Sports Management & CSR: Football Programs in Egypt Analysis

This essay explores Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs within Egyptian football, focusing on El Gouna FC as an example. It proposes a CSR program to engage stakeholders in the football league, emphasizing inclusivity and community welfare. Key components include promoting national football leagues to encourage exercise among children, organizing charity events for families of deceased military personnel, and implementing a 'Go Green' program for environmental awareness. The plan also involves health and fitness initiatives in partnership with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, opportunities for unauthorized players, and campaigns against racism. Furthermore, it advocates for donating to NGOs supporting the homeless and orphans, aligning with 'Football for Hope' initiatives. The essay highlights the importance of football clubs recognizing their societal impact and fostering sustainable development through economic, social, and environmental responsibility. The CSR program aims to enhance the club's reputation, fan support, and ethical values, integrating social good beyond profit maximization, and encouraging unity and trust within the community. The proposed events include promoting exercise for kids, supporting families of military personnel, environmental campaigns, health awareness programs, and anti-racism initiatives, ensuring inclusivity and addressing various community needs.

Running head: Sports Management
Sports Management

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“CSR programs for football in Egypt “
Football has been the most popular sport of Egypt. The residents of the country gather around the
various clubs to view the sport .The Egyptians national football team plays almost daily in the
clubs. The famous football club of Egypt El Gouna FC has been conducting the Corporate
Social Responsibility Program for the welfare of the people throughout the country. So, this
essay is focused to create a CSR program for enabling the stakeholders to participate in the
football league. It is also targeted to involve all the sections of the society.
The main components of the Plan include launching initiatives by the Football Club to help the
communities by promoting “The National Football Leagues” to spread the importance of
exercise among the kids. It shall also comprise of organizing charity events to help the family
of the deceased and handicapped military personnel. The blue print of the event shall also
comprise of the “Go Green “ program which will help in promoting the environmental awareness
among the youth and the green behaviors such as the use of recycled footballs and other sport
accessories would be used in the matches (Perry, Wood and Fernie 737).
The next activity of the plan will be related to health and fitness of the families. As a part of the
health promotion strategies, the league has also partnered with the Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics to create a fitness challenge for families. Several NGOs, sports authorities and clubs
have sponsored this program. The aim is to provide health education, counseling on personal
fitness and dietary consultation to the participants.
The CSR program can also include the unauthorized players to show their talent in their favorite
sport. The event will also be organized for banning the evil of racism from the sports and society
as well. It will comprise of the campaign known as “Football against Racism “and the players
from different backgrounds will play together to send a message of harmony, peace and
brotherhood in the society (Scheinbaum, Close and Lacey 1982).
Apart from this, the charity collected from the event would be donated to various NGOs which
are helping the homeless people and orphans to fins their own home. The philanthropy programs
in football are termed as ‘Football for Hope’. Thus the various programs specified in the CSR
initiative would comprise of the educational programs for kids, conducting sports programs for

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teenagers and college students, Social inclusion programs, family programs, cultural integration
programs, health and charity programs. Some of the activities can be classified with other
programs as well such as gender equality and poverty elimination programs and programs for
people with special needs (Trendafilova, Babiak and Heinze 298).
The CSR principles must lay emphasis upon the reality the football clubs must realize that they
can also create an impact on the society and they must be accountable for it. The CSR explains
the relationship with the people residing in the society and with the various stakeholders. The
football club reinforces the bond between the various classes of the society with the stakeholders
so that sustainable development is received in the community. The development in this context
may occur in three aspects viz. economy, society and environment (Chelladurai 4).
The implementation of the CSR program shall be effective and will create a positive impact on
the society. The football fans come from the community in which the club is active. So, the club
is attempting to win the support of the fans through demonstrating them that the club cares about
the audiences and the various stakeholders. One of the techniques to make it successful is
enabling social involvement in the society. The corporate social responsibility is an integral part
of the business ethics of the football club. In the context of football, the aim of the club is to
enhance its activities of welfare through organizing the CSR programs (Kihl 324).
Hence doing good business and increasing the fan following is crucial for most of the clubs but
the Football Club aims to be socially responsible along with being adopting ethical, social and
moral values for the implementation of the CSR program. Because of the unique capability of
the sports to create an impact on the society, the club has increased its CSR activities to improve
its reputation and increasing sustainable development in the society (Pharr and Lough 91).
The aim of the corporate social responsibility is to guide the various clubs to act morally and
ethically in their decision making processes. Their aim should be maximizing the wealth of their
stakeholders along with their own profit maximization. Since the sports club and institutions
have the obligation to the society which is beyond their goal of profit maximization. So, the
concept of CSR includes the commitment of the club to remove or mitigate the harmful effects
and maximize the beneficial impact on the society as a whole.

