Corruption in Sport

As the world becomes a more interconnected place, sport has become a cultural sphere in which localities, regions, and nations meet to compete individually or as teams for prizes ranging from simple peer recognition, health, and fitness to celebrity status. Yet there is a darker side to sport. Highly visible scandals and allegations of corruption mean that the results of sporting competition are brought into doubt on an ever-increasing basis. This course will introduce students to the multifaceted nature of corruption in sport and to useful theoretical approaches to analysing the phenomena. For example, theories of organisational culture provide a framework to explain why corruption occurs in one team, club, league, or sport and not another. Situational crime prevention theory will guide thinking about corruption prevention. On completion, students will have the academic skills to critically analyse the phenomena by synthesising a variety of disciplinary approaches to this issue and show them that sport is now so much more than just a game.