The issue of politics in sports organisations is something that I’d love to see disappear.
Issues of influence and interference can occur at all levels of a sports organisation. Chairpersons, CEOs, Directors, Coaches, even at some levels of staff. They get involved in over-arching politics of the sport in general, clubbing together to effect change at the governance level and interfering with rules and regulations that have huge consequences for everyone else in the sport.
Political issues within sports organisations are extremely hard to address because, by their very nature, they create factions which are hard to break down.
An Example
As an example, you see it all the time when new staff are introduced throughout the organisation; they immediately seek to bring in some of their own circle, to have some of their own network around them. The issue in terms of politics is that these new people are introduced to insulate the new hire and provide them with the political clout they need to introduce their own mandate. They have created their own faction which serves to protect itself at all costs.
When this occurs you often see one faction attack another. A perfect example at board level in elite sports is that, when a new board is elected or put in place, they immediately go after the Coach, the CEO and on occasions some of the executive management.
A Breakdown
To break down the faction that the Coach controls, the Coach and his/her staff have to be removed, only for a new Coach and all new staff to arrive again, creating the same problem in a twisted cycle. And it’s not just Coaches; this can happen in marketing departments, facilities management, and at the board of directors’ level, too. When this happens, the CEO is too busy looking after their own back whilst at the same time trying to control the various factions, and they end up not focusing on their core task, i.e., running the organisation!
Personalities also create political division. Strong personalities can come into sports organisations and put themselves before the good of the organisation. What’s more, their passionate persuasion wins them fans in the form of staff at the Club, which helps create yet another faction that is operating for its own self-interests.
Lack of Focus Creates a Knock-on Effect
When a club or organisation cannot focus on decision making and there’s no strategy due to political infighting and issues, it creates a huge knock-on effect. The most noticeable and financially detrimental is the loss of sponsorship and even ticket sales. From there, it’s only a skip and a jump and you lose membership, staff, even suppliers. When you can’t attract new staff or players or even sponsors, you are in trouble. Maybe in real danger of going out of business!
It seems the successful ones manage the politics better, but does winning cover the cracks?