Choose One Of The Following Global Regimes: Sport, Drugs, Tobacco. To What Extent Is It An Example Of &#039governance Without Government&#039?

1

Choose ONE of the following global regimes: sport, drugs, tobacco. To what extent is it

an example of ‘governance without government’?

2

Governance without Government

There has been a major focus on governance by non-state actors (Kathryn, 2015). The

legitimacy and the impacts that transnational private governance presents have been discussed.

With the growth of research, it became apparent that the diversity and sophistication of

transnational governance demand more comprehensive studies so as to make better deductions

(Gupta, 2009). Despite this, though the International Olympic Committee and the International

Federation of Association Football (FIFA) are older compared to other intergovernmental

organisations, the increasingly complex transnational private governance regime in the field of

sport which has claims its independence from state law, has not been studied (Chappelet, 2010).

Conflicts between FIFA and a number of governments across the globe have been experienced

frequently. This has sparked concern on whether such conflicts follow any trend. Using FIFA as

a case in point, this paper analyzes the level to which actors in global sports could condition or

shape the decisions made by governments that are elected democratically.

There have been major debates on the importance of monopolies as far as sports governance is

concerned (Elias & Eric, 1966). Some monopoly structures appear likable given that many

global sports stakeholders acquire greater utility by engaging in meaningful competitions.

According to Gupta (2009), meaningful competitions must be governed by rules that are clear

and consistent and this is best offered by a regulatory monopoly. In addition, the focus on

uncontested winners triggers the desire for monopoly structures when it comes to competitions.

Therefore, FIFA presents a monopoly for global champions by articulating the rules of football

and taking part in the planning of World Cup. Despite this, control of access to global football by

FIFA surpasses any functional requirements and seems as exceptional. Therefore, sports could

3

also develop under rivalling competitions as evidenced by professional boxing. It is important to

understand how this level of power has been attained by FIFA.

The pioneers of FIFA sought to have the sport as a global regulator and planner of World

Cup. However, according to Eisenberg (2006), the regime of this sports body has benefited from

wider socio-economic patterns. The power of FIFA largely rests on the popularity of football

across the globe. The body has 209 member football associations. The World Cup on the hand is

watched by millions. The development of modern sports is a representation of a by-product of

social and economic modernisation sparking more interest and improved opportunities for the

purposes of recreation and entertainment. Over the recent past, major football actors developed

new markets. According to Giulianotti and Robertson (2004), the popularity of football emanates

from a symbiotic relationship that exists with modern media sectors. Through global diffusion,

there has been the establishment of national football industries where a large portion of the

electorate is considered the stakeholders. However, the global sport has been politicized.

To this effect, it is important to note that the ability of FIFA to monopolize governance and the

strength of regulation, thus confronting national governments also emanates from the

politicisation of global sports which increased since the Second World War (Tomlinson, 2000).

Sport and football, in particular, is vulnerable to politicisation. This is attributed to the fact that it

can be an epitome of cohesion and alienation (Giulianotti & Robertson, 2004). Therefore, the

international sport became a cold war arena following the decision by the Soviet government to

take part in the Olympics held n 1952 with an aim of conveying the message of around the

dominance of communism (Allison & Monnington 2002). In addition, taking part in global

competitions was almost the same as being considered a sovereign state. On the same note, East

Germany promoted diplomacy through its athletes. China, on the other hand, perceived

4

participation of Taiwan in the global sport as a violation of its sovereignty. In recent years, one

of the first decisions made by the authorities in Kosovo after independence was to seek to be part

of UEFA and FIFA with immediate effect.

For this reason, Sugden and Tomlinson (1998) noted that global sports bodies have

always been among the first global organisations that new countries seek to join. Moreover, the

constant bid by sports to focus on identity politics is evidenced the feel good factor for the UK

established by the 2012 Olympics. It is also evidenced by the attempts made by Qatar to employ

the World Cup of 2022 to rise to the global political arena (Amara 2012). Therefore, global

sports governance has to this extent influenced the preferences and choices of political actors

given the discovery of sport as a platform or channel of identity politics. The strong powers

wielded by FIFA have been attributed to the popularity of football in addition to sports