This article examines the role of football agents in commercial representation of athletes and presents the conceptualization of this role as a construct with three dimensions: the development of athlete brand, the utilization of athlete brand, and the commercial partnerships and relationships. This conceptual framework is developed through empirical data generated through a qualitative research methodology involving semi- structured interviews with agents (N = 15). The findings underline that agents undertake a broad brand management role when performing commercial representation of athletes, taking managerial responsibility of the athlete brand and its commercialization. Hence, the agent's role in commercial representation extends beyond pure representation of talents involving acting and decision-making on their behalf. A brand management-oriented role needs to be understood as an integral component of the modern-day football agent in the world of football.

Interpersonal violence is now widely acknowledged as a key concern throughout sport. In response, governing bodies have started to introduce safeguarding strategies. One such example is the FIFA Guardians programme, which aims to introduce stronger safeguarding measures throughout global football. The programme includes nominated learners from FIFA’s 211 Member Associations completing the FIFA Guardians Safeguarding in Football Diploma. There is a need to capture the experiences of people who are engaged in such initiatives. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the factors that shape the experiences of the Nominated FIFA Learners whose role is to implement safeguarding across their Member Association. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n = 40) across all six football confederation regions. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed six themes: enforcing rules and regulations, supporting relationships, tailoring the message, promoting safeguarding awareness, structuring the institutional setting, and acknowledging the context. Results also highlighted the interactive nature of the factors influencing safeguarding implementation at the Member Association level and the importance of alignment between the factors. The salience of these factors combines to create an environment within which safeguarding leads feel they can be more impactful. As such, there is a need for a multi-faceted approach, supported by a strategic alignment of these factors, so that everyone can play their part in ensuring that the safeguarding lead is a key member of an effective team.

The Paralympic Games have enjoyed a recent acceleration in profile, commercial value, and investment. Meanwhile, intentional misrepresentation (IM) – athletes’ attempting to game the classification process – has emerged as the greatest threat to the integrity of Para sport. Despite classification being essential to Para sport, the phenomenon of IM remains significantly underexplored. To deepen understanding of IM, 26 individuals familiar with the classification process from 11 Para sports were interviewed (nine in-person and 17 online). Six themes were identified: (1) the increasing professionalisation of athletes and support staff; (2) the role of classifier being voluntary; (3) the lack of training and development for classifiers; (4) athletes’ lack of understanding of procedures; (5) capacity to intentionally misrepresent dependant on inherent conditions; and (6) the low number of IM cases that have brought a sanction. The discussion explores how each theme aligns with the limited existing research into Para sport and examines similarities and differences with other sport integrity issues. This study provides a deeper understanding of IM, empowering the Paralympic Movement to address the threat the phenomenon poses to the integrity of Para sport.

Research QuestionsTo enhance the Premier League's expansion into external markets amidst growing competition, it is essential to understand how marketing strategies shape its brand equity and subsequently determine satellite fan behaviours. This research specifically examines the associations among the Premier League's brand communication strategies, brand equity, and three key consumer behaviours, repeat purchase intention, Word-of-Mouth (WOM) intention, and willingness to pay premium price in the Chinese market.Research MethodsData were collected from 550 Chinese Premier League consumers. The proposed relationships among the constructs were examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM).Results and FindingsFindings of the structural model revealed significant associations between one-way communication and brand awareness, perceived customer orientation, and perceived player quality. Two-way communication was significantly associated with all brand equity dimensions. Regarding consequences, except the associations between perceived customer orientation and WOM intention, and perceived player quality and willingness to pay premium price, all other proposed relationships were supported as significant.ImplicationsThis research contributes to the underexplored relationships among brand communication, brand equity, and consumer behaviours in sport industries in China, thereby successfully addressing the research gaps. Practically, this research provides practitioners with a comprehensive picture of building brand equity through effective and multiple communications and enhancing marketing performance through brand equity management.

Despite the popular investigation of brand equity in team sport and domestic markets, few studies have provided insight into sport brand equity at a league level and in international markets. This paper is dedicated to the development and empirical validation of a brand equity measurement scale tailored for the Premier League in the Chinese market. A multidimensional measurement model for the league's brand equity was conceptualized. Using two sample sets from Chinese consumers of the league, the proposed measurement scale was tested by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. As a result, a sound measurement scale comprising four brand equity dimensions, underpinning by 24 items, was proposed. This paper extends existing knowledge by presenting empirical support for the measurement model for brand equity of the Premier League in the Chinese market.

The Paralympic Games have enjoyed a recent acceleration in profile, commercial value, and investment. Meanwhile, attempts to cheat the classification process have emerged as the greatest threat to the integrity of Para sport. Despite the classification process being essential to Para sport, the phenomenon of cheating classification remains significantly underexplored. Using a three-round Delphi survey, a panel of 29 individuals with firsthand experience of the classification process prioritised four actions to reduce the threat of cheating classification. The actions related to (1) the content of compulsory education that athletes should receive prior to classification; (2) video recording the classification process; (3) longer bans for cheating classification; and (4) support for classifiers who suspect that cheating has occurred. A discussion followed on optimising the execution of each action - with references to the International Paralympic Committee's revised Classification Code becoming operational - and concluded that these actions should be implemented systematically, not in isolation.

This article explores the relationship between studentathletes' dual careers in the field of technology-focused sport entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on gender and educational dissimilarities in retirement perceptions and learning needs. A sample of 205 student-athletes from five countries (United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Turkey), responded to an ad hoc questionnaire in order to understand athletes' perceptions of retirement, future aspirations and learning needs with respect to sports technology-oriented entrepreneurship. The findings reveal significant gender and educational differences on post-sporting life perception and professional career expectations, underlining the importance of targeted educational and support interventions. This study contributes to understanding the complexities of studentathletes' career decisions, especially in the context of the convergence of sport, entrepreneurship and technology.

