THE ECONOMICS OF CORRUPTION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT

ABSTRACT. The analysis presented in this paper contributes to research on the culture of corruption in sport, kinds of corrupt undertakings identified in worldwide sport, expenses of corruption in global sports, and important barriers in reacting to corruption in sport. The material gathered in this study provides a rich and diverse context for understanding anti-corruption actions in sport, the pernicious consequences of corruption in sports, the threat of corruption in international sport, and elements that strengthen the resilience of corruption in worldwide sport.JEL codes: D73; L83Keywords: corruption; professional sport; fair playReceived 10 May 2014 * Received in revised form 27 November 2014Accepted 1 December 2014 * Available online 10 June 20151. IntroductionParticularly with professional sports inducing substantial concern and immense quantities of money, corruption in sports may bring about an enormous societal and economic responsibility. Corruption in its different types permeates the whole sports system, perverting integrity, fair play and confidence for the game. Corruption in sports is any type of competitive damage generated by any kind of undertaking viewed as prohibited by law, unjust or dishonest (Nica and Potcovaru, 2014) established on shared global rules and restrictions. Corruption has pervaded through the whole range of sports and creates harmful consequences. The strength of antidotes to oppose corruption in sports is moderated by the corruption intrinsic in the entities that may divert organizations from their primary aim, decelerating the enforced endeavors to swimmingly and sustainably oppose corruption. (Dimant and Deutscher, 2015)2. The Threat of Corruption in International SportThe sports industr y provides a context wher e corrupt events ar e exa ctly documented, where sanctions are handled by sports controlling entities and where spectators' demand, in the configuration of gate presence at sporting events, is noticeable and consistently regist ered. Team sports contests are prone to several sources of embryonic corruption, comprising unequivocal match-rigging. Sports leagues can emphasize the supplementary detrimental effects of sanctions as a discouragement for eventual corrupt routines by club representatives who may be vulnerable to enticement. (Buraimo et al., 2015)Corruption offensives in global sports associate with the exercise of a delinquent impact over management decisions by sporting entities and sports representatives, and especially concerning host venues for outstanding contests, allowance of rights, recommendation for positions, commissioning constructions activities for sports stadiums and other settings, and in addition over contest results, in accordance with which the supplier and the beneficiary of the bribes can be sportspersons only, sporting representatives and other nonsportspersons only, and sportspersons and representatives. Regardless of the fact that a substantial degree of unidentified situations are considered, there is no evidence that corruption in sport is on the rise or is more pervasive in sport than corruption in other spheres of human enterprise. The social marginal expenses of preventing corruption in sport can be maintained somewhat low. Worldwide sport can be praised for having taken anti-corruption initiatives which were swift enough in most situations and which generally indicated basically the appropriate path. (Maennig, 2009) (Table 1)3. The Pernicious Consequences of Corruption in SportsCorruption seeks to make sport more of a pastime competition with a more significant inevitability of end result, deprives it of its crucial aspect of unpredictability of the outcome and advances its bias into the arena of fun, and affects the grounds of sporting virtue. It is vital to support the latter to secure that sport is not under any corrupt authority that might challenge the accuracy and uncertainty of the sporting outcome. …