Sport Governance in Pakistan: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

The study aimed to develop an understanding on the good governance practices in Pakistans Sports System, with the objectives to identify the underlying challenges & opportunities and develop a good governance framework for incorporation in Pakistans National Sports Policy. The research questions were set strategically to measure the current level of Good Governance, major challenges and betterment opportunities, and best practices that constitutes Good Governance Framework. The explanatory sequential design of mixed method approach was deemed most appropriate and hence the research was conducted in two phases. The first phase used self-assessment questionnaire to measure the current level of ethical governance practices and identify the challenges & opportunities. The second phase used inductive grounded theory and analyzed the public documents and national sports policies of Pakistan, Australia and Canada to develop a framework of good governance practices. The analysis demonstrated that the level of good governance is not satisfactory and besides being on the lower side, it is also heterogeneous in implementation. In addition, it was revealed that a huge disparity among the NSOs is prevailing regarding their roles and responsibilities in Pakistan sports system. The study identified the following good governance practices through the analysis of policy documents: 1.Democracy, 2.Board Process, 3.Solidarity, 4.Board Composition, Roles and Powers, 5.Stakeholder Relationship and Reporting, 6.Ethical and responsible decision-making, 7.Commitment to vision, mission, values and guided by strategic plan, 8.Effective Financial Control, 9.Focused on Human Resources, 10.Transparent and Accountable for Outcomes and Results.