The problem: crime and corruption in sport

ClearingSport’s assessment 

The ClearingSport project points out two main issues affecting the integrity of sport. First, rapid and unregulated commercialisation has allowed crime and corruption to flourish in sport. Second, existing efforts to counter them leave significant gaps, and weak enforcement makes them less effective.

How sport became vulnerable to crime, corruption and other breaches of integrity [H3]
Sport has increasingly become a target for crime and corruption, both internally and through exploitation by organised criminal networks. Several key factors contribute to this vulnerability:

• The rapid commercialisation of sport has created vast financial opportunities, attracting not only legitimate stakeholders but also investors and merchants who prioritise profit over sporting values.
• Insufficient regulatory frameworks makesport an attractive sector for illicit activities, particularly in comparison to other industries.
• Weak governance structures of sports organisations make them vulnerable due to inadequate oversight, conflicts of interest, and a lack of independent regulation.
• The transnational nature of sport and its governance structures hinders the effectiveness of national regulatory, investigative, and judicial frameworks in preventing and combating corruption.
• Technological developments such as the expansion of the Internet, the evolution of smartphones, and artificial intelligence constantly facilitate new criminal methods that authorities struggle to adapt to.

Existing mechanisms leave significant gaps 

Over the past 25 years, hundreds of initiatives have been taken to eradicate crime, corruption, and other breaches of integrity in sport. Sports organisations, event organisers, athletes and officials are bound by the resulting laws and regulations that have been introduced and tightened at both the national and international levels, along with countless guidelines and codes related to sports integrity. 

But too often, these efforts fall short for a variety of reasons. Typically, they are carried out in silos within the diverse issues and ultimately have not produced the cross-cutting collaborative frameworks needed to effectively address the issues they set out to tackle. As a result, significant gaps remain, allowing crime and corruption to persist. 

The identified solutions 

Four solutions have been identified to strengthen and address gaps across existing efforts to counter crime and corruption in sport.

Our research considered where existing efforts are incomplete or are not executed as originally intended, alongside remaining gaps. Our analysis yielded several solutions:

1. Create a collaborative framework to harmonise existing policies into universal minimum standards of integrity in sport.
2. Establish a global regulator to monitor and enforce the defined minimum standards through compliance mechanisms.
3. Support relevant authorities in investigations to protect athletes and those who interact with sport.
4. Introduce alternatives for dispute management in sport, particularly in the areas of arbitration and mediation, to ensure real independence and fair access to justice.
   There are many ways these four solutions could be implemented. The next section explores how an international entity with clear separation of powers could bring them together as institutional capacities, unifying efforts to counter crime and corruption in sport.