Papers by Mathias Schubert
This paper applies simple game theory in order to analyze the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) poli... more This paper applies simple game theory in order to analyze the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) policy, which was fully implemented in the 2013/14 season. By involving budget constraints put on clubs, FFP may lead to unintended or even adverse effects as indicated by some of the obtained results. In particular, the analysis shows that due to being in the situation of a Prisoner’s Dilemma, the clubs have a strong incentive to bypass the new regulations, what results in additional costs both for clubs to hide and UEFA to detect deviant behavior. As these costs might deter small clubs from trying to cheat, this consequently must have negative consequences on the level of competitive balance within a league. However, a positive outcome of FFP might be that clubs become more independent from benefactors or sugar daddies.
UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations represent the most restrictive regulatory interventi... more UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations represent the most restrictive regulatory intervention European club football has ever seen. Put simply, it demands from clubs to operate on the basis of their own football-related incomes. While the policy has attracted considerable attention from the economic and social sciences, very few contributions systematically investigate it from a philosophical-ethical perspective. The present paper fills this research gap by posing questions on FFP in relation to fair play as a normative concept. We draw on sport economic assessments concerning potential outcomes of FFP and argue that the policy should go beyond the mere pragmatic goal of promoting financial sustainability and truly aim for creating a level playing field, otherwise it should not be labeled ‘fair play’. Keywords: Football, regulation, competitive balance, policy
European Journal for Sport and Society, 2016
UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) policy represents a severe regulatory intervention on European c... more UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) policy represents a severe regulatory intervention on European club football competitions. While potential outcomes of the concept have been thoroughly assessed, there is scarcity of research on the genesis and backgrounds behind its implementation. The present paper fills this gap by analysing the discourse in the run up to the passage of FFP. We focus on interpreted practice and context and argue that the rising indebtedness of clubs and their increasing reliance on benefactors were a necessary but not sufficient requirement. Further ingredients imperative for the successful policy development were claims-making activities by influential actors to secure support for their problem perception. Strong discourse coalitions were formed around powerful storylines, such as the interpretation of making debts as “cheating” as well as the notion of traditional sporting values being undermined by financial forces. By detecting such mechanisms of interaction, the study helps to better understand the beliefs and ideologies underpinning the policy. It furthermore identifies discrepancies between public discourse and scholarly debate concerning the problem assessment as well as the proposed solutions and their effectiveness. Additionally, it proposes an improved heuristic for understanding discursive practices which contributes to future investigations of social problems in sport.
In November 2013, local citizens of Munich and the surrounding districts voted in a referendum ag... more In November 2013, local citizens of Munich and the surrounding districts voted in a referendum against a city’s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Since this is but one example of such a failed referendum – others being the ones in Poland, Switzerland, and Austria – it is astonishing that it seems to become common practice to conduct public polls regarding the bid for a mega sport event. The city of Hamburg, for instance, will be the next German city to hold a referendum on its bid for the 2024 Olympic Games in November 2015. Against this backdrop, we introduce the “Arenatheoretical Model” into mega event research and conduct a qualitative content analysis of the media coverage on the Munich referendum. Three nationwide German newspapers were analysed as the model suggests that this coverage has a profound influence on the public opinion in other parts of the country. The aim was to identify arguments brought forward to explain the outcome of the referendum. Besides a number of other issues, such as concerns regarding event legacy and regional matters, major findings stress the significance of a damaged brand image of international sport organisations and “their” events. Based on these insights, a number of implications can be derived for other cities/nations and sport organisations that depend on a favourable public opinion in their efforts to stage a mega sport event.
European Journal of Sport Studies, Mar 14, 2014
This paper applies simple game theory in order to analyze the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) poli... more This paper applies simple game theory in order to analyze the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) policy, which was fully implemented in the 2013/14 season. By involving budget constraints put on clubs, FFP may lead to unintended or even adverse effects as indicated by some of the obtained results. In particular, the analysis shows that due to being in the situation of a Prisoner’s Dilemma, the clubs have a strong incentive to bypass the new regulations, what results in additional costs both for clubs to hide and UEFA to detect deviant behavior. As these costs might deter small clubs from trying to cheat, this consequently must have negative consequences on the level of competitive balance within a league. However, a positive outcome of FFP might be that clubs become more independent from benefactors or sugar daddies.
