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Best Practices in Board Governance for Sport Organizations

This is an excerpt from Governance in Sport-2nd Edition by Bonnie Tiell.

By Bonnie Tiell

Board governance applies to the entity that serves as the central decision-making authority for an organization, such as the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) and NCAA’s Board of Governors, and the Bay Area Host Committee’s board of directors. The Bay Area Host Committee’s board of directors once included former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In 2025, representatives include presidents from three major sport franchises in Northern California and executives from related industries, such as the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. The board of directors is the supreme authority for this nonprofit corporation focused on attracting world-class events to the area. The board was instrumental in the Bay Area becoming a host community for the men’s FIFA World Cup in 2026.

Exemplary models of board governance typically adhere to values of ethical conduct, integrity, transparency, fairness, democratic processes, accountability, and general operational effectiveness. These values align with the principles or best practices for good governance. Best practices are the processes, procedures, or activities likely to achieve the optimal results. Good governance refers to the cultural and operational elements of an organization that lead to effective regulation and compliance. In essence, best practices and good governance are explicitly linked through an organization’s culture, leadership, structure, policies, and processes.

Principles of Good Governance

Abundant information is available on the components of good governance for the governing boards of sport organizations, yet consistency is lacking for an agreed-upon set of principles (Parent & Hoye, 2018, Pielke et al., 2019; Thompson et al., 2022). In 2022, the executive board of the IOC updated its “basic universal principles of good governance within the Olympic movement,” originally adopted in 2009 as part of its code of ethics (see table 3.1). The revisions strengthened financial transparency, internal audits, and transparency in voting and elections.

Researchers in 2022 identified 285 distinct principles related to sports governance by analyzing 73 documents primarily authored by academic working groups and sport governing bodies. Among the 285 principles, the most frequently reported were (1) transparency, (2) accountability, and (3) democracy, which appeared in significantly more documents than the next highest-ranking principles: (4) responsibility, (5) integrity, and (6) sustainability (Thompson et al., 2022). The study highlights the breadth and diversity of principles that exist within the field of sports governance, reflecting the various priorities and perspectives of the different organizations.

Transparency refers to the practice of communicating honestly and openly with public constituents, while democratic process refers to an inclusive and representative style of decision making. Internal accountability and control refers to the separation of powers and the processes used to ensure that rules and regulations are followed. Finally, societal responsibility addresses an ethical obligation to have a positive impact on stakeholders.

Table 3.2 provides an example of each dimension of good governance applied to the board of directors for a golf and country club and to an international sport federation.

Many sport federations in the European Union (EU) have signed a good governance declaration pledge in which they agree to adhere to principles of integrity, accountability, transparency, democracy, and participation and inclusivity (EUsport, 2018). The European Parliament (2021) published a sport policy report in which a segment on good governance and integrity addressed the following:

• Stakeholder representation in decision-making bodies
• Implementation of measures supporting diversity and inclusion
• Promotion and protection of the rights of athletes
• Promotion of collective bargaining, transparency, accountability, and other principles of good governance

The report also acknowledged a need for regulating activities and fighting corruption, including illegal gambling, money laundering, and predatory practices against minors (European Parliament, 2021). Table 3.3 identifies the Council of Europe’s (n.d.) 12 principles of good governance, which were endorsed by its committee of ministers, the decision-making body. While these principles identified by the Council of Europe are intended as a general guide for local governments, they also apply to oversight of sport organizations and events. The table also describes conditions in a sport setting where the principle has been ignored.

The examples demonstrate how individuals in a position of authority can fail to act in accordance with principles of good governance (see Governance in Action 3.1).

More Excerpts From Governance in Sport-2nd Edition

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