The testosterone barrier in sport

World Athletics (formerly known as IAAF) has recently published the eligibility regulations for female classification that apply to running events from 400 meters up to the mile. The regulations have prevented some elite women athletes with DSD (Difference of Sexual Development) to compete or have made some of them to change their preferred running event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. According to World Athletics, female hyperandrogenism (a biological anomaly that naturally produces a high level of testosterone) must be in some way “compensated” to respect the fair play of the competition. Nonetheless, such argument rests upon a problematic assumption: hyperandrogenic women are not “natural” women —at least when it comes to compete in sports— so their “not-normal” condition must be fixed to meet the standards. Norbert Elias’s process-sociology helps to place the case of hyperandrogenic sportswomen within a broader context of power relations. In this fashion, we see that the case becomes problematic because these women athletes are perceived as a threat/disruption of one of the vertebral categories of sport: sex/gender. The testosterone barrier is to sex/gender what the colour barrier was to race in sports: a disciplinary strategy to maintain what is considered the “natural” sports categories of a certain era.

How to Develop Moral Skills in Sport by Using the Corruption Heritage?

This paper examines how the corruption heritage of South-Eastern European sport can be used as content for educational strategies designed to improve the ethics and integrity in today’s sport. Hidden or dark history is useful when considering an education for a sustainable development approach to improving athletes’ moral skills. In education, examining mistakes can be a useful tool for preventing their recurrence as they provide examples for study and content for evidence-based learning. At the same time, it is a useful process, aiming to develop critical thinking and the decision-making skills in the area of sports. This paper provides examples on how narratives can be used in the field of sport moral education and what patterns reflecting the lack of integrity in sport can be identified. Because it has perpetuated and altered the image and principles of sports competition, diminishing trust in sport sustainability, it is important to identify how this effect can be approached from the perspective of the education for sustainable development (ESD), as applied to the area of sports. However, it is essential that sports integrity be valued by society and that all sports actors (athletes, coaches, officials) promote ethics and fair play.

The Yorùbá Social Values in Ọbasá’s Poetry

Among the social values which equip the Yorùbá person are honesty, transparency, accountability, integrity, justice, fair-play, family sense, hard work, and truthfulness. The basic values of the people determine their behavior and what they direct their energy toward. Yorùbá social values have received serious attention from scholars. However, the ideology that inform the social values have not been given a deserved attention. The main aim of this essay is to investigate the Yorùbá social values in Ọbasá’s poetry texts – Àwọn Akéwì I-III (1924, 1934, and 1945). The objective of the study is to examine the ideology which inform the social values, and which construct power. The paper also analyzes the extent to which the poet engages the ideology as exemplified in his poetry texts. In addition, the essay highlights the relevance of Ọbasá’s works to the contemporary Yorùbá society, and the literary devices employed by the poet to put across his message. The study employs descriptive and analytical methods using a New Historicism theory, which calls for a recovery of the ideology that gave birth to a text. The findings of this study reveal the Yorùbá philosophical thoughts on social values, and Obasa ͎’s interrogation of the phil ́ - osophical thoughts, which revere physical strength, wealth, position, children, 88 Saudat Adébísí O͎láyídé Hamzat & Hezekiah Olúfé͎mi Adeodun and knowledge as power. The study concludes that Ọbasá was a versatile and a thorough-bred poet whose poems call attention to the Yorùbá social values, to deconstruct and redefine power in a way that promote development. The study suggests that Ọbasá’s poems be studied holistically, and recommends that the poems should be reprinted and made available for scholarly work in institutions of learning.

Analyzing the effectiveness of UEFA's financial fair play regulations: A comparative study of the French Ligue 1 and the English Premier League