International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 2015
Against the backdrop of an increasing use of the term ‘doping’ in circumstances other than the cl... more Against the backdrop of an increasing use of the term ‘doping’ in circumstances other than the classical understanding, this theoretic article provides a new and comprehensive inter-disciplinary reflection of the doping concept. The aim is to elaborate a broader understanding of doping in relation to socio-economic contexts. Besides addressing the question which structural similarities in general justify the label ‘doping’, a comparison between ‘classical’ doping and the so-called financial doping in European club football is developed. These insights serve as a basis for a consideration, to what extent insights of social-scientific research on drugs in sport may be consulted to analyse socio-economic practices of performance enhancement in sport. Following the considerations of Schetsche, a model is drafted according to which different forms of performance-enhancing behaviour are categorized subject to the dimensions legality and legitimacy. The results may provide a contribution for further research on doping as well as for policymakers in the fight against doping in sport (both medical and financial). Due to numerous structural similarities between the policy of anti-doping and UEFA’s intended policy to fight financial doping, in particular the latter may learn from former experiences.
Purpose
With the licence season 2013/14 onwards UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) fully came into f... more Purpose
With the licence season 2013/14 onwards UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) fully came into force. Among other things, FFP demands from the clubs to operate within their own revenues in order to counteract the increasing over-indebtedness in European club football. The purpose of the article is to cast further light on the relationship between UEFA and the clubs as the main actors of FFP and to derive implications to UEFA to improve the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explicitly examines the case of FFP from an agency theory perspective. A positivist agency approach is applied in order to describe and explain (potential) problems in the relationship between UEFA and the clubs.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that the relationship between UEFA and the clubs corresponds in many aspects to a classic principal-agent problem. A potential conflict of interest between both actors is outlined which together with asymmetric information creates incentives for opportunistic behaviour on the part of the clubs. The necessity of a stronger emphasis and communication of the economic and sport ethical legitimacy of FFP is detected.
Practical implications
It is suggested that UEFA should consider taking a more proactive stance and endeavour to prevent non-compliance not only by limiting the opportunities to do so but also by providing information as well as education.
Originality/value
FFP is supposed to have ground-breaking consequences for European club football. This is the first paper to systematically examine (potential) agency problems inherent in FFP.
This paper applies simple game theory in order to analyze the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) poli... more This paper applies simple game theory in order to analyze the UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) policy, which was fully implemented in the 2013/14 season. By involving budget constraints put on clubs, FFP may lead to unintended or even adverse effects as indicated by some of the obtained results. In particular, the analysis shows that due to being in the situation of a Prisoner’s Dilemma, the clubs have a strong incentive to bypass the new regulations, what results in additional costs both for clubs to hide and UEFA to detect deviant behavior. As these costs might deter small clubs from trying to cheat, this consequently must have negative consequences on the level of competitive balance within a league. However, a positive outcome of FFP might be that clubs become more independent from benefactors or sugar daddies.
The UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations fully went into effect at the start of the 2013/14 seaso... more The UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations fully went into effect at the start of the 2013/14 season. The main objective of this regulatory intervention is to counteract the rising indebtedness of European football clubs and to reduce their increasing dependence on investors. Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of such regulatory measures requires an in-depth understanding of the institutional framework. The conceptual article therefore begins by describing and analyzing the relationship between UEFA and European football clubs from an institutional economics perspective. With regard to property rights, the analysis shows a shift in ownership and power structures to UEFA’s disadvantage. Furthermore, it reveals that the relationship between the governing body and the clubs corresponds in many respects with a classic principal-agent dyad. The analysis builds on a previous case study by Schubert (2014) and extends his model. Finally, based on an evaluation of UEFA’s strategy in its Financial Fair Play regulations, theory-driven recommendations are derived for
improving the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.
