SOVIET-CHINESE COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF SPORTS AFTER THE NORMALIZATION OF BILATERAL RELATIONS ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE IRKUTSK REGION

The article examines the main aspects of Soviet-Chinese cooperation in the field of sports after the normalization of bilateral relations in the late 1980s — early 1990s. Sport was one of the factors that contributed to overcoming the consequences of the thirty-year split between the USSR and the PRC at the state, regional and informal levels. During this period, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China actively exchanged numerous sports delegations, adopting each other's successful experience in organizing and conducting competitions, as well as training athletes. In the USSR, Chinese national sports were popularized, primarily wushu and ping-pong. More traditional for the Soviet side was football, matches in which Soviet and Chinese athletes repeatedly played. Also, the article reveals some economic aspects of sports bilateral cooperation. A common thing for this period was the conclusion of various kinds of agreements and contracts at the interregional level, including those related to the sports component. The personal role of regional party functionaries, sports officials and athletes in the development of Soviet-Chinese relations is shown. There is a certain continuity between the perestroika period and the "golden age" of Soviet-Chinese cooperation in the 1950s. The experience of cooperation in sports gained at the end of perestroika had a beneficial effect on the development of Russian-Chinese relations in the 1990s. The study is carried out on the example of the Irkutsk region, which, due to objective reasons, has developed long-term and strong relations with a number of Chinese cities. The main source of the research was the Irkutsk regional periodicals.

Uncelebrated Sports Officials in the Middle East & Africa

<p>While research shows that investment in sports has started shifting from the North to South and West to East, it has been observed that the latter has been more active than the former as far as sports-related activity is concerned. This is especially the case with popular sports such as football where Middle East investments have been active from outright team purchases (e.g., Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain), stadium naming rights (Etihad Stadium and Emirates Stadium), sponsorships (FC Barcelona/Qatar Airways), and the prized hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In all these, however, the regions have had very limited, if any, impact in terms accredited officialdom. This study highlights this a potential area for research with implications for Sports Management in particular, and Business & Management more broadly.</p>

Uncelebrated Sports Officials in the Middle East & Africa

<p>While research shows that investment in sports has started shifting from the North to South and West to East, it has been observed that the latter has been more active than the former as far as sports-related activity is concerned. This is especially the case with popular sports such as football where Middle East investments have been active from outright team purchases (e.g., Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain), stadium naming rights (Etihad Stadium and Emirates Stadium), sponsorships (FC Barcelona/Qatar Airways), and the prized hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In all these, however, the regions have had very limited, if any, impact in terms accredited officialdom. This study highlights this a potential area for research with implications for Sports Management in particular, and Business & Management more broadly.</p>

OFFICIALS DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN OPEN SKILL SPORTS, A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

In the ever-accelerating world of sports, decisions are playing a more critical role. The coaches' decisions determine the outcome of the match. The study aimed to review what factors determine the decisions of sports officials in different sports. Today, many former players choose to stay in the sport and continue their activities as coaches. Nonetheless, there is no unified system for determining the experience of coaches. Various factors influence sports officials in their decisions. These can be both external and internal factors. Take the First heuristic leads to more consistent and better decisions. In terms of coaches and referees, the most studied and examined sport is football. Research in other sports appears in minimal numbers.

Innovate Sports Officiating With Design Thinking

Youth sports is facing a crisis that threatens the ecosystem of youth sports. Innovation—the ability to generate and execute new ideas—is needed to stem the negative tide of a declining and aging officiating pool and improve the recruitment and retention of sports officials. Without creative problem solving and innovation by many different stakeholders in youth sports, the benefits that children receive from participating in sports are threatened by the lack of qualified officials to referee competitive games and matches. This case pushes students well past the news headlines of angry parents yelling at officials and deep into several problem spaces that emerge from the application of design thinking. Students are introduced to design thinking and prompted to innovate solutions to problems framed using the design thinking process. Students can select a preidentified problem space, then work through an ideation session facilitated by the instructor.

