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Managing Sport and Leisure
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Does corruption in sport corrode social capital? An
experimental study in the United Kingdom
Argyro Elisavet Manoli, Comille Bandura, Paul Downward & Bram Constandt
To cite this article: Argyro Elisavet Manoli, Comille Bandura, Paul Downward & Bram Constandt
(2022): Does corruption in sport corrode social capital? An experimental study in the United
Kingdom, Managing Sport and Leisure, DOI: 10.1080/23750472.2022.2134913
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2022.2134913
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa
UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
Group
Published online: 18 Oct 2022.
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Does corruption in sport corrode social capital? An experimental
study in the United Kingdom
Argyro Elisavet Manoli
a
, Comille Bandura
a
, Paul Downward
a
and Bram Constandt
b
a
School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK;
b
Department of
Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
ABSTRACT
Research question: UK government policy stresses the positive role that sport
has on social outcomes and in the formation of social capital. However, while
recognising the presence of corruption in sport, policy documentation barely
considers the impact that corruption might have on social capital. This raises
the following question, if sport can help build social capital, then does
corruption in sport corrode it?
Research methods: To answer this question, we drew on an experimental
study design and the perceptions of 678 UK residents.
Results and findings: The results indicate that being confronted with a sport
corruption case corrodes people’s trust in sport organisations, as well as their
trust in their neighbourhood, though not other elements of social capital, such
as personal relationships and civic engagement. However, the more people
engage with sport, the less their trust is affected.
Implications: The corrosion of trust indicates that corruption in sport can
damage social capital. However, given that this erosion is ameliorated
through a greater engagement with sport, sports organisations should
engage in early robust challenges to any lack of integrity to prevent it from
becoming embedded.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 12 May 2022
Accepted 7 October 2022
KEYWORDS
Sport corruption; sport
integrity; sport engagement;
sport participation;
perceptions of corruption
1. Introduction
Research suggests that sport can have a key
role in developing and sustaining a shared
culture and identity within a community, bring-
ing people of different backgrounds and social
strata together, and cultivating social capital
among them (Kumar et al., 2018; Skinner
et al., 2008). Ample studies exist that support
the notion of sport as a tool for social and com-
munity development. As such, engagement
with sport through participation, volunteering,
and spectatorship is believed to assist in social
inclusion and cohesion (Burnett, 2006; Darcy
et al., 2014; Perks, 2007). Supported by this
research, the UK Government sports policy
argues that sport is an area in need of invest-
ment and promotion, in order to assist in build-
ing social capital and deliver social outcomes
(Her Majesty’s Government, 2015). Hence, it is
argued that engagement with sport should be
actively encouraged, as “the evidence for
sport’s impact on building social capital …is
well-established”, in the Government’s Sporting
Future policy (Her Majesty’s Government, 2015,
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://
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work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
CONTACT Argyro Elisavet Manoli E.A.Manoli@lboro.ac.uk School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough Uni-
versity, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE
https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2022.2134913
p. 72). It is worth noting that the same policy
neglects the rather darker side of sport which
links it with negative social outcomes, such as
aggression and exclusion (Coakley, 2015). At
the same time, while the same policy recog-
nises the presence of corruption in sport, it
does not consider the possibility that erosion
of social capital might be possible if adverse
sporting experiences such as corruption occur.
Outside of sport, at a macro level, public
policy research argues that corruption can
harm the political stability, economic develop-
ment, and administrative efficiency of govern-
ments, having long-term damaging effects on
governance internationally (Ko & Samajdar,
2010; Kubbe, 2014) as well as on income and
employment (Rose, 2018). Likewise, beyond its
economic effects, corruption is also widely
recognised for its harmful repercussions on
society and morality, with noteworthy socio-
logical effects also highlighted by research
(Brass et al., 1998; Judge et al., 2011).
At the meso level, corruption can undermine
organisational integrity and lead to business
misconduct, though this can be mediated by
the form of authority that leaders of organis-
ations adopt (Aguilera & Vadera, 2008). Organis-
ational corruption can shape the moral
disengagement of the organisation’s actors,
reinforcing deviant behaviour (Hystad, Mearns,
& Eid, 2014). At the micro level, it follows that
corruption can have a negative effect on indi-
vidual intrinsic honesty, which is a key
element of the smooth functioning of society
(Banerjee, 2016; Gachter & Schulz, 2016). Cor-
ruption can also directly impact people’s happi-
ness (Wu & Zhu, 2016) and their trust in
governmental institutions (Morris & Klesner,
2010).
In line with this scholarly inquiry, corruption
in sport has been attracting research interest
because of its latent but persistent presence,
with corruption potentially considered to be
“normal”or inevitable due to the fast and
uncontrollable development and commerciali-
sation of the sport industry, as well as the lax
structure and control mechanisms within it
(Manoli et al., 2019; Manoli et al., 2020).
