Bram Constandt

Ghent University | UGhent · Department of Movement and Sports Sciences

As football (soccer) clubs are facing different ethical challenges, many clubs are turning to ethical codes to counteract unethical behaviour. However, both in- and outside the sport field, uncertainty remains about the effectiveness of these ethical codes. For the first time, a longitudinal study design was adopted to evaluate code effectiveness....

Nonprofessional (amateur) soccer is continuously confronted with a wide range of ethical issues. As coaches are believed to be potentially effective in counteracting unethical behavior, this study analyzes the influence of coach ethical leadership on a sample of nonprofessional soccer players (n = 436). As ethical behavior contains two dimensions,...

Ethical leadership is increasingly studied in the context of soccer clubs, as it is believed to represent an effective answer to soccer’s “dark side.” However, current academic understanding is limited to key internal stakeholders’ perspectives, such as coaches and players. A highly relevant stakeholder group that is still largely neglected is fans...

Football (soccer) is believed to be facing an ongoing moral crisis, illustrated by a diverse set of ethical issues, ranging from financial fraud and match-fixing to sexual abuse and hooliganism. While the policy support of (inter)national authorities and football federations is important to tackle this moral crisis, ethics management in football cl...

Match-fixing is a major ethical issue in sports. Although research interest in match-fixing has increased in recent years, we remain largely in the dark regarding how both betting-and non-betting-related match-fixing relate to the moral decision-making of those involved. Drawing on Rest's theory of morality and on the perceptions of a large sample...

In this study, we provide a nuanced perspective on a sub-type of match-fixing, called non-betting-related match-fixing (NBMF). Using a cross-sectional survey, we measured the prevalence and motives behind NBMF in Belgian amateur football and tennis. Additionally, we conducted a thorough study of the regulatory documents of the relevant (sports) org...

Despite the increasing academic interest in match-fixing, little is known about the behavioral determinants of this phenomenon. This study applies key theoretical concepts of situational action theory (SAT) to sportspersons’ decision-making process when confronted with sports-related match-fixing (SRMF) propositions. Using a factorial survey, amate...

Purpose In this empirical study, we assessed the reputational consequences of a large-scale football fraud scandal by measuring fans’ integrity perceptions. More specifically, we targeted inherent, personal, organizational, and procedural integrity. Methodology We used a cross-sectional survey distributed through a Belgian sports newspaper to reac...

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 he...

Background Sport-for-All emphasizes that every individual has the right to participate in sport. Despite all efforts to deliver Sport-for-All during the past decades, studies indicate that sport participation rates have been stagnating, whereas social inequalities in sport continue to exist. By applying an institutional theory lens, this study shed...

Bringing together leading match-fixing researchers from different fields, this book offers new theoretical and applied perspectives on this persistent problem in sport and wider society. The book explores the foundations of match-fixing from multiple viewpoints, from sociology and criminology to policy and governance, exploring topics such as the u...

This study provides a structured overview of the literature published between 2010 and 2020 on the causes and consequences of fraud in sport using a systematic search strategy. Our results show that the current literature on this phenomenon is mostly focused on football as a specific type of sport, and on competition manipulation as a specific type...

Recently, a growing number of studies has shown the relevance of Moral Identity to explain (im)moral conduct. The present study compared two moral identity measures in two independent samples (N = 282 and 245): i.e., the Moral Identity Scale (Aquino and Reed, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83:1423-1440, 2002) and the Moral Identity Qu...

Gambling and sports are entangled in a close relationship. However, little remains known about gambling behaviors and perceptions in sports. Drawing on normalization theory, this study explores the prevalence and predictors of problem gambling as well as the normalization of gambling (including its availability and accessibility, prevalence, and so...

Background Sport-for-All emphasises that every individual has the right to participate in sport. Despite all efforts to deliver Sport-for-All during the past decades, studies indicate that sport participation rates stagnated, whereas social inequalities in sport continue to exist. Our study specifically explores how the dual mission of sport federa...

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis and its related measures on how people practice and experience leisure continues to be significant. In the current study, a survey measuring sport participation during the third week of the first lockdown, that started on the 18th of March 2020 and has been gradually loosened as of the 18th of April 2020, was carri...

Research questions Sport-for-All encompasses efforts to make organised sport accessible for all people. Although Sport-for-All is integrated in sport federations’ missions, many organisations struggle to attain their Sport-for-All goals. In particular, the Sport-for-All logic of sport federations is challenged by several institutional trends. By ap...