This article assesses the effectiveness of the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, one of the few financial regulatory tools for open leagues in Europe in two top divisions in Europe. The objective of FFP borrows from the theoretical concept of ‘soft budget constraint’ in sport finance and regulation literature. Introduced by UEFA in 2011 and fully implemented from 2013, FFP requires clubs qualifying for European competitions to comply with the financial concept of “break-even”, where football expenses should not exceed football revenues. This study uses the French Ligue 1 (L1) and the English Premier League (PL) as a case study for analysing the effectiveness of FFP and includes thirteen clubs (seven French and six English) in total. The selection of clubs was guided firstly by data access but was also restricted to clubs regularly participating in European competitions between 2011, when FFP came into effect, and 2018. The scope of the study enabled us to measure the effect of FFP with regard to the break-even rule and the payroll ratios before and after its full application by comparing the periods 2008-2013 and 2013-2018 using descriptive statistics and tests of comparisons. The results are contrasted according to the national context of the clubs studied and the indicators analysed. First, they show a general improvement in the profitability of the clubs in the sample, although the results are statistically significant only in the case of the PL. Concerning the payroll ratios, the first measure (payroll/operating expenses) decreased significantly for all clubs, with significant differences found comparatively in the case of the L1. The second measure (payroll/operating income) also decreased, but the decrease was only significant at the sample level when the trading activity was included in operating income. From a theoretical perspective, this contribution makes it possible to compare the conclusions obtained with existing works, be it predictive or empirical in nature. From a managerial point of view, it calls for UEFA to remain vigilant in respect of FFP. While the results appear to suggest that FFP has been effective in improving the financial equilibrium of clubs and their payroll ratios, the link between better financial health and good governance remains a key challenge for the industry moving forward. Cet article ambitionne d’évaluer l’efficacité du système de Fair-play financier (FPF), un des rares outils de régulation des ligues ouvertes en Europe. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre de la régulation financière des ligues de sports collectifs en empruntant des éléments théoriques au concept de « contrainte budgétaire lâche ». Instauré par l’UEFA en 2011 et pleinement appliqué à partir de 2013, le FPF impose aux clubs qualifiés en coupes d’Europe de respecter une règle d’équilibre financier limitant leurs montants de dépenses issues de l’activité football à ceux de leurs recettes, sans l’aide d’apports extérieurs. Pour parvenir à cet objectif, nous avons retenu sept clubs évoluant en Ligue 1 française (L1) et six en Premier League anglaise (PL). Cette sélection a d’abord été guidée par l’accès aux données et a été restreinte aux clubs participant régulièrement aux compétitions européennes entre 2011, année d’entrée en vigueur du FPF, et 2018. Le périmètre ainsi constitué nous a permis de mesurer l’effet du FPF au regard de la règle d’équilibre et des ratios de masse salariale avant et après sa pleine application en comparant les périodes 2008-2013 et 2013-2018 à partir de statistiques descriptives et de tests de comparaisons. Les résultats sont contrastés en fonction du contexte national des clubs étudiés et des indicateurs analysés. Ils montrent d’abord une amélioration générale de la profitabilité des clubs sur l’ensemble de l’échantillon même si, au niveau national, les résultats ne sont statistiquement significatifs que dans le cas de la PL. Concernant les ratios de masse salariale, le premier étudié (masse salariale/charges d’exploitation) a diminué de façon significative sur l’ensemble des clubs même si la significativité des tests de comparaison n’a été constatée, cette fois-ci, que dans le cas de la L1. Le second (masse salariale/revenus d’exploitation) a également diminué mais la baisse n’est significative à l’échelle de l’échantillon que lorsque l’activité de transfert est intégrée aux revenus d’exploitation. D’un point de vue théorique, cette contribution permet de confronter les conclusions obtenues aux travaux existants qu’ils soient de nature prédictive ou empirique. D’un point de vue managérial, elle invite l’UEFA à rester vigilante car, si les résultats sont plutôt flatteurs laissant à penser que le FPF a été efficace dans l’amélioration de l’équilibre financier des clubs et de leurs ratios de masse salariale, le lien entre meilleure santé financière et bonne gouvernance est toutefois interrogé en fin d’article.