Ranging from individuals’transgressions, to
organisation-wide scandals, corruption has
been identified in numerous sports, including
commercialised, professional and elite contexts,
such as football (Yilmaz et al., 2019), baseball
(Lin & Chen, 2015) and cycling (Schneider,
2006), as well as grassroots, non-commercia-
lised and amateur sports, like chess (Solberg &
Olderøien, 2018), netball (Kihl et al., 2020), and
grassroots football, tennis, and badminton
(Nowy & Breuer, 2017; Van Der Hoeven et al.,
2020).
While the full extent of corruption in sport is
yet to be determined (Gardiner et al., 2017; Kihl
et al., 2020), the potential negative effects of
corruption in sport on itself, and also on wider
society might be significant (Kihl, 2018; Kihl
et al., 2008; Kihl & Richardson, 2009). Indeed,
even though it is suggested that corruption
can harm sport and their commercial demand,
leading potentially to the complete collapse
of leagues if they are found to be corrupt (Hill,
2010), the nature and extent of the negative
effects corruption can cause on sport and
society are unexplored, in particular on the
micro or individual level (Kihl, 2018). Taking
this into consideration, and bearing in mind
the wider UK public policy argument of sport
as a means of delivering social outcomes, we
pose the following question: “does exposure
to corruption in sport corrode an individual’s
social capital?”The present study aims to
explore this question in the UK by adopting
an experimental design investigating whether
exposure to instances of corruption in sport
influence subjects’expression of social capital.
The novel focus of the paper lies on the ques-
tion of individuals’social capital after their
exposure to instances of corruption in sport,
by also exploring a wide spectrum of subjects,
including those who are not taking part in
sport as volunteers or direct participants,
which is the main context of much research.
This, in turn, allows for the inclusion of
2A. E. MANOLI ET AL.
members of society who experience sport more
passively, and who together with sport partici-
pants and volunteers are more representative
of the wider population to which policy is
aimed.
The article is structured as follows: first, the
policy context that we draw upon is presented.
The theoretical foundations of sport and social
capital and corruption in sport are then exam-
ined. Following this, the methodology of our
study and the data analysis conducted is dis-
cussed, alongside the findings of our research.
Finally, the discussion and implications of our
study are outlined, followed by a presentation
of the study’s limitations and opportunities for
future research.
2. Context and theoretical
foundations
2.1. The UK policy context
As noted by Kumar, Downward, Hodgkinson,
and Manoli (2019) sport acted as part of social
welfare policy immediately after the Second
World War, becoming encapsulated in the Euro-
pean “Sport for all”policy initiative in the 1970s.
This approach to policy embraced direct gov-
ernment intervention in the provision of sport
from developing facilities through to develop-
ing the relevant policy organisations to deliver
sport. By the 1980s, however, a strong neolib-
eral economic desire from conservative govern-
ments led to cuts in public spending, the
deregulation of public leisure services and the
encouragement of private sector initiatives
(Gratton & Taylor, 1991; Houlihan, 1997;
Henry, 1993). Some changes to public invest-
ment in sport occurred in the 1990s, under
the Department of National Heritage strategy
“Raising the Game”from the John Major Gov-
ernment (Houlihan, 1997), but recent sports
policy in the UK found its New Public Manage-
ment expression with the arrival of Tony Blair’s
New Labour Government in 1997. Its sport strat-
egy document “Game Plan”(Department for
Culture, Media and Sport/Strategy Unit
(DCMS/SU), 2002 emphasised a twin-track strat-
egy to deliver elite sport success as well as
increase grass-roots participation, but in this
market provision of sport was not emphasised
unless there was a need to correct for market
failures that delivered relevant outcomes for
society (Green, 2009; Grix & Carmichael, 2012;
Houlihan, 2011). The current strategy, devel-
oped by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat
(David Cameron-Nick Clegg) coalition govern-
ment, and yet to be fully re-examined by Boris
Johnson and successor Government, reinforces
the existing focus by emphasising the need for
sports organisations to achieve personal, social
and economic outcomes to receive public
funding. However, other organisations are
equally eligible to receive such funding. Conse-
quently, the strategy argues that:
we will be much bolder in harnessing the
potential of sport for social good. In delivering
this Strategy we will change sport funding so it
is no longer merely about how many people
take part, but rather how sport can have a
meaningful and measurable impact on
improving people’s lives …(such as)
…..improving community cohesion. (Her
Majesty’s Government, 2015,p.6)
Moreover, as well as seeking to deliver elite
sports success the strategy also emphasises a
need to
…stand up for the integrity of the sports we
love. We should be proud of the role that
British journalists have played in lifting the
veil on corruption and poor governance at
the heart of some of the biggest international
sports. (Cabinet Office, 2015, p.7)
Despite these pronouncements, however, the
links between corruption, engagement with
sport and its social impacts are not addressed.
2.2. Sport and social capital
2.2.1. Concepts
Social capital can be viewed as a wide-encom-
passing term and concept, covering the
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 3
institutions, relations, behaviours, and values
that guide the connections between individ-
uals, while contributing to both financial and
social development (Adam & Rončević,2003;
Adler & Kwon, 2002; Hooghe & Stolle, 2003).
