Sharks Football Club Records - Case Study Example

Case study 2 Name of the Student: Submission date: Case study 2: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Football Club - Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation (Feb 2013) Introduction There exist insurmountable evidence that the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) (also known as doping) has a long history among human beings and has led different scholars and practitioners to infer that performance enhancing drugs are not unique to the contemporary athletic competition (Martin et. al, 2007, p. 6). Therefore, the use of PEDs has received extensive documentation since early sporting competitions between the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the modern times, diverse institutions best epitomized by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Football League (NFL) among others have engaged in the promulgation of a list of prohibited substances and methods. This is founded on the fact that these prohibited substances have the capacity of giving some athletes unfair competitive advantage over others or even harm their health. However, the most bare reality is that the use of these substances contradicts the spirit of sports around the globe (Werner & Hatton, 2010, p. 34). The incidences of doping have been widespread in different parts of the world and have received extensive attention in the recent decades. This was evident in Australia whereby the use of the PEDs was unearthed at Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Football Club in February, 2013 with the investigations by Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) revealing that as many as 14 players in this team were allegedly involved in the doping activity. On this regard, this analysis will explore this critical incident that almost threatened to tear this club apart as well as the company’s response/action to this incident. Additionally, this analysis will entail an evaluation and position statement in relation to this incident. Nonetheless, it is important to first have a summative summary of the background of the case study institution in order to gain a comprehensive insight into this incident. Company background The background of Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Football Club goes back to its foundation in the 1960s. This club was founded in 1963 under the banner of Cronulla-Caringbah and proceeded to enter the inter-district competition where the played against Sydney University, Wentworthville as well as Penrith among other clubs in the Sydney area. The New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) eventually added Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks together with Penrith to the competition in 1967 and these teams became the first to join the competition since Manly and Parramatta had been admitted two decades earlier in 1947. Since the establishment of this club, it has produced mixed fortunes with the longest winning streak be recorded at 12 in 1998 including two draws having preceded by the longest losing streak in more than three decades earlier in 1967 which was recorded at 9. However, it is in 2002 when this club recorded the most wins in succession which stood at 11 (Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Website, 2013, p. 1). The month of February, 2013 has been perceived as the blackest revelation in Australian sports with implications that the drugs-in-football scandals have escalated to new depths. This was after Cronulla Sharks NRL club became engulfed in a crisis of doping allegations with as many as 14 players being implicated in this saga (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2013, p. 1). This culminated in massive public outcry against this vice and the subsequent investigations into this crisis by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). The following section analyzes the critical incident nature of this scandal. Critical incident In a generic sense, a critical incident can be defined as one which can be described in details and has noteworthy deviation either in a positive or negative sense from what is perceived as being normal or expected (Bejou, Edvardsson & Rakowski, 1996, p. 36). The doping incident at Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Football Club can be viewed as being critical based on several rationales which are analyzed below. Firstly, critical incidents have been credited of having serious character that will directly shock daily routines and procedures. In the case of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks club doping incident, this development was posed to have extensive implications on the training routines, team rotations and playing formation with as many as 14 players from this team being persuaded to stand down for at least six months. Additionally, the fact that four senior staff members were sacked as well as standing down of the head coach amid the claims of doping and the use of horse drugs by players (ABC, 2013, p.1) was bound to have direct implications on daily routines and procedures at the club. Against this backdrop, this incident can be viewed as being critical based on its capacity to negatively affect the routines and procedures in this club, both in the short and in the long term. Secondly, Pride (cited in Engen, Mikkelsen and Gronhaug, 2010, p. 345) determined that if the critical incidents become the sustained focus of attention from the public domain, they are bound to be triggers of institutional transformation and industry development as well as a collective problem re-definition. This was the case with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks club doping incident whereby it culminated to extensive public attention which obliged the board of this club to institute transformations in the management team of this institution. This was geared towards saving the reputation of the team in the public gallery. Subsequently, the board made a decision to sack four senior members of the backroom staff and stand down the head coach, Shane Flanagan amid these doping claims (ABC, 2013, p.1). The third characteristic of critical incidents is that they create uncertainty which is instrumental in challenging the routines and procedures which are already in existence handling the relationships between stakeholders. In the case of the doping incident at Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks club, this incident generated extensive uncertainty, mostly in the course of subsequent actions which were taken by the board. This is epitomized whereby the board which had previously worked hand in hand with the management staff of this team proceeded to make a decision to dismiss the some of the integral management staff as well as the head coach who had helped to propel the performance of this club to greater heights. In this case, it served as a major challenge to the routines and procedures of operations which were in existence and between the board and the management staff who are the key stakeholders in this team. Company response/actions It is an evident fact that this incident produced a lot of heat for this club and triggered diverse actions as a response to the incident. Some of these actions/responses from the club are analyzed below. To begin with, the board at the