Moral Identity and Attitudes towards Doping in Sport: Whether Perception of Fair Play Matters

Research evidence suggests that athletes’ attitudes towards banned substances are among the strongest predictors of intention to use or actual practice of doping. Previous research has found that personal morality was negatively related to doping attitudes. However, less is known about the role of athletes’ perceptions of fair play on their attitudes towards doping. First, we examined whether moral identity was associated with athletes’ attitudes towards doping and whether their perceptions of fair play mediated this relationship. The second purpose was to determine whether these associations differed among non-athletes. Overall, 365 university students (49.9% males, 55.3% athletes) participated in this study (mean age 22.02, SD = 6.58). They completed questionnaires measuring the aforementioned variables. The results showed that athletes’ moral identity and endorsement of fair play were negatively associated with their attitudes towards doping. The mediation analyses showed that the effect of moral identity on attitudes towards doping was partially mediated by perceptions of fair play (indirect effect, β = −0.10, p < 0.05). Unlike student athletes, non-athletes’ moral identity negatively predicted attitudes towards doping only indirectly, via fair play perception (indirect effect, β = −0.08, p < 0.05). The study provides insights into how a person’s morality and perception of moral values in sport may act as factors related to doping in sport. The practical implications for the promotion of anti-doping attitudes for athletes and separately for student non-athletes were provided together with future research perspectives.

Fair play i barnehagen

Artikkelen tematiserer idrettskonseptet fair play som en viktig etisk refleksjons- og handlingskompetanse hos barn, som barnehagen har et ansvar for å fremme og utvikle. Fair play utgjør de etiske normer og verdier som idretten er underlagt, som for eksempel at man viser respekt for sine motspillere og at man følger de spillregler som gjelder. Artikkelen peker på at fair play synes å utgjøre en fellesnevner både for idrett og lek, og at det dermed kan fungere som et ethos, ikke bare for idretten, men også for barns lek. Siden det i fair play implisitt ligger en vekt på etisk vurdering/refleksjon (fair), direkte knyttet til lekens utøvelse (play), vil konseptet kunne representere en avgjørende kvalitet i forhold til barns sosial-etiske danning. Artikkelen drøfter også barns lek og fair play-holdninger i lys av voksenrollen og barnehagens rammeplan.

Technical and tactical training of freestyle wrestlers on the basis of individual manner introduction to the fight

The article considers the issue of individual manner of conducting freestyle wrestling. Research methods: analysis of scientific and methodical literature, questionnaires of trainers, observation of fights, video recordings, expert assessment. The observational stage of the experiment was completed in the study. Based on the analysis of scientific and methodological literature and questionnaires of coaches, the most widely used technical and tactical actions of freestyle wrestlers have been established. The individual manner of conducting the fight was studied and the distribution of wrestlers according to these characteristics was carried out. A 120-point system for assessing the dynamics of changes in technical and tactical readiness has been formed. The system includes a set of special modules. These modules will be used in further work. Two groups of wrestlers were formed for further research - a control group and an experimental group The initial data of indicators of technical and tactical combinations of freestyle wrestlers of both groups are received. The article presents comparison data between the two groups before the main experiment. Modern wrestling is aimed at developing strength and endurance, agility, the ability to make quick decisions in difficult conditions, the desire for fair play and victory. Wrestlers are required to actively improve themselves, constantly expand the system of acquired knowledge, practical skills and master new applied competencies.

The effectiveness of UEFA Financial Fair Play: evidence from England and France, 2008–2018

PurposeThis paper analyses the effectiveness of UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) under the break-even requirement.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from English and French football clubs competing in the English Premier League (EPL) and in Ligue 1 (L1) for the financial years 2008–2018. Our sample includes 395 club-year observations. Relevant statistical tests have been conducted with the aim of analysing the effects of pre (2008–2012) and post (2012–2018) FFP enforcement under both profitability and cost-efficiency assumptions.FindingsIn the EPL, an increase is observed in clubs' profitability through both operating and break-even results. In L1, this improvement is only significant for break-even results of clubs not participating regularly in European competitions (non Euro-oriented clubs). Player expenditures, measured through two wage-to-revenue ratios excluding trading activity for one and including it for the other, have significantly decreased in the EPL except for the Euro-oriented clubs for this latter. Conversely, in L1, this decrease is only significant in both wage-to-revenue ratios for non Euro-oriented clubs and for the whole sample when trading is included.Practical implicationsIn addition to evidencing contrasting results in FFP effectiveness across countries, our results suggest it is not the sole cause of such an improvement in clubs' finances. We suggest that UEFA should pursue its efforts to scrutinise the level of clubs' player expenditures and that there is a need for a wider look at the FFP regulations.Originality/valueThis article provides further contribution to empirical studies on FFP effectiveness that have often been focused on a single country.