rigorous punishment is avoidable.
