Home
The tentacles of politics in sports management
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/tentacles-politics-sports-management
Share
 
The URL has been copied
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/tentacles-politics-sports-management
Share
 
The URL has been copied
Sport is often misused by governments as a way to assert their power, as explained by Gabriel Tabona.

Different regimes are always elected into government on the basis of the appeal of their manifesto, which promises to uplift the quality of life of the electorate. A new regime often will seek to use sport as a pawn of relevance whereby leaders will engage federation chiefs as platforms of power.

Despite winning the bid to host the 1996 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Kenyan government is believed to have frustrated efforts to hold the tournament, believing that, in doing so, the world would have endorsed the opposition at a time when the country’s football governing body was managed by anti-government stalwarts.

In West Africa, Sierra Leone and Cameroon continue to endure political nightmares in their respective football federations. While the former already has two factions brought about by corruption allegations and match-fixing, pitting pro-government against pro-FIFA, the latter has seen FIFA and the Court of Arbitration of Sports setting up a normalisation committee to resolve electoral disputes created by infighting officials at a time when they are racing against time to put up infrastructure to host 24 teams in the 2019 AFCON.

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya was also influenced by political machinations during the Rio 2016 games fiasco[. It is still uncertain when legal proceedings initiated against senior officials implicated in the mismanagement of athletes will conclude due to the belief that some are aligned to different political camps, which complicates the case.

While political processes are necessary to protect sports from malpractices through legislation, in certain circumstances they are used to assert political power. The Kenya Sports Act and the Anti-doping Act are clear examples. They were met with disapproval from federation chiefs as they claim they weren’t consulted in its formulation.

Intra-sports politics also arises away from common government-federation tussles, for example with growing concerns among Anglophone football chiefs questioning why continental football tournaments must be hosted in West Africa thus giving rise to discontent. Despite facing isolation due to a nuclear violation, concerted efforts by International Olympic Committee saw North Korea participate in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, albeit under a different flag.

Incumbent regimes are capitalising on the blurred lines between sports and politics, taking a keen interest in using it to sustain their relevance, loyalty and power as opposed to promoting social integration or talent development.

 

Authors

Social Development through Football Organiser
Ona Ink