Zusammenfassung
Mit Beginn der Spielzeit 2013/14 traten alle Maßnahmen des UEFA Financial Fair Play-Konzeptes in Kraft. Vornehmliches Ziel dieses regulatorischen Eingriffs ist es, der wachsenden Verschuldungsrate auf Seiten der europäischen Vereine sowie der zunehmenden Abhängigkeit von Investoren entgegenzusteuern. Um die Effektivität und Effizienz solcher Maßnahmen zu erhöhen, ist ein tiefgehendes Verständnis der institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen unabdingbar. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschreibt und interpretiert der konzeptionelle Artikel das Verhältnis zwischen der UEFA und den Klubs mit Hilfe eines institutionenökonomischen Instrumentariums. Aus verfügungsrechtlicher Sicht wird eine Verschiebung der Eigentums- und Machtverhältnisse zu Ungunsten der UEFA skizziert. Weiter zeigt sich, dass die Beziehung zwischen dem Dachverband und den Vereinen in vielen Aspekten einer klassischen Principal-Agent-Dyade entspricht. Die vorliegende Analyse baut diesbezüglich auf einer vorherigen Fallstudie von Schubert (2014) auf und entwickelt dessen Modell weiter. Die von der UEFA im Rahmen von Financial Fair Play verfolgte Strategie wird evaluiert, um daraus theoriebasiert handlungsleitende Gestaltungsempfehlungen zur Steigerung der Wirksamkeit
des regulatorischen Eingriffs abzuleiten.
Against the backdrop of an increasing use of the term doping in other circumstances
than the cla... more Against the backdrop of an increasing use of the term doping in other circumstances
than the classical understanding, this theoretic article provides a new
and comprehensive inter-disciplinary reflection of the doping concept. The aim
is to elaborate a broader understanding of doping in relation to socio-economic
contexts. Besides addressing the question which structural similarities in general
justify the label doping, a comparison between classical doping and the so
called financial doping in European club football is developed. These insights
serve as a basis for a consideration, to what extent insights of social-scientific
research on drugs in sport may be consulted in order to analyse socioeconomic
practices of performance enhancement in sport. Following the considerations
of Schetsche (1996), a model is drafted according to which different
forms of performance-enhancing behaviour can be categorised subject to
the dimensions legality and legitimacy (cf. Schubert and Könecke, 2014). The
results may provide a contribution for further research on doping as well as for
policy makers in the fight against doping in sport (both medical and financial).
Zusammenfassung
Vor dem Hintergrund einer offensichtlich zunehmenden Ausweitung des Begriffs
Doping auf andere als die klassischen Sachverhalte nimmt sich der vorliegende
Artikel einer umfassenden Betrachtung des Dopingbegriffes an. Ziel
dabei ist es, durch eine interdisziplinäre Herangehensweise ein weiter gefasstes
Verständnis von Doping in Bezug auf sozio-ökonomische Zusammenhän105
ge im Sport zu erarbeiten. Dabei wird zum einen der Frage nachgegangen,
welche strukturellen Gemeinsamkeiten allgemein die Bezeichnung Doping
rechtfertigen. Des Weiteren wird anhand eines Vergleichs zwischen klassischem
Doping und dem sog. Finanzdoping im Fußball erarbeitet, inwiefern sozialwissenschaftliche
Erkenntnisse bezüglich des klassischen Dopings im
Sport dazu herangezogen werden können, bestimmte sozio-ökonomische
Maßnahmen im Sport zu analysieren. Dabei wird in Anlehnung an Überlegungen
Schetsches (1996) ein Raster entworfen, innerhalb dessen sich verschiedene
Formen der Leistungssteigerung im Sport anhand der Dimensionen Legitimität
und Legalität kategorisieren lassen (vgl. Schubert and Könecke, 2014).
Die Erkenntnisse könnten dabei einen Beitrag für die weitere Erforschung sowie
eine effektivere Bekämpfung (auch) des (physiologischen) Dopings leisten.