Social capital theory typically identifies its
roots in the works of Bourdieu, Coleman and
Putnam. Bourdieu (1986) suggests that social
capital reflects durable networks of relation-
ships that are developed by elites in society to
the exclusion of others, while Coleman (1988,
1994) presents social capital as possibly accessi-
ble to all as a public good, through family and
community relationships, as well as formal
organisations. Likewise, drawing on Coleman
(Scrivens & Smith, 2013), Putnam (1993;2000)
views social capital as applicable across
society, for example through the development
of trust, while suggesting that different organis-
ations and social ties may affect social capital
differently. As Putnam (1993, p. 11) argues:
“social capital refers to features of social organ-
ization, such as networks, norms, and trust, that
facilitate coordination and cooperation for
mutual benefit”. Putnam’s(1993) conceptualis-
ation of social capital distinguishes between
bridging and bonding capital, with the former
associated with (horizontally) linking similar
people, and the latter (vertically) linking
different people and groups. Through this
detailed examination, Putnam offers a frame-
work for appreciating how trust between indi-
viduals, and reciprocal customs and norms
contribute to connectivity through civic
engagement. Putnam’s and by implication
Coleman’s approach to social capital is used
to inform the present research, as they shape
the basis of current UK measurement, which is
used to inform this study as well (Harper &
Kelly, 2003; Scrivens & Smith, 2013). For
example, the current measurement of social
capital in the UK by the Office for National Stat-
istics (ONS) makes a distinction between the
individual and collective levels by which social
capital exists, and the structures and resources
that follow from them. Thus, at the individual
level, the “structure”of personal relationships
develops the resources of an individual’s
social network. At the collective level, the struc-
ture of civic engagement develops the resource
of trust and cooperative norms (ONS, 2017; Scri-
vens & Smith, 2013). Such individual and collec-
tive resources could be identified, for example,
by the engagement of individuals with their
relatives, and the trust expressed in others
and organisations, respectively.
2.2.2. Formation
There are several ways engagement with sport
can contribute to social capital. First, sport can
take the form of social activity, and in fact,
being a member of sport clubs or sport
groups is considered to be one of the
defining features of civic engagement and
social capital identified by Putnam (2000).
Second, sport can help develop sometimes
extensive personal networks, incorporating a
number of individuals. For example, networks
of the parents of a small sport team, the fans
of a sport club and volunteers involved in
organising a sport event (Hoye & Nicholson,
2012; Nicholson & Hoye, 2008). Third, sport
can be of great significance in terms of develop-
ing a shared identity among people and gener-
ating a bond among dissimilar individuals who
are supporters of a sport team on a regional
and national scale (Palmer & Thompson,
2007). Each of these dimensions has been
examined in existing research, as we discuss
below.
There is a large literature examining partici-
pation in sport and the development of social
capital through engagement in sports clubs
(Becker & Häring, 2012; Pawlowski et al., 2018;
Ulseth, 2004). For example, some empirical
studies have examined whether sports partici-
pation helps to establish new or strengthen
existing relationships. Becker and Häring
(2012) found that participation in sport is
associated with having more and stronger per-
sonal relationships –measured by the number
of friends, frequency of contact with friends,
4A. E. MANOLI ET AL.
and the number of social contexts in which
individuals take part. “Perceived support by
friends in difficult times”was a strong indicator
of stronger relationships/friendships of children
participating in sports groups in another study
(Pawlowski et al., 2018).
The relationship between sport participation
and social support networks has also been
examined. Research has shown that sport par-
ticipation positively impacts the willingness to
help friends, neighbours, or relatives
(Schüttoffet al., 2018). Positive associations
between sport participation and civic engage-
ment can be also found in the existing literature
(e.g. Delaney & Keaney, 2005). The study by
Schüttoffet al. (2018) revealed additionally
that sports participation during adolescence
was related to civic involvement in a citizens’
group, political party, or local government
depending on the type of sport and
organisation.
In contrast, research examining the relation-
ship between sport participation, trust and
cooperative norms has resulted in some ambig-
uous findings. For example, a positive associ-
ation has been shown between being a
member of a voluntary sports organisation
and generalised trust, whereas the association
was weaker compared to voluntary organis-
ations in general (Seippel, 2006). However, indi-
viduals involved in physical activity were more
likely to exhibit trust and prosocial behaviour
(Di Bartolomeo & Papa, 2017).
Likewise, there has been a widespread exam-
ination of the role of volunteering in sport and
the level of social capital that is developed in
these communities (Hoye & Nicholson, 2012;
Morgan, 2013; Nicholson & Hoye, 2008).
Indeed, it has long been suggested that a
drop in levels of sport participation and volun-
teerism could be the sign of declining social
capital (Putnam, 1993).
Finally, there has been long-standing
research investigating fans’spectatorship and
social capital in sport (Palmer & Thompson,
2007; Wann et al., 2015). What is, perhaps, less
well-researched is the potential connection
between a wider experience of sport and the
development of social capital and yet this is
potentially an important channel of develop-
ment. Thus, Phua (2012) identifies the possi-
bility of the formation of social capital
through the social networking of fans, and
Collins and Heere (2018) show how shared
experiences from groups of fans that are geo-
graphically remote from their team generate
social capital. It is this wider experience of and
engagement with sport that is investigated in
this paper, which studies a wide spectrum of
subjects, including those who are not actively
engaged in sport participation or consumption,
in order to explore a more representative
sample of the wider population to which
policy is aimed.