club took the action of sacking four senior staff members as well as standing down the head coach at the club as a response to doping allegations and use of horse drugs by the players (ABC, 2013, p. 1). The rationale forwarded by the board for this action was that these individuals were to blame for their managerial failings over the handling of the investigations which were ongoing, being spearheaded by Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the sports doping agency in Australia. The second action was urging the players who were implicated in this incident to step down for six months or risk a maximum of two years ban by ASADA. This action was allegedly undertaken by Richard Redman, a former ASADA senior council who gave an ultimatum to the players to voluntary stand down. In this case, the players were given a 48 hours deadline to make up their mind whether they will voluntary step down for six months or risk the two years ban by ASADA when the investigation was completed and infraction notices issued. Reports emanating from the club revealed that the players who had been implicated in this scandal were extensively concerned, distressed and rattled based on the fact that they had trusted that the product which they were being given was not only legal but also safe (Massoud, 2013, p. 1). The last action explored in this analysis action which was undertake by the institution as a response to this crisis was apart from convincing the indicted players to step down, they agreed to pay these players even at the time they were suspended. This was part of a strategy by this institution to save the public image of the club. This is based on the fact that if the players pleaded guilty and accepted to step down under the promise of being paid their full dues during this time of suspension, the drug tribunal hearings were bound not to happen and subsequently, the full details of what had transpired at the Sharks was bound to be shielded from the public (Walter, 2013, p. 1). All the above actions were taken by Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks club not only to protect the public reputation of this institution but also to retain the confidence of other stakeholders. Nonetheless, most of these actions were not informed by the need to curtail the occurrence of such incidents in the future but rather to ensure that the club continued to enjoy its esteemed status in Australia. Some of these actions/responses are critically interrogated in the subsequent assessment. Evaluation and position statement To begin with, the action of firing the four staff members including the head coach can be viewed as a strategy to cover up the real culprits in this crisis. This is founded on the fact that some of the sacked personnel did not have any knowledge of the PEDs being administered to the players. This is best epitomized by the fact that the alleged injections of CJC-1295 were being administered on the players in early May, 2011, without the knowledge of some key staff in the team, including the long serving team doctor, David Givney (ABC, 2013, p. 1). However, this doctor was among the four senior staff members who were dismissed by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks club’ s board without any solid investigations into the source of this mess. In this case, it can be plausible to infer that this response by the board was just a ‘collateral damage’ situation aimed at frustrating the investigations by ASADA and eventually succeeding in saving the reputation of the club. On the other hand, the action by the club to hire Richard Redman to convince the players to step down for a period of six months with the promise of being paid during this entire period can be perceived as being in bad faith. This is founded on the fact that despite this prosecutor being hired initially to represent the indicted players, the first concern of the club was to prevent the decimation of the club. After appearing that this was bound not to happen, the next focus was to minimize the damage on the club (Walter, 2013, p. 1). In this case, the clear intention was not to ensure the players’ entitlement to legal representation but rather to protect the welfare of the club. Conclusion The above analysis has evidenced that the use of PEDs in the sporting realms is a phenomenon with a long history. It has also revealed that this practice is detrimental based on the fact that apart from giving some athletes unfair competitive advantage over others or even harming their health, the use of these substances contradicts the spirit of sports around the globe. This investigation has also explored the critical incident at Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Football Club whereby as many as 14 players were alleged to have used PEDs in February, 2013. This was preceded by a summative summary of the company background. Additionally, this analysis substantiated the critical nature of the above incident based on three rationales. On the other hand, it explored the action/response of the club after this critical incident which was characterized by dismissing four senior staff members, convincing the indicted players to step down for a period of six months among other actions. Lastly, this analysis has engaged in an evaluation and position statement which assessed some of the aforementioned actions/responses. References Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2013, ‘Sharks attacked over drug claims’, retrieved 28th May, 2013, < http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3720124.htm>. Bejou, D., Edvardsson, B., & Rakowski, JP.1996, ‘A critical incident approach to examining the effects of service failures on customer relationships: The case of Swedish and U.S. airlines’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 35-40. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Website, 2013, ‘Sharks Football Club Records’, retrieved 28th May, 2013, < http://www.sharks.com.au/stats>. Engen, OA., Mikkelsen, A. & Grønhaug, K., 2010, ‘Critical incidents and social construction of corporate social responsibility’, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp.345-361. Martin, DM., Baron, DA. & Mark, SG., 2006, ‘A Review of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Professional Sports and Their Spread to Amateur Athletics, Adolescents, and Other At-Risk Populations’, Journal of Addictive Diseases, Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 5-15. Massoud, J., 2013, ‘Fourteen Sharks players advised to consider putting hands up for six month bans as ASADA probes club’, retrieved 28th May, 2013, < http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nrl-premiership/fourteen-sharks-players-advised-to-consider-putting-hands-up-for-six-month-bans-as-asada-probes-club/story-fn2mcuj6-1226591615223#.UaTbxtI3BYp>. Walter, B., 2013, ‘With no chief, could Cronulla have been an accident waiting to happen?’, The Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 28th May, 2013, < http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/with-no-chief-could-cronulla-have-been-an-accident-waiting-to-happen-20130308-2fr3n.html>. Werner, TC., & Hatton, CK., 2010, ‘Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports: How Chemists Catch Users’, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 88, No. 1, pp. 34-40. Read More