The Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation: A Winning Model for Incentivizing Good Management Practices in National Sport Federations? Michael Pedersen
December 11, 2013
Comprehensive support to national sport federations in the Netherlands
The Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation offers comprehensive support to national sport federations in their efforts to comply with its mandatory minimum criteria for good governance and to modernize governance standards as such. The support includes an online self-assessment tool and a knowledge database with examples of good practice. It also includes workshops on good management practices and specific funding for governance related work in specific sport federations.
2014 to bring additional activities for sport federations in the Netherlands related to good management practices in sport
Among other activities, the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation plans to focus on additional activities related to good management practices in sport in 2014, i.e. further developing board members, reviewing existing mandatory minimum criteria for good governance and addressing good management practices at a club level.
Critical questions for sport leaders to ask themselves
Inspired by the case of the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation, critical questions for sport leaders to ask themselves, as they start modernizing governance standards for the future, include:
Based on current management practices and had it been based in the Netherlands, would your sport federation be eligible to receive sport funding from the Lottery in the Netherlands, as defined by compliance with the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation’s 17 mandatory minimum criteria for good governance?
To what extend is your sport federation prepared for the future scenario that your continued ability to attract funding might be linked to your ability to demonstrate good management practices?
How do management practices of your sport federation compare to the ones of your peers, in your country and in your sport internationally?
How can a national umbrella sport federation best support national sport federations in modernizing their governance standards for the future?
In the situation where mandatory minimum criteria for good governance are introduced in a national context, what would be the best way to create a framework that reflects an appreciation of national sport federations being very diverse in terms of size, resources and management challenges? – What could be a value-adding alternative to defining minimum criteria along the lines of the lowest common denominator? – How do you best get assurance that national sport federations are complying with minimum criteria?
Links to my previous contributions for iSportconnect’s expert column on sport governance:
‘Football in Germany: A Model Case for Addressing Match-Fixing?’
‘England and Wales Cricket Board: A Winning Model for Transparency and Accountability in Sport?’
‘Badminton World Federation: A Winning Model for Democratizing Sport in the 21st Century?’
‘The Business Case for Good Governance in Sport’
‘Sport Governance – What Are We Actually Talking About?’
Michael Pedersen, Founder of M INC., is an internationally recognized expert and leader in good governance, transparency, ethics and integrity.Michael is the former Head of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative, an international good governance partnership with over 175 multinational companies and their CEOs. He holds three MSc degrees; an MSc in Global Leadership; an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice; and an MSc in International Relations.
Michael is passionate about sport. Sport has and continues to play an important role in his life. He is of Danish origin and currently lives in Lima, Peru and in Barcelona, Spain.
He also publishes a leadership series on good governance in sport that is available for free download at: http://minc.ch/sport-practice.html
Michael’s 
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