The article traces how European football regulation has been 'captured' by the football governing bodies. The European Commission re-aligned with the European football governing body Union des Associations Europeennes de Football (UEFA), which enabled the latter to solidify its role as industry regulator. Four factors seem to account for the successful capture of European football regulation by UEFA. (1) UEFA enjoys a substantial mobilization advantage. (2) As legitimacy maximizer, the Commission avoids unnecessary confrontations. (3) Substantial interest heterogeneity amongst football stakeholders such as clubs, players and leagues prevented the emergence of strong countervailing constituencies to oppose UEFA regulatory proposals. (4) The legacy of amateur ideology in European football nurtures a strong socio-cultural regulatory frame, which depicts the football governing bodies as trustees of the public interest in football as community institution. The findings come with implications for EU football regulation and the limits of the EU regulatory state.

ABSTRACT Through the increased attention match-fixing has received from both academia and policymakers in recent years, its complexity and the consequent inability to identify a one-fits-all description of the phenomenon have been underlined, highlighting that we have yet to fully capture the various forms of its manifestation in modern day sport. At the same time, and despite academic endeavours, the scholarly work on policy responses against match-fixing is remarkably scarce. In addressing these gaps, this study aims to examine two high-profile match-fixing cases in Greece and Turkey, the ‘Koriopolis’ and the ‘Şike Davası’ scandals, respectively, while considering the policy responses of UEFA, through the analysis of its normative framework and the way in which it was implemented in the two cases. This comparative study offers details of the social organisation of the two scandals, highlighting the various actors, structures and processes within them, as well as the UEFA policy responses they were met with. What is underlined through the study is not only the key role of individuals embedded in the football ecosystem but also the potentially adverse effects of adopting the ‘organised crime’ narrative in both official and media accounts, preventing us from truly capturing the phenomenon and policymakers from responding to it. Simultaneously, this study highlights that despite its existing detailed and thorough normative framework, UEFA’s inconsistency in its implementation in the two cases sends a mixed message about tolerating match-fixing, while inviting much needed further research on the matter.

Children who interact with football’s recruitment and transfer processes encounter a complex web of regulations and practices. Debates over how to ensure that the interests and well-being of young football players are adequately protected, and that risks to their rights and welfare are identified and addressed, have become a topic of academic, political and media concern. This commentary article provides an overview of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) regulations concerning the mobility and representation of minors in player recruitment processes, in particular the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and the Regulations on Working with Intermediaries. We examine these regulations through the lens of the United Nations Children’s Rights Conventions (UNCRC). In so doing, the article demonstrates how football’s regulatory frameworks and commercial practices inadvertently yield consequences that operate against the best interests of children involved in the sport. To counteract this, it is proposed that all planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of regulations involving the recruitment and transfer of young people should be explicitly informed by globally accepted standards of children’s rights, such as the UNCRC. More specifically, it is argued that FIFA should adopt an approach that places the child at the centre of regulatory frameworks and characterises the child as a ‘rights holder’.

While discussion on corruption in sport is intensifying and football match-fixing in particular is attracting increasing attention, new fixing scandals emerge offering new accounts of actors and corrupt practices within the football industry and the level of the external threat to the sport. The scandal exposure of fixed matches in Turkey in 2011 sheds light on the fixing of 17 matches played in the 2010/11 football season and allowed for insights to the actors, structure and processes behind the fix. Following four criminal and seven disciplinary proceedings, the case is still pending appeal for its final decision, involving a total of 93 suspects and having already resulted in the exclusion of two teams from European competitions. The evidence collected by the authorities points towards a hierarchical criminal organisation led by the President of a football club that arranged and coordinated the fixing in order for his team to win the national Championship. The aim of this article is to provide an account of the organisation and coordination of match-fixing in Turkey, with its actors, specifics and criminal characteristics, while offering an examination of match-fixing for sporting success, the least documented type of match-fixing.

This paper examines children’s engagement with the increasingly global and commercialised football industry. By combining a Global Production Network approach and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child it is argued that, for children’s rights and best interests to be better upheld and realised within the football industry, regulatory conditions need to account for geographical contextuality and incorporate scope for children to inform regulatory frameworks and practice. The paper highlights the importance of designing and implementing research that recognises and operationalises children’s agency, which can both inform and influence regulations and practices, better to reflect children’s best interests.

This paper explains the development of the socio-cultural dimension of the European Union (EU) sports policy over the course of the decade from 2005 to 2015. By adopting the theoretical lenses of the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), the paper firstly offers a novel perspective on the belief systems of the members of the socio-cultural advocacy coalition that operates within the EU sports policy subsystem. A set of empirical policy core beliefs of the coalition actors reflecting their concerns regarding sport's integrity and economic welfare that affect its healthy development is presented and explained as the basic causes of the policy problem, i.e. threats that undermine sport's specific characteristics. In this light, the paper then illustrates that the coalition members have perceived the issue of players' agents, in particular problems in the activities of agents in European football, to be detrimental to the integrity of sport. As a result, the issue has been the subject of considerable policy activity by the coalition actors with a view to establishing an alternative regulatory framework to effectively govern players' agents. Consequently, the paper elucidates the evolving nature of the sociocultural model of sports regulation that not only promotes the social role of sport in Europe but now also addresses the problems that affect its well-being and clear image. The paper's principal method of investigation is based on the content analysis of official policy documents and statements of the coalition actors.