2.3. Perceptions of corruption in sport
While corruption is widely acknowledged in the
public domain, including the policy documents
discussed above, it lacks a universally accepted
definition (Rose, 2018). Despite this lack of con-
ceptual consensus, corruption is most often
defined as “the abuse of entrusted power for
private gain”(Transparency International,
2022). Due to the term’s“umbrella”nature, cor-
ruption in relation to sport has been used to
refer to a number of often dissimilar actions
capturing both playing and non-playing
related actions, such as match-fixing, doping,
athlete transgressions, tax evasion, and
bribery in the context of sport alone (Andreff,
2018; Gardiner, 2018; Gorse & Chadwick, 2010;
Sassenberg et al., 2018; Sato et al., 2015).
Among the various antecedents and results
of corruption that have been explored, trust
appears to have gained particular attention,
since it is argued that it can be both the
cause and the consequence of corruption,
especially in the context of politics (Morris &
Klesner, 2010). Corruption is indeed viewed as
a breach of trust (when one abuses their
“entrusted power for their personal gain”as
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 5
the definition argues –Transparency Inter-
national, 2022) and as such the mutual and cir-
cular relationship between the two can be
highlighted (Gardiner, 2018). In simple terms,
as Uslaner (2004) argues, the lack of trust
towards institutions “permits”for corruption
to exist, while corruption itself feeds into a
lack of trust towards institutions. However,
when one is to examine corruption and social
capital on a wider scale, the relationship
between the two is not always clear, with
ambiguous findings shown in existing studies
(e.g. Banerjee (2016) argues that corruption
decays social capital while Bjørnskov (2003)
does not confirm causality). To the best of our
knowledge, such an exploration of the relation-
ship between corruption and social capital in
the context of sport has not been attempted
to this day prior to our study.
At the same time, as discussed in the intro-
duction, corruption is a social phenomenon,
subjectively experienced, shaped and
influenced by each individual, within the
socio-economic environment in which they
operate (Masters & Graycar, 2015). As Heiden-
heimer (2002) and Charron (2016) argue, there-
fore, perceptions around the presence and
severity of corruption can vary depending on
external influencing factors, such as media
attention, and the wider social and cultural
norms of their environment. Heidenheimer
(2002) uses the example of bribery in Southern
Italian politics to highlight this argument, while
a similar example in the context of sport would
be pre-determined draws in chess, as discussed
by Zaksaite (2013). In her study, the author
explains that a pre-determined draw in chess
is considered common practice among
players, especially in the beginning of stressful
tournaments. As a result, what would be other-
wise considered an act of corruption, the
manipulation of a sport event or competition,
is instead viewed as tolerable within this par-
ticular context.
Perceptions of corruption have thus been
studied by acknowledging their subjectivity
both within and beyond sport (Kulczycki & Koe-
nigstorfer, 2016). Heidenheimer (2002) distin-
guished between black, grey, and white
corruption to better conceptualise its perceived
severity. His framework suggests that the per-
ceived severity of an act depends on the
element of punishability, with a direct analogy
noted between the two. As such, an act is
viewed as black corruption when the majority
of people would be in favour of the corruptor’s
punishment, white when the majority of people
would be against their punishment, and grey
when people would be split between the two
decisions regarding the corruptors’punishabil-
ity. Taking Heidenheimer’s(2002) suggestion
that corruption can be perceived differently
into consideration in this study, one could
argue that the potential adverse effects that
corruption can have on society might also
differ. In particular, in the context of sport
where corruption can manifest in widely
different forms, ranging from a minor individual
transgression (Lee et al., 2016; Wilson et al.,
2008), to severe organisation-wide malpractice
(Boudreaux et al., 2016; Mason et al., 2006),
any potential respective effects to social
capital that this study aims to explore might
indeed also vary.
Overall thus, this study aims to explore how
different forms of manifested corruption, per-
ceived at different levels of severity, might
influence individuals’social capital, as
measured by the ONS. As such a wide spectrum
of subjects, including those who are not
actively engaged in sport participation or con-
sumption, are studied, aiming for the explora-
tion of a more representative sample of the
wider population to which policy is aimed.
3. Methods
3.1. Sample and procedure
Participants were 678 (males = 286, females =
391, transgender = 1) British nationals aged
between 18 and 71 who were invited to
6A. E. MANOLI ET AL.
participate in an online survey designed to
examine their perceptions of current issues
related to sport and society. Following ethical
approval to conduct this study from an inde-
pendent ethics committee (affiliated with the
university of the first author), data were col-
lected between 31 March 2018 and 19 April
2018. Participants were recruited through
social media, with the help of a survey
company which was able to post a link to the
survey on their social media accounts (Twitter
and Facebook) where a very large number of
potential participants who met the criterion
set in the study (i.e. being British nationals
over 18 years old) could access it.
