Organisational culture in sport

A series of high-profile failures, often attributed to shortcomings in governance, have been experienced by international sports federations, domestic national governing bodies (NGBs) and individual clubs in recent years. These have had a negative impact not only on the organisations themselves but on their disciplines more widely and sport in general. In some instances, the actions have extended to criminal wrongdoing. The outcomes have ranged from severe reputational damage, threats to sporting integrity, third party investigations and legal proceedings to, in the worst cases, very real and grave suffering on a human level.

This report on organisational culture in sport, drawing on contributions from those engaged in running sports organisations and experts in the sector, considers some of the pressures which sports bodies face in terms of their organisational culture and gives those in leadership roles an indication of where to look in their organisation for evidence of the prevailing culture. 

Identifying and changing organisational culture is acknowledged to be challenging, but can also be valuable, contributing to long-term sustainability and present success. This report should provide some of the tools necessary to start the process.

Read the report to find out more

Published in 2018