To the Peculiarities of Legal and Non-Legal Regulation of Social Relations in the Field of Sport

Sport is a unique area of social relations, which is officially autonomous and ruled not only and not so much by national law, but to a greater extent – by the rules of sports organizations. Due to the fact that sport has an autonomous character, which, in particular, is characterized by the presence of various regulatory sources that comprehensively affect the relevant social relations, the concept of a unique "sports legal order" is now beginning to take shape. The study aims to analyze social relations in the field of sport and the peculiarities of their regulation. Moreover, the research methodology includes a set of methods of scientific cognition, among which are the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, formal-logical method, historical method and comparative legal method. Regulation of relations in the field of sports is significantly different from the regulation of other social relations. The presence of such features gives grounds for sports officials to declare the special status of the field of sports and the need to remove it from the general legal order. As a result of the study, the authors of the article came to the conclusion that modern sport has an autonomous status and is a special area of legal and non-legal regulation, which has the characteristics of an independent legal order. At the same time, it is too early to claim the existence of a full-fledged “sports legal order”. Resumen. El deporte es un área única de las relaciones sociales, que es oficialmente autónoma y se rige no solo y no tanto por la legislación nacional, sino en mayor medida, por las reglas de las organizaciones deportivas. Debido a que el deporte tiene un carácter autónomo, que, en particular, se caracteriza por la presencia de diversas fuentes regulatorias que inciden de manera integral en las relaciones sociales relevantes, comienza a tomar forma el concepto de un “orden jurídico deportivo” único. El estudio tiene como objetivo analizar las relaciones sociales en el ámbito del deporte y las peculiaridades de su regulación. Además, la metodología de investigación incluye un conjunto de métodos de cognición científica, entre los que se encuentran los métodos de análisis, síntesis, inducción, deducción, método lógico-formal, método histórico y método jurídico comparado. La regulación de las relaciones en el campo del deporte es significativamente diferente de la regulación de otras relaciones sociales. La presencia de tales características da motivos para que los oficiales deportivos declaren el estatus especial del campo de los deportes y la necesidad de eliminarlo del orden legal general. Como resultado del estudio, los autores del artículo llegaron a la conclusión de que el deporte moderno tiene un estatus autónomo y es un área especial de regulación legal y no legal, que tiene las características de un orden legal independiente. Al mismo tiempo, es demasiado pronto para afirmar la existencia de un “orden jurídico deportivo” en toda regla.

Examining Negative Emotional Symptoms and Psychological Wellbeing of Australian Sport Officials

Sports officials are exposed to numerous performance and personal stressors, however little is known about their mental health and psychological wellbeing. This study investigated levels of mental health and psychological wellbeing of sports officials in Australia, and the demographic, officiating, and workplace factors associated with these outcomes. An online survey consisting of demographic and officiating questions, and measures of work engagement, mental health and psychological wellbeing was completed by 317 officials. A negative emotional symptoms score was computed. Associations between key demographic, officiating, and workplace factors with negative emotional symptoms and psychological wellbeing were assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses. Officials who were younger, not in a committed relationship, having lower levels of education, and less officiating experience reported higher levels of negative emotional symptoms, while males, older than 50 years, in a committed relationship and more officiating experience had higher levels of psychological wellbeing. The ability to self-manage workload and demonstrate professional autonomy were strongly associated with negative emotional symptoms and psychological wellbeing. Officials reported high negative emotional symptoms, but also high levels of psychological wellbeing. The ability to manage workload and to express professional autonomy are important determinants of mental health and wellbeing levels of sports officials.

Entrenching Apartheid Football and Failed Sports Diplomacy

Apartheid policy and practices permeated all aspects of social life in South Africa from 1948 onward, with sport becoming a focal point for the implementation and enactment of apartheid policy. While no laws were passed segregating South Africans on the field of play, a range of apartheid laws meant participating in racially mixed sport was near impossible. White South Africa became an integral part of world sport, particularly in the realms of the Olympic Games and in terms of individual sports such as rugby, cricket, soccer, tennis, and golf. In the aftermath of World War II and the decolonization of Africa, apartheid South Africa increasingly became ostracized from the international sporting community. While a range of different sporting bodies in the country engaged in ultimately successful and unsuccessful attempts to remain within the international sporting fold, white South African soccer authorities in particular embarked on a campaign for recognition within FIFA and thereafter struggled to maintain their membership. South African soccer demonstrates the failed sports diplomacy on the part of white South African sports officials and government functionaries more generally in their struggle to justify and maintain segregation and privilege in sports apartheid in South Africa.