The term “doping” usually serves the purpose to hint at or denounce a development or a practice t... more The term “doping” usually serves the purpose to hint at or denounce a development or a practice that is illegal or deemed illegitimate. Yet, the question remains as to how exactly the term could be defined in a more general context than just physiological doping. Such a definition is provided in this article by focusing on the underlying structures and processes that transform legitimate enhancement into illegal doping.
Doping in elite sport is a frequently recurring theme in mass media and sometimes even seems to b... more Doping in elite sport is a frequently recurring theme in mass media and sometimes even seems to be better covered than the actual sport event (Bette and Schimank, 2006, 24–35). In recent years the term has also become frequently used in many more contexts than just “classical” – i.e. physiological – doping (Asmuth, 2010). This often happens with the intention of denigrating behaviour or circumstances deemed unfair. A prominent example from Olympic competition is the case of the handicapped sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who regularly faced accusations of “techno-doping” due to the Cheetah devices he uses for example in Olympic and Paralympic races. In the context of high investments of wealthy club owners or other benefactors in European club football in recent years the term “financial doping“ has become an issue (e.g. Wilson, 2009). Also outside of sport the term has gained considerable popularity and is applied in a vast variety of circumstances. The expression “brain doping”, i.e. cognitive enhancement, is but one example (Dietz, 2011; Dresler et al., 2013).
Recent years have seen an increasing use of the term ‘doping’ in other circumstances than the cla... more Recent years have seen an increasing use of the term ‘doping’ in other circumstances than the classical understanding. For example, in relation to the high investments of wealthy club owners or other benefactors in European club football the term ‘financial doping’ has become an issue. Against this backdrop, this conceptual study provides a new and comprehensive, interdisciplinary perspective on the doping concept. One aim is to elaborate a broader understanding of doping in relation to socio-economic contexts, thus hoping to bring forward the research on governance in sport management literature. Besides addressing the question which structural similarities in general justify the label ’doping’, a concise definition of financial doping in the context of sport is offered. Following the considerations of Schetsche (1996), a model is drafted according to which different forms of performance-enhancing behaviour can be categorised subject to the dimensions legality and legitimacy. Building on a comparison between medical and financial doping, UEFA’s Financial Fair Play concept is delineated as a policy of anti-doping and it is traced how this innovation came to exist. The article also provides some implications to improve the efficacy of FFP.
Conference Presentations by Mathias Schubert
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Papers by Mathias Schubert
With the licence season 2013/14 onwards UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) fully came into force. Among other things, FFP demands from the clubs to operate within their own revenues in order to counteract the increasing over-indebtedness in European club football. The purpose of the article is to cast further light on the relationship between UEFA and the clubs as the main actors of FFP and to derive implications to UEFA to improve the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explicitly examines the case of FFP from an agency theory perspective. A positivist agency approach is applied in order to describe and explain (potential) problems in the relationship between UEFA and the clubs.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that the relationship between UEFA and the clubs corresponds in many aspects to a classic principal-agent problem. A potential conflict of interest between both actors is outlined which together with asymmetric information creates incentives for opportunistic behaviour on the part of the clubs. The necessity of a stronger emphasis and communication of the economic and sport ethical legitimacy of FFP is detected.
Practical implications
It is suggested that UEFA should consider taking a more proactive stance and endeavour to prevent non-compliance not only by limiting the opportunities to do so but also by providing information as well as education.
Originality/value
FFP is supposed to have ground-breaking consequences for European club football. This is the first paper to systematically examine (potential) agency problems inherent in FFP.
improving the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.