3.2. Study design
This study employed an experimental design.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of
four groups. First, participants were asked to
complete a short questionnaire based on the
ONS questions on social capital, to gauge
their levels of personal relationships and social
support networks, collectively measured
through the frequency of communication with
relatives; civic engagement and trust, measured
by the ability to have an influence on their local
area; and trust in others and sports organis-
ations. The questions used in our study were
those developed and tested by the ONS
(2017), which are also used by them on a
regular basis to measure social capital in the
UK. The questions used by the ONS were
selected in order to ensure their validity and
reliability to measure social capital in UK sub-
jects. The items used in our study were: “How
often do you communicate with relatives?”
(personal relationships, Likert scale, 8 items,
ranging from “every day”to “once a year”);
“Would you say that most of the people in
your neighbourhood can be trusted (trust,
Likert scale, 4 items, ranging from ‘most of the
people can be trusted’to ‘no-one can be
trusted’)?”; and “I can influence decision at my
local area”(influence, Likert scale, 5 items,
ranging from “totally agree”to “totally dis-
agree”). Finally, in line with our study’s focus
and the relevant ONS question on trust in gov-
ernment organisations, we included the ques-
tion “Do you trust sport governing bodies/
organisations?”to reflect on participants’trust
towards sport and the organisations that
govern it (Likert scale, 5 items, ranging from
“always”to “never”).
Second, depending on their group member-
ship, participants were exposed to one of three
widely published media sport articles focusing
on incidents of corruption in sport in the UK.
This was based on pilot testing (n= 13) and in
accordance with Heidenheimer’s(2002) argu-
ment that perceptions of manifested corruption
differ depending on their perceived severity.
The cases are (in order of decreasing perceived
severity) the alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in
the Football Association –n= 167 (Taylor,
2016), the cover-up and perpetuation of bully-
ing and a culture of fear in British Cycling –n
= 170 (Roan, 2017) and the involvement in a
betting activity from Sutton United’s FC goal-
keeper, Wayne Shaw –n= 170 (Aarons, 2017).
A summary of each of the cases presented to
the participants in the three groups is provided
in the Appendix. The participants were pre-
sented with a short news article detailing each
case (depending on the group in which they
were in) with no additional questions regarding
the cases asked. The fourth group –the control
group (n= 171) was not exposed to any stimu-
lus. Third, after their exposure to their respect-
ive sport corruption case, all participants were
instructed to complete the same ONS questions
on social capital and trust in sport organisations
again. In the case of the control group, this
involved them filling in the same questions
again without exposing them to any stimulus.
3.3. Data analyses
All analyses were executed with SPSS 26 soft-
ware (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive stat-
istics were performed for the total sample and
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 7
for the four subsamples separately. To investi-
gate how the perceived severity of integrity
affects social capital and trust in sport organis-
ations, three steps were taken. A similar
approach has been used in previous sport
integrity research (Constandt et al., 2019).
First, we considered the evolution in social
capital scores between both measurement
points for the different social capital items by
running repeated measurements ANOVA’s.
Within these repeated measurements ANOVA’s,
the treatment group operated as a between-sub-
jects factor. Repeated measurements ANOVA’s
were also run for the control group to enable
comparisons between exposure and non-
exposure to a sport corruption case.
Second, we calculated a new variable, contain-
ing the residual change scores for these social
capital items, by regressing the scores of the
second measurement on those of the first
measurement. These residual change scores are
preferred over simple change scores, as they
decrease the likelihood of auto-correlated error
and regression to the mean effects (Van Dyck,
Cardon, & De Bourdeaudhuij, 2017).
Third, multiple linear regression analyses
were run to consider the potential influence
of socio-demographic variables on the
changes in social capital items. More precisely,
the residual change scores for the social
capital items operated as the dependent vari-
able, whereas the socio-demographic variables
gender (dummy variable), number of adults in
one’s household, number of children in one’s
household, frequency of active sport or physical
activity participation, and frequency of passive
sport consumption (e.g. watching on television,
attending matches, buying merchandising)
functioned as independent variables.
4. Results
4.1. Descriptive statistics
Table 1 provides detailed information concern-
ing the socio-demographic constitution of this
study’s sample (n= 867). As illustrated in this
table, the total sample and all subsamples (i.e.
the three treatment groups and one control
group) were heterogeneous in terms of age,
gender, marital status, employment status,
number of adults in one’s household, number
of children in one’s household, frequency of
sport or physical activity participation, and fre-
quency of passive sport consumption.
As shown in Table 2 –which displays the
descriptive statistics (i.e. mean scores and stan-
dard deviations) for the measured social capital
items –discrete changes in certain elements of
social capital occurred between both measure-
ments. For example, we can see a distinct differ-
ence between the two measurements in the
trust people felt for sport organisations in all
three treatment groups. As presented in Table
2, the cases represented in each intervention
group are (in order of decreasing perceived
severity) the alleged cover-up of sexual abuse
in the Football Association (Taylor, 2016), the
cover-up and perpetuation of bullying and a
culture of fear in British Cycling (Roan, 2017),
and the involvement in a betting activity from
Sutton United’s FC goalkeeper, Wayne Shaw
(Aarons, 2017).
