Good Governance Leadership in Sport as Showcased by the Badminton World Federation

It is probably fair to say that everybody with a passion for sport is concerned and saddened to see all the continued headlines about corruption, doping, match-fixing and other integrity issues in sport. Not only do such headlines take away attention and trust from the beautiful game. As a result of what is widely seen as sport organizations no longer being fit for purpose, fans, athletes, sponsors, governments and sport organizations are also starting to acknowledge the importance and urgency in bringing about change in the way that sport is governed.

In this process, challenging questions call for answers. For instance questions such as what kind of governance issues pose the greatest risk to specific sport organizations and what evolving good sport governance practices look like or ought to look like. Based on the perspectives and frameworks offered in the first article in this iSportconnect sport governance series, this article offers some answers to these questions through an interview with Poul-Erik Hoyer, President of the Badminton World Federation and IOC Member. Previous articles did the same through interviews with Marisol Casado, President of the International Triathlon Union and IOC Member and David Grevemberg, CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation. A subsequent article will do so too through an interview with Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian National Olympic Committee.

The strategic importance and urgency of good governance in sport 

There are several reasons why more and more sport leaders consider good governance in sport as a challenge of strategic importance and urgency, as opposed to just regarding it as the nice thing or the right thing to do. Most importantly, a sound platform of good governance is the foundation for building trust, growth and performance into the future.

Poul-Erik Hoyer describes the case for good governance in sport in the following way: “One of the reasons why trust in sport and the perceived credibility of sport are at the lowest point ever is that we have had doping going on for some time, combined now with match-fixing. I agree with the people saying that if the world of sport does not change and fully embrace the principles of good governance, including transparency, we will be forced to change. We need show all our cards. If we are not capable of demonstrating leadership and trustworthiness, then there will be more and more questions and initiatives, telling us how we should do things in the future.” 

As far as the case of the Badminton World Federation is concerned, Poul-Erik adds that “one of the biggest governance challenges is ensuring that all continental badminton federations cooperate and function along the lines of similar guidelines and governance principles such as transparency. There are quite some cultural differences between continents and different management approaches. Coming from Europe and having traveled in both Asia and other continents for many years, I have experienced different approaches. It is very important that we understand and appreciate those differences and then find common approaches that will work for the whole badminton community. Also, it is important to acknowledge that there is a short window for creating change in a typical 4-year election cycle, which is not a long time to create real structural change.

Especially now that most international sport governing are experiencing increased revenues from media broadcasting deals and sponsorships, including the Badminton World Federation, we should never forget that we are here for the national member federations. Our money is their money. It has to be spent on activities and not just be put aside for mitigating potential future risks.

At a national federation level, there is sometimes a delicate balance to strike between ensuring substantial and critical government funding, while at the same safeguarding autonomy and fighting back what could be seen as undue government interference. There is no clear line across countries on how to strike this balance. However, we need to acknowledge that governments want to know how their money is spent, but at the same time it is important that sport is not taken over by governments and used as a political tool.”

Evolving good governance practices in sport 

While the media is mostly focused on cases of bad governance in sport these days, there are actually quite a few remarkable cases of evolving good sport governing practices too. Such cases offer great inspiration and learning, as sport governing bodies gear up for modernizing the way they are governed. Examples of the governance leadership that the Badminton World Federation is showcasing include:

1. Strict anti-match-fixing rules
2. A leveled playing field for sanctioning doping
3. Voting allocation system that motivates national member federations to contribute to the further development of badminton

Poul-Erik Hoyer describes these examples in the following ways:

1) Strict anti-match-fixing rules

“It is very difficult to address match-fixing and to find the people who are actually doing it. We work as hard as we can to find effective solutions. Measures include prohibiting players, staff and referees from betting on all badminton matches and also making it an offence to not pass on knowledge of illegal betting. We have also set up different monitoring and investigations systems, and these are constantly being further developed in our newly created integrity unit. Finally, we are focusing a lot on education of both our existing top players, but also very much our younger generation, who will become the top players within the next few years. The players need to understand that the worst thing they can do is to seek to benefit unfairly by taking away the beauty of the game.”

2) A leveled playing field for sanctioning doping

“I am very happy with the way that our disciplinary panel handled the situation around sanctioning the number one player in international badminton at the time for doping last year. There cannot and should be any excuse, no matter whether you are playing at the absolute top level or at lower levels, for taking doping. My impression is that the badminton community fully appreciates that. At the 2015 World Junior Championships in badminton, we introduced an integrity campaign for players. It was framed along the lines of the motto ‘I am clean. I am honest. I am badminton’. The campaign was very well received.”

3) Voting allocation system that motivates national member federations to contribute to the further development of badminton

“As a national member federation of Badminton World Federation you can get between one and five votes allocated for our annual general meeting, depending on the extent to which you contribute to the further development of badminton in specific and objectively measurable ways. Not only does this system provide fairness and equality. It also incentivizes and motivates national member federations to take specific action and contribute to the further development of badminton. During the last eight years, where this system has been in place, badminton has moved from being ranked as number 36 among sports in the world to now being between ranked between number 9 and 16. Our aim is to reach top 10.”

Further details about the voting allocation system can be found in a separate contribution of Michael Pedersen for iSportconnect’s expert column on sport governance, titled “Badminton World Federation: A Winning Model for Democratizing Sport in the 21st Century?”

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