Zusammenfassung
Mit Beginn der Spielzeit 2013/14 traten alle Maßnahmen des UEFA Financial Fair Play-Konzeptes in Kraft. Vornehmliches Ziel dieses regulatorischen Eingriffs ist es, der wachsenden Verschuldungsrate auf Seiten der europäischen Vereine sowie der zunehmenden Abhängigkeit von Investoren entgegenzusteuern. Um die Effektivität und Effizienz solcher Maßnahmen zu erhöhen, ist ein tiefgehendes Verständnis der institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen unabdingbar. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschreibt und interpretiert der konzeptionelle Artikel das Verhältnis zwischen der UEFA und den Klubs mit Hilfe eines institutionenökonomischen Instrumentariums. Aus verfügungsrechtlicher Sicht wird eine Verschiebung der Eigentums- und Machtverhältnisse zu Ungunsten der UEFA skizziert. Weiter zeigt sich, dass die Beziehung zwischen dem Dachverband und den Vereinen in vielen Aspekten einer klassischen Principal-Agent-Dyade entspricht. Die vorliegende Analyse baut diesbezüglich auf einer vorherigen Fallstudie von Schubert (2014) auf und entwickelt dessen Modell weiter. Die von der UEFA im Rahmen von Financial Fair Play verfolgte Strategie wird evaluiert, um daraus theoriebasiert handlungsleitende Gestaltungsempfehlungen zur Steigerung der Wirksamkeit
des regulatorischen Eingriffs abzuleiten.
than the classical understanding, this theoretic article provides a new
and comprehensive inter-disciplinary reflection of the doping concept. The aim
is to elaborate a broader understanding of doping in relation to socio-economic
contexts. Besides addressing the question which structural similarities in general
justify the label doping, a comparison between classical doping and the so
called financial doping in European club football is developed. These insights
serve as a basis for a consideration, to what extent insights of social-scientific
research on drugs in sport may be consulted in order to analyse socioeconomic
practices of performance enhancement in sport. Following the considerations
of Schetsche (1996), a model is drafted according to which different
forms of performance-enhancing behaviour can be categorised subject to
the dimensions legality and legitimacy (cf. Schubert and Könecke, 2014). The
results may provide a contribution for further research on doping as well as for
policy makers in the fight against doping in sport (both medical and financial).
Zusammenfassung
Vor dem Hintergrund einer offensichtlich zunehmenden Ausweitung des Begriffs
Doping auf andere als die klassischen Sachverhalte nimmt sich der vorliegende
Artikel einer umfassenden Betrachtung des Dopingbegriffes an. Ziel
dabei ist es, durch eine interdisziplinäre Herangehensweise ein weiter gefasstes
Verständnis von Doping in Bezug auf sozio-ökonomische Zusammenhän105
ge im Sport zu erarbeiten. Dabei wird zum einen der Frage nachgegangen,
welche strukturellen Gemeinsamkeiten allgemein die Bezeichnung Doping
rechtfertigen. Des Weiteren wird anhand eines Vergleichs zwischen klassischem
Doping und dem sog. Finanzdoping im Fußball erarbeitet, inwiefern sozialwissenschaftliche
Erkenntnisse bezüglich des klassischen Dopings im
Sport dazu herangezogen werden können, bestimmte sozio-ökonomische
Maßnahmen im Sport zu analysieren. Dabei wird in Anlehnung an Überlegungen
Schetsches (1996) ein Raster entworfen, innerhalb dessen sich verschiedene
Formen der Leistungssteigerung im Sport anhand der Dimensionen Legitimität
und Legalität kategorisieren lassen (vgl. Schubert and Könecke, 2014).
Die Erkenntnisse könnten dabei einen Beitrag für die weitere Erforschung sowie
eine effektivere Bekämpfung (auch) des (physiologischen) Dopings leisten.
Conference Presentations by Mathias Schubert
With the licence season 2013/14 onwards UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) fully came into force. Among other things, FFP demands from the clubs to operate within their own revenues in order to counteract the increasing over-indebtedness in European club football. The purpose of the article is to cast further light on the relationship between UEFA and the clubs as the main actors of FFP and to derive implications to UEFA to improve the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explicitly examines the case of FFP from an agency theory perspective. A positivist agency approach is applied in order to describe and explain (potential) problems in the relationship between UEFA and the clubs.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that the relationship between UEFA and the clubs corresponds in many aspects to a classic principal-agent problem. A potential conflict of interest between both actors is outlined which together with asymmetric information creates incentives for opportunistic behaviour on the part of the clubs. The necessity of a stronger emphasis and communication of the economic and sport ethical legitimacy of FFP is detected.
Practical implications
It is suggested that UEFA should consider taking a more proactive stance and endeavour to prevent non-compliance not only by limiting the opportunities to do so but also by providing information as well as education.
