Sports Law: Analyzing Integrity, Corruption, and Legal Implications

This essay explores the concept of integrity within the context of sports law, examining its manifestations in private international law, criminal law, and public law. It uses examples like international child custody disputes and police corruption to illustrate breaches of integrity. The essay further proposes a scheme for an anti-corruption policy in sports, emphasizing the need for awareness, zero tolerance policies, deterrent punishments, government accountability, and media scrutiny to combat issues like match-fixing, betting corruption, and mismanagement. The essay concludes by advocating for collaborative efforts among sports associations, governments, and the media to promote ethical conduct and transparency in the sports sector. Desklib provides access to this essay along with a wealth of other academic resources for students.

Running head: SPORTS LAW
Sports Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SPORTS LAW
Table of Contents
Instances of Integrity..................................................................................................................2
Private international law........................................................................................................2
Criminal law...........................................................................................................................2
Public law...............................................................................................................................2
Scheme of an anti-corruption policy in sport.............................................................................2
References..................................................................................................................................4

2SPORTS LAW
Instances of Integrity
Private international law
Integrity refers to having the quality of honesty and strong principles of morality. In
private international law a good example of integrity can be cited by referring to guardianship
or custodial cases which is involved between separated couples living in two different
countries. In Thomson v Thomson (1994) 3 SCR 551 (Can) it was held that removal of a child
by the custodial mother from Scotland to Canada violate the removal clause in an interim
custody order.
Criminal law
An excellent example of integrity in criminal law would be the reference of police in
action and corruption in the society. Integrity is breached by corrupted and malpractices
carried out by the police authorities. The effect of corruption upon the rule of law is harmful
and destructive for a modern country (Unodc.org 2019).
Public law
It is important for corporations to maintain integrity, especially for the public
companies as they are more susceptible to scrutiny for they offer shares as a means of
collecting financial support from the public. Therefore, it is significant that these public
companies maintain a strong integrity and morality in terms of protection and proper
utilisation of the public fund.
Scheme of an anti-corruption policy in sport
An awareness regarding the risk of corruption and unethical behaviour in sport is
essential to safeguard the sector as the public expect as well as deserve better accountability
and integrity from it. Issues like match fixing, betting, corruption and mismanagement, poor

3SPORTS LAW
allocation of fund, inadequate infrastructure among others are affecting the sports sector in
various developing and developed Nations around the globe (Lewis and Taylor 2014).
Therefore, to manage the issues, the sports associations and federations can play
vital role in eliminating corruption. They must endorse zero tolerance policy against
corruption. They must lay down deterrent punishments for corruptive players and managers
involved in the sector. The government should also come forward to prevent corruption in
international sports. The government should hold its officials accountable for allowing
connivance and other corrupt practices. The government must put effort to establish
appropriate institutions to ensure implementation of international obligations by countries
under UN, OECD and other anti-corruptive organisations (Rodenberg and Kaburakis 2013).
Additionally, the media must cover corruption news about sports more often. They must
encourage journalists to investigate National and international sports federations where there
are even the slightest of allegation of corruption.

4SPORTS LAW
References
Lewis, A. and Taylor, J., 2014. Sport: law and practice. Bloomsbury Professional.
Rodenberg, R.M. and Kaburakis, A., 2013. Legal and corruption issues in sports
gambling. Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, 23(1), pp.8-35.
Unodc.org. (2019). Integrity in the Criminal Justice System. [online] Available at:
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/criminal-justice-system.html [Accessed 8 Jan.
2019].
Thomson v Thomson (1994) 3 SCR 551 (Can)