Abstract

The governance of world sport is the responsibility of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and international sport federations (IF) (see Chappelet and Kübler-Mabbott 2008, on the IOC, and Arcioni and Bayle 2012, on IFs). These bodies are also the owners of the largest events (Olympic Games for the IOC and world championships for the IFs), which form the heart of their economic model. Within this international system of private associative bodies, sport federations oversee the organisation, promotion, and development of one or more disciplines. Nevertheless, changes in their environment and sport’s increased importance in society have led federations to diversify their activities into leisure sport and professional sport, and to organise new types of events.