4.2. Repeated measurements ANOVA
Repeated measurements were run for all scale
social capital items as well as for trust in sport
organisations. When it comes to the three treat-
ment groups, a significant negative evolution
(i.e. decreased social capital) was observed for
trust in sport organisations (F(1,429) = 19.91, p
< 0.05,
h
2
p= 0.04), personal relationships with
relatives (F(1,508) = 4.98, p< 0.05,
h
2
p= 0.01),
and trust in one’s neighbourhood (F(1,466) =
12.65, p= 0.00,
h
2
p= 0.03), while no significant
evolution was found for self-perceived
influence on the local area. A moderation
effect of the treatment group –included as an
ordered treatment variable –was only found
for trust in sport organisations (F(2,429) = 3.15,
p= 0.01,
h
2
p= 0.01), indicating that trust in
8A. E. MANOLI ET AL.
Table 1. Socio-demographic constitution sample (n= 678).
Total sample
(n= 678)
Treatment group 1
(n= 167)
Treatment group 2
(n= 170)
Treatment group 3
(n= 170)
Control group
(n= 171)
Age cat.
18–25 50 9 9 14 18
26–35 127 31 24 32 40
36–45 143 32 39 41 31
46–55 122 37 39 27 19
56–65 144 30 35 37 42
≥66 92 28 24 19 21
Gender
Male 286 60 74 77 75
Female 391 107 96 93 95
Trans/X 1 0 0 0 1
Marital status
Single 157 35 40 39 43
Married 336 82 85 83 86
Living with partner 118 32 29 31 26
Separated/divorced 48 10 11 14 13
Widowed 19 8 5 3 3
Employment
(Self) employed 410 105 103 103 99
In education 18 3 2 7 6
Not in education or
employment
72 18 20 17 17
Retired 151 38 37 35 41
Prefer not to say 27 3 8 8 8
# of adults in the
household
1 145 37 37 37 34
2 400 97 105 101 97
38825192123
4 2945812
5 114214
6 10100
7 20110
8 10010
9+ 10001
# of children in the
household
0 465 109 128 107 121
1 103 21 17 38 27
28229211616
3 227465
4 61032
Frequency of sport/PA
engagement
123 31 28 31 33
Every day At least 197 46 58 43 50
twice a week At least 124 35 30 32 27
once a week Fortnightly 28 9 9 3 7
Once a month 36 5 7 14 10
Once every three months 13 5 2 4 2
Once every six months 6 2 1 1 2
Once a year 12 4 0 5 3
Never 138 30 34 37 37
Frequency of passive sport
consumption
57 11 15 17 14
Every day At least 139 35 34 33 37
twice a week At least 129 39 26 37 27
once a week Fortnightly 51 11 11 14 15
Once a month 67 20 14 14 19
Once every three months 41 7 11 15 8
Once every six months 31 6 9 9 7
Once a year 35 10 9 4 12
Never 127 28 40 27 32
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 9
sport organisations corrodes more strongly
depending on the severity of the corruption
case being confronted with. Regarding the
control group, a significant negative evolution
was examined for personal relationships with
relatives (F(1,171) = 8.23, p< 0.01,
h
2
p=0.05),
whereas no significant evolutions were
exposed for trust in sport organisations, trust
in one’s neighbourhood, and self-perceived
influence on the local area.
4.3. Regression analyses
Residual change scores were calculated for the
treatment groups for the two social capital
items (i.e. trust in sport organisations and
trust in one’s neighbourhood) that evolved in
a significantly distinct way compared to our
control group. Subsequently, two multiple
linear regression analyses were run to target
potential explanations for respectively the
decreased trust in sport organisations and for
the decreased trust in one’s neighbourhood.
The first regression analysis showed a small
yet significant influence of the frequency of
passive sport consumption (β= 0.05; p= 0.02)
on trust in sport organisations, indicating
there is a positive link between engaging less
with sport and decreased trust in sport organis-
ations in our three treatment groups. The
second regression analysis did not yield any sig-
nificant results that could help explain the
decreased trust in one’s neighbourhood.
5. Discussion and implications
This study explored the potential effects of
exposure to different (severities of) corruption
cases on social capital in the UK. The results
indicate a general lack of evolution between
the two measurements (before and after the
exposure to a corruption case), suggesting
that no changes to levels of personal relation-
ships through social support networks, and
civic engagement appear after the exposure
to corruption. As a result, it could be suggested
Table 2. Descriptive statistics social capital items.
