Dishonest sporting governance? Reflections on amateur sport, insurance, and liability

Brown, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1506-9719 (2025) Dishonest sporting governance? Reflections on amateur sport, insurance, and liability. In: Dishonesty Liability and the Law: Exploring the Moral Importance of Context. Taylor and Francis (Routledge), pp. 144-165. ISBN 9781003470588

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Abstract

Although sports governing bodies are typically tasked with ensuring the honesty and integrity of their respective sports, this chapter argues that these bodies can sometimes contradict the values they ought to be promoting. This is demonstrated by exploring the poor insurance cover for many inherent risks in amateur sport. After outlining the way in which reckless indifference to the welfare of others could be construed as dishonest, the chapter suggests that some governing bodies could be acting dishonestly by failing to provide appropriate insurance cover at the grassroots level. This argument is made by assessing two types of insurance. First, it is suggested that the failure to provide satisfactory first-party insurance could be considered dishonest in light of the damaging effect of inadequate cover on participants. Secondly, the chapter maintains that governing bodies could also be acting dishonestly for failing to mandate appropriate third-party insurance cover for recreational sports clubs. Consequently, the chapter outlines several regulatory steps that governing bodies ought to take if they wish to avoid allegations of dishonesty. In highlighting the potential civil law implications of dishonesty, the chapter concludes by arguing that a failure to take such regulatory steps could expose some sports governing bodies to tortious liability.