Originality/value
FFP is supposed to have ground-breaking consequences for European club football. This is the first paper to systematically examine (potential) agency problems inherent in FFP.
improving the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.
Zusammenfassung
Mit Beginn der Spielzeit 2013/14 traten alle Maßnahmen des UEFA Financial Fair Play-Konzeptes in Kraft. Vornehmliches Ziel dieses regulatorischen Eingriffs ist es, der wachsenden Verschuldungsrate auf Seiten der europäischen Vereine sowie der zunehmenden Abhängigkeit von Investoren entgegenzusteuern. Um die Effektivität und Effizienz solcher Maßnahmen zu erhöhen, ist ein tiefgehendes Verständnis der institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen unabdingbar. Vor diesem Hintergrund beschreibt und interpretiert der konzeptionelle Artikel das Verhältnis zwischen der UEFA und den Klubs mit Hilfe eines institutionenökonomischen Instrumentariums. Aus verfügungsrechtlicher Sicht wird eine Verschiebung der Eigentums- und Machtverhältnisse zu Ungunsten der UEFA skizziert. Weiter zeigt sich, dass die Beziehung zwischen dem Dachverband und den Vereinen in vielen Aspekten einer klassischen Principal-Agent-Dyade entspricht. Die vorliegende Analyse baut diesbezüglich auf einer vorherigen Fallstudie von Schubert (2014) auf und entwickelt dessen Modell weiter. Die von der UEFA im Rahmen von Financial Fair Play verfolgte Strategie wird evaluiert, um daraus theoriebasiert handlungsleitende Gestaltungsempfehlungen zur Steigerung der Wirksamkeit
des regulatorischen Eingriffs abzuleiten.
than the classical understanding, this theoretic article provides a new
and comprehensive inter-disciplinary reflection of the doping concept. The aim
is to elaborate a broader understanding of doping in relation to socio-economic
contexts. Besides addressing the question which structural similarities in general
justify the label doping, a comparison between classical doping and the so
called financial doping in European club football is developed. These insights
serve as a basis for a consideration, to what extent insights of social-scientific
research on drugs in sport may be consulted in order to analyse socioeconomic
practices of performance enhancement in sport. Following the considerations
of Schetsche (1996), a model is drafted according to which different
forms of performance-enhancing behaviour can be categorised subject to
the dimensions legality and legitimacy (cf. Schubert and Könecke, 2014). The
results may provide a contribution for further research on doping as well as for
policy makers in the fight against doping in sport (both medical and financial).
Zusammenfassung
Vor dem Hintergrund einer offensichtlich zunehmenden Ausweitung des Begriffs
Doping auf andere als die klassischen Sachverhalte nimmt sich der vorliegende
Artikel einer umfassenden Betrachtung des Dopingbegriffes an. Ziel
dabei ist es, durch eine interdisziplinäre Herangehensweise ein weiter gefasstes
Verständnis von Doping in Bezug auf sozio-ökonomische Zusammenhän105
ge im Sport zu erarbeiten. Dabei wird zum einen der Frage nachgegangen,
welche strukturellen Gemeinsamkeiten allgemein die Bezeichnung Doping
rechtfertigen. Des Weiteren wird anhand eines Vergleichs zwischen klassischem
Doping und dem sog. Finanzdoping im Fußball erarbeitet, inwiefern sozialwissenschaftliche
Erkenntnisse bezüglich des klassischen Dopings im
Sport dazu herangezogen werden können, bestimmte sozio-ökonomische
Maßnahmen im Sport zu analysieren. Dabei wird in Anlehnung an Überlegungen
Schetsches (1996) ein Raster entworfen, innerhalb dessen sich verschiedene
Formen der Leistungssteigerung im Sport anhand der Dimensionen Legitimität
und Legalität kategorisieren lassen (vgl. Schubert and Könecke, 2014).
Die Erkenntnisse könnten dabei einen Beitrag für die weitere Erforschung sowie
eine effektivere Bekämpfung (auch) des (physiologischen) Dopings leisten.