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Moreover, it also involves the integration of various resources comprising of human resources as
well for organizing and conducting various sports events .So, it encourages unity, brotherhood
and trust amongst them. CSR extends social good which is beyond the monetary interest of the
firm. It is not required by the law rather it is self-initiated by the club (Agudo et al 13).
This effort of self-initiation for the wellbeing of the society has enhanced the goodwill of the
club. CSR acts as a vehicle for change. Football is the most popular sport in Egypt so it can be
used to promote sustainable development and harmony in the society. It can be used to solve the
various social problems faced by the society.
The efforts of CSR become more effective if they are aligned with the mission and vision of the
club. The health and fitness programs are a prerequisite for sports and it is integrated with the
aims and goal of the club (Brown and Knudsen 181).
The CSR program which is conducted by the Football Club is named as the;’ National Football
League’. It is sponsored by various NGO and local business operating in the area. The various
football clubs and the government is also sponsoring the program. Various local football clubs
would be participating in the event. The general public and educational institutions are also
invited to participate in the program.
The CSR programs organized by the club use the power of football to change the lives of people.
The club has planned to organize charitable event consisting of various programs which will held
for a week. The football clubs of the local area as well as the sports institutions operating in the
area are invited to take part. The football clubs of the schools and colleges are also invited to
take part in the event. The funds would be procured by the entry tickets which are kept at
nominal amount. Also the people with special needs and those suffering from disabilities would
be given free entry to the event. Anybody can participate in the event. There is no age limit. The
sitting arrangements for the audience would be done as per their age group. Special arrangements
would be done for the handicapped and people with special needs (Dowling, Robinson and
Washington 269).
The facilities for drinking water would be free of cost whereas snacks would be sold at nominal
prices. The snacks would be procured from the local vendors and the small scale industries

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operating at homes in order to promote their brand and sales. All the sports equipment and
accessories used by the players would be made of recyclable materials (Pérez and Bosque 155).
The first event which would be organized to increase the awareness of exercise for the kids. It
would promote the participation of kids from the age of 5-12 years. The football clubs of the
schools would be encouraged to send their participants to play in the event. The school
authorities and the parents and guardians of the kids would also be invited to view the
performance of their children. They would also be awarded for their performance. Cash prices
and the products of their utility would be given to them as gifts (Inoue and Kent 417).
The second event pertains to organizing charity programs for helping the family of the deceased
and disabled military personnel. Their family and children would be encouraged to participate in
the event. They would also be invited to enjoy the matches. The money collected by the event
would be used to help their families and children.
The third event would be the GO Green Campaign in which the uniforms of the participants
would be of green color to promote the theme. The NGO, industrialists and environmentalists of
the local areas would be invited to participate and enjoy the matches. The sport accessories,
uniforms and everything used in the match would be made of recyclable material The awards for
the best performance would be ecofriendly in nature and shall be given to promote the protection
of environment. The oath will be taken to plant trees in the gardens, parks, schools, colleges and
on the road side (Kolyperas, Morrow, and Sparks 177).
The fourth event is associated with creating health and awareness amongst the families residing
in the local area. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will also be invited for providing
health checkup, health campaigns, personal assistance to the families and dietary consultation to
all the members of family . The members of all the age groups shall be invited to participate and
enjoy the event. The matches would be arranged according to the age group of the participants.
This will help in promoting health and awareness amongst them. It will also encourage them to
spend time with each other. The prizes of this event are designed in such a manner that they
promote the awareness of health amongst them (Anagnostopoulos, Byers and Shilbury 259).

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The last event is known as ‘Football against Racism’ It is organized to promote the participation
of various players coming from different backgrounds of the society. The players who are not
allowed to play in the leagues of national level would be encouraged to participate in the
program. It would increase harmony, peace and brotherhood amongst them. A pledge would be
taken at the end of the program to eliminate racism form the country. The awards designed for
the best players would be inspiring books written by great authors which will encourage the
players to remove racism form the society.
The whole CSR program which is aimed at assisting the underprivileged is termed as ‘Football
for Hope’. An additional program would be conducted to encourage the disabled participate and
play the game. Special arrangements would be done for this. The wheel chairs and other
equipment as per their convenience shall be arranged for them. The prizes would be awarded to
all the players (Burnett 385).
The whole CSR program is termed as Football for Hope’ and it justifies its theme. The various
events included in the whole program are intended to create hope and happiness amongst the
various stakeholders. The stakeholders involved in the event are the Football Club, the local
business and small scale industries , the participants coming from various backgrounds, the
disabled people ,environmentalists , industrialists , the investors , the families, school
authorities, the beneficiaries to whom the monetary assistance would be given, the kids, their
parents and guardians and the families .
The program is designed in such a way that it fulfills the expectations of every stakeholder
involved in the event. It would promote happiness, enjoyment, sense of responsibility and health
awareness amongst the participants-the elements which are crucial for overall sustainability of
the society. It involves every section of the society and hence it enhances the feeling of unity,
compassion, brotherhood and harmony amongst the various stakeholders.
So, this essay can be concluded by focusing on the benefits of the CSR program which is
intended to enable the participation of all the stakeholders involved in the event. It attracts the
attention of all the members of the society towards the problems faced by the underprivileged
and downtrodden. It is also focused on creating the feeling of unity, harmony, brotherhood and
peace and spreading the message of ‘one nation’ in the society.

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