Corruption and Sport (960M9)

15 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

Sport is now big business. And with big business inevitably come corruption-related challenges. On the one hand, there have been numerous scandals concerning the way that sporting organisations conduct their own affairs (for example FIFA, IOC). On the other hand, there is an increasing concern that sport is being used as a vehicle for actors to launder reputations and to nudge onlookers away from some of their behaviours elsewhere. Plus, there is increasingly an anything-goes attitude to seeing these goals achieved.

This module looks to pin down what the corruption challenges facing sport are. It the continues to explain why these challenges are there, and to analyse what could, should, might and might not be done about them. We look at a range of sports (football, cricket, athletics, rugby union/league, tennis plus others) to work out what’s being done poorly and what’s being done well. We look at both organising bodies and specific sports clubs, unpacking what drives them to behave in the way they do. Finally, we use a range of concepts to try and make sense of the corruption challenges in sport. Integrity, ethics and morals are all discussed in detail with a view to trying to work out how best to apply them to sporting competition.

You’ll learn:

• about the major approaches to understanding corruption in sport
• to critically evaluate why corruption in sport takes the form that it does and how it has evolved over time and space
• about a range of real-world cases that highlight some of the challenges inherent in tackling corruption in sport.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.