Brazilian football is strongly affected by betting-related match-fixing, as indicated by numerous incidents over the past years. However, little remains known about the underlying factors that contribute to the country’s vulnerability towards this form of corruption in sport. Hence, this study applies the lens of sociological institutionalism to ex...

Victor Boin (1886–1974) was one of Belgium’s most multi-talented athletes of the first quarter of the twentieth century, as evidenced by his achievements as an Olympic medallist in both water polo and fencing, and as a former vice-world champion, European champion, and Belgian champion in respectively swimming, ice skating, and jiujitsu. On a globa...

Match-fixing has already been studied in various sport disciplines. However, despite some well-known incidents in road cycling, match-fixing has barely been investigated in this unique sport discipline. Drawing on Ashforth and Anand’s theoretical model of normalization of corruption in organizations and on the perceptions of 15 active Belgian road...

Research Question: The lens of moral disengagement (i.e. the cognitive restructuring of immoral behaviors to facilitate one’s own involvement by deactivating negative feelings) has been applied extensively to study integrity breaches in a number of contexts. However, despite the high and diverse prevalence of immoral behavior in (elite) sport, and...

Although professional sport teams increasingly engage in cause-related marketing (CRM), implementation often remains ad-hoc and superficial. CRM managers fall short of establishing the needed inter-organizational collaborations to attain mutually beneficial outcomes for the organization and society at large. Little is known about the structures and...

Despite the widespread growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in sport, the majority of professional sport teams still manage social engagement in an opportunistic manner. Tactical attempts toward CSR management can provide discrete and short-term benefits, but lack the ability to create lasting social and economic impacts. Thi...

Overal ter wereld implemente(e)r(d)en landen lockdowns om de covid-19-pandemie te bestrijden. Terwijl deze lockdowns de vrije bewegingsruimte van mensen sterk inperken, wijzen experten er tegelijkertijd op dat mensen op een veilige manier fysiek actief moeten blijven om andere gezondheidsproblemen te voorkomen. Op basis van een online bevraging ana...

This critical PhD review paper examines existing scholarship on ethical leadership in sport. Following a general trend in business ethics and related fields, ethical leadership has gained considerable research attention in sport over the last decades. Within this growing body of literature, ethical leadership is often presented as part of the desir...

Belgium hosted the Olympic Games only once, in 1920. From April to September, Antwerp was the ‘epicentre’ of the Seventh Olympiad of the modern era. Despite its great symbolic significance, the Antwerp Olympiad remains one of the most understudied editions of the modern Olympic Games. Antwerp was chosen to host the Olympics as a tribute to the brav...

Community Sport Development Programs (CSDPs) that use an intersectoral capacity building approach have shown potential in reaching individuals in disadvantaged situations. This study has investigated how the application of capacity building principles in disadvantaged communities results in higher sport participation rates in these communities. A m...

Postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 marks a unique moment in the history of the Olympic Movement. For the first time since the cancelation of the Olympic Games during both World Wars, the Olympics will not take place as scheduled. This unprecedented postponement strongly impacts the Olympic Movement. Although o...

Countries all over the world implemented lockdowns to counteract COVID-19. These lockdowns heavily limited people's exercise possibilities. At the same time, experts advocated to remain physically active to prevent future health problems. Based on an online survey, this study examines adults' exercise levels and patterns during the COVID-19 lockdow...

Improving and maintaining high ethical standards among athletes is a major challenge in sports, which requires sufficient knowledge on athletes’ moral intentions. This study advances our knowledge on athletes’ moral intentions by examining the personal and contextual determinants (factors) that influence moral intentions of badminton players. In a...

Tennis veroverde op het einde van de negentiende eeuw stilaan de Belgische kust en maakte daar deel uit van het verlanglijstje van de toeristen. We focussen in deze bijdrage op de kuststad Oostende, waarvoor we de introductie en het groeiend belang van de tennissport tussen circa 1890 en 1914 analyseren.

Nonprofit soccer clubs are currently facing many ethical challenges, such as abuse, doping and match fixing. While research suggests that organizational (board) ethical leadership may be effective to tackle these ethical issues, empirical support in the context of sport remains limited. Drawing on the perceptions of a sample of nonprofit soccer pla...

This article charts the development of tennis at Belgium's seaside before the First World War (1894-1914). It explores the history of tennis in seaside resorts such as Bredene, Ostend, Middelkerke and Westende, showing that the Flemish coast was the epicentre of Belgium's early tennis culture. The article is not intended to be exhaustive, it provid...