Intervention group #1 Intervention group #2 Intervention group #3 Control group
First
measurement
Second
measurement
First
measurement
Second
measurement
First
measurement
Second
measurement
First
measurement
Second
measurement
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Trust in sport organisations 2.99 1.05 3.37 1.02 3.03 1.10 3.20 1.04 3.11 1.06 3.20 1.10 2.96 1.15 3.09 1.14
Frequency communication with relatives 2.18 1.70 2.17 1.64 2.14 1.54 2.19 1.63 2.22 1.53 2.27 1.55 2.27 1.63 2.27 1.64
Trust in one’s neighbourhood 1.84 0.81 1.94 0.86 1.83 0.84 1.88 0.87 2.01 0.92 2.03 0.94 1.93 0.87 2.01 0.88
Self-perceived influence on the local area 3.07 1.02 3.09 0.99 3.19 0.97 3.22 1.03 3.10 1.12 2.95 1.16 3.15 1.05 3.18 1.06
Note. The mean scores for all four variables should be interpreted as follows: the higher the mean scores, the lower respondents’trust in sport organisations, their frequency of communication
with relatives, their trust in their neighbourhood, and their self-perceived influence on the local area.
10 A. E. MANOLI ET AL.
that corruption in sport, regardless of its per-
ceived severity, does not seem to affect these
elements of social capital. However, the same
conclusion cannot be drawn when considering
the elements of trust. In contrast, the results
indicate that corruption in sport can influence
the trust people to feel towards sport organis-
ations and their own neighbourhood. In these
cases, the findings suggest that trust is indeed
corroded due to corruption in sport, with the
participants that were exposed to incidents of
corruption showing decreased levels of trust
after the exposure, unlike the unaffected trust
levels of the participants who were not. This
leads to the following observations and theor-
etical and practical implications.
First, corruption in sport can corrode
people’s trust towards sport organisations and
thus the key stakeholders of the sport ecosys-
tem, something that could have long-lasting
effects on sport. As such, it could be argued
that due to the increasing attention that
media have been placing on communicating
instances of corruption in sport, and the emer-
gence of new incidents of corruption in sport,
people’s exposure to such instances will con-
tinue to occur. This could raise long-standing
problems for the credibility of the sport ecosys-
tem and its ability to deliver sport to society,
suggesting that a transparent, prompt and
open response to corruption is needed by the
key sport organisations involved. In other
words, the findings of the study further stress
the managerial implications that corruption in
sport can have towards the key actors in the
sport ecosystem, highlighting the need for
them to act and respond.
Second, an analogy appears to exist
between the perceived severity of corruption
in sport and the corrosion of people’s trust
towards sport organisations. As such, the
higher the perceived severity, or greyness
(according to Heidenheimer, 2002), of corrup-
tion, the higher the decrease in the trust
people felt towards sport organisations, with
higher levels of corrosion in the trust of the
individuals exposed to the corruption case of
high perceived severity, moderate levels of cor-
rosion in the trust of those exposed to the case
of moderate perceived severity, and lower
levels of corrosion in the trust of those
exposed to the case of low perceived severity.
This finding aligns with previous research on
the effects of the perceived severity of corrup-
tion on people’s perceptions (Manoli &
Bandura, 2020), indicating that the perceived
severity of corruption which is often over-
looked, is to be taken into consideration in
future studies. In practical terms, this suggests
that when cases of severe corruption claims
are raised it is important that commensurately
strong responses are required through, for
example, independent investigation, scrutiny
and suggested resolution, in order to poten-
tially limit or mitigate the negative repercus-
sions they have on people’s trust.
Third, the results suggest that the urgency
for, an incentive or mechanisms to bring
about change may not exist within sport. The
regression results indicated that greater
engagement with sport reduced the decrease
in trust following exposure to corruption. In
other words, according to the findings, the
fewer people engage with sport, the more
their trust towards sport organisations
decreased following the exposure, while the
higher their engagement with sport was, the
less their trust was affected. This would echo
that as it has long been argued, sport can be
highly engaging and captivating to its audi-
ence, capturing and maintaining people’s inter-
est and generating strong emotions in its fans.
This engagement, however, as the findings
show, could potentially make sport fans more
forgiving of corruption in sport, compelling
them to turn a blind eye and ignore incidents
of corruption in sport, limiting any effects on
their feelings towards the organisations that
govern it. In other words, by being lenient
with sport organisations in light of corruption
in sport, people who engage with sport give it
little reason or motivation to fight corruption
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 11
and thus improve, sending the wrong message
to sport administrators and policy-makers, and
thus potentially damaging its own future. At
the same time, in practical terms, this means
that key sport organisations may not face
“internal”incentives to fight corruption in
sport, which suggests a need for external inter-
vention and public scrutiny.
In terms of its theoretical implications, these
findings would point towards the idea of sport
fandom as a “veil”of forgiveness or lenience in
terms of corruption in sport, suggesting that
engagement with sport and sport fandom
could assist in perpetuating corruption in
sport. This study’sfindings on the corrosion of
trust in sport organisations due to sport corrup-
tion suggest that the more people engage with
sport, the fewer effects are noted in regard to
their trust towards sport organisations, hence
the above implied “veil”of forgiveness or leni-
ence of sport fans. While this finding aligns
with previous studies arguing that fans do not
really care about whether or not the leaders
(e.g. coaches, managers, board members) of
their favourite football club engage in ethical
behaviour (Constandt et al., 2020), it also con-
tradicts with studies highlighting the more
negative attitude of highly involved supporters
when compared to the attitude of low involve-
ment supporters in the case of athlete trans-
gressions (Sato et al., 2015). In this line, the
findings would also contradict recent studies
suggesting that ambi-fans, individuals who sim-
ultaneously follow and support two or more
teams in one sport including teams that are
potential rivals, should be the main focus of
sport teams, since unlike highly identified
fans, they tend to remain committed to teams
despite their involvement in corruption (Sun
et al., 2021). These mixed results on the
impact of corruption in sport in relation to
fandom, suggest that more work is required
to deepen our understanding of the exact
nature and extent of the consequences of cor-
ruption in sport and the role that sport
fandom can play within it, which could have
tangible contributions on the way in which
sport is governed.
