The transnational governance of sports

Abstract

This High-Level Policy Dialogue, organised by the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute, brought together policy experts, leading academics and journalists in the fields of sports and transnational governance, to debate the topic of ‘Sports Governance’. During the discussion, the participants agreed that there are several crucial challenges in the field of sports governance. Discussions centred around issues how to guarantee integrity in sports and the need for better mechanisms of checks and balances in its governance bodies. The discussions also focused on the public oversight of sports governance and on the weaknesses and strengths of different institutional alternatives (i.e. national, supranational, international) in exerting discipline over the autonomy of sports governing bodies. Participants stressed the expanding nature of sports business and discussed a variety of good governance principles that must be employed on several aspects of sports regulation and management. To this end, many highlighted that the European Union (EU) can be an agent of change toward the synthesis of a good governance framework in sports