A result worthy of further discussion is the
finding that the effects of corruption in sport
do not seem to be contained within the sport
ecosystem. The fact that people’s trust in their
neighbourhood decreases due to the existence
of corruption in sport would suggest that the
widely praised role that sport can play in
society can be affected by a lack of integrity.
This finding contradicts Manoli, Bandura, and
Downward’s(2020) argument that corruption
in sport harms only sport itself, suggesting
that a spill-over effect might, in fact, exist
beyond sport and into the wider society. This
suggests that whilse sport is often presented
as a social “glue”with the potential to generate
social good (Burnett, 2006; Darcy et al., 2014;
Skinner et al., 2008), its role can, in fact,
deviate from this and even result in the oppo-
site effect, damaging or corroding the trust
people feel beyond sport. This, in turn, raises
questions about the continuous positive
emphasis placed by public policy on the pro-
motion of sport and the subsequent investment
this emphasis has been paired with, especially
in countries like the UK (Her Majesty’s Govern-
ment, 2015). At the same time, it highlights
the fact that public policy has neglected to cri-
tically reflect on the dark side of sport in their
policy documents and discourse, and the
potentially damaging effects it can have both
within and beyond sport.
6. Limitations and further research
The study’s limitations need to be acknowl-
edged along with suggestions for further
research. First, the focus of this study is the
UK context. As such, the implicit subjective
ethical and cultural norms of the subjects will
shape the way in which the corruption pre-
sented in the cases is perceived, which can, in
turn, affect the potential generalisability of its
findings to different contexts. However,
through this exploratory study, our aim was
12 A. E. MANOLI ET AL.
not to generalise the findings, but to shed light
on whether and how corruption in sport could
affect social capital in the UK, through an
assessment of people’s personal relationships,
social support networks, civic engagement
and trust. Nonetheless the results offer a poten-
tial indication of the impacts from countries
with similar contexts with comparable sport
systems and government policies, while future
research could explore the same question in
similar or less similar contexts. Second, even
though the cases used were widely publicised
corruption cases in the UK, the limited exposure
to them during this experimental study could
have an effect on the responses given by the
participants. Further research and a longitudi-
nal study could also examine whether a
longer exposure to corruption cases of varying
perceived severity could yield similar or
differing results.
Acknowledgements
Although dissemination is encouraged by the funder
they played no part in the study design; in the collec-
tion, analysis and interpretation of data; in the
writing of the report; or in the decision to submit
the article for publication.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
author(s).
Funding
This work was supported by British Academy: [Grant
Number SG171050].
ORCID
Argyro Elisavet Manoli http://orcid.org/0000-0001-
7484-4124
Paul Downward http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6374-
4176
Bram Constandt http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5630-
0745
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Appendix. Instances of corruption in
sport in the UK
The alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Football
Association (Taylor, 2016)
Former professional footballer Andy Woodward
spoke up in 2016 about the abuse he suffered from
one of his coaches when he was 11 years old. The
coach of the footballer accused of sexual abuse had
already spent years in prison and in treatment, after
admitting to charges of sexual offences against
young boys on numerous occasions. The former pro-
fessional footballer argued that the club the coach
was employed by, and the national governing body
of football, the English Football Association, were
aware of the coach’s behaviour and sexual offences
against young boys he coached, and yet they chose
to not act upon it and instead “covered it up”.
Cover-up and perpetuation of bullying and a
culture of fear in British Cycling (Roan, 2017)
A report was made public in 2017, highlighting
the existence of a culture of fear and bullying
within British Cycling. According to the report, this
culture was perpetuated within the governing body
of cycling, since the focus was placed on achieving
success and winning medals in international compe-
titions. As such, it was argued that accusations and
complaints about such behaviour were disregarded
and not addressed. It was also argued that following
external pressures, British Cycling had to address the
report and its findings, while responding to the need
for additional clarity on their practices and the
alleged cover-up of damning accusations of bullying.
Involvement in betting activity from Sutton United’s
FC goalkeeper, Wayne Shaw (Aarons, 2017)
Wayne Shaw was a semi-professional footballer
who played as a goalkeeper for Sutton United FC.
In 2017, during the team’s match against Arsenal
FC, Shaw was seen eating a pie while sitting on the
bench of the team. It was soon revealed that he
was aware that a betting company had made a bet
available on him eating a pie on television and as
such he was investigated and consequently fined
and banned by the Football Association for the poss-
ible breach of rules related to betting.
MANAGING SPORT AND LEISURE 17