Government Legislation and the Management of Sports Centres - Essay Example

GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF SPORTS CENTRES Sport and fitness industry has grown up to multibillion industry providing employment to many people all over the world. In the last two decades the industry has grown rapidly to become a leading earner for some countries. This has gone along with the growing sport tourism that is becoming famous day in day out. The popularity of some sports has grown rapidly and they have come to be associated with some kind of lifestyle. Many businesses have grown from this industry and indeed hosting a major sport event has been seen as a privilege in many countries. In the United Kingdom, the sport industry has also recorded growth. Different sports have become to be associated with the life of the people. Take the example of football game. Champion league has grown to be a famous sports event for many people all over the world which is bringing in millions of pounds to Europe. In England, the premier league is dear to the English people and attracts funs all over the world. Sports in England have grown to be a big business. (Bourke, 2003) With this growth, there have been many transactions that are going on. To promote honesty in the industry, it must be protected by laws that are enacted in the constitution of the individual countries. The industry has been streamlined by legal enactments which ensure that there are honesty deals going on in the industry. Football game has been one of the games that have been guarded by legislation that has enabled judgment of legal cases that has threatened to crumble the industry. Transfer of players from one club to another has been dodged by controversies which are always settled in the court. Match fixing scandals in have also been taken to courts. In Italy match fixing scandals has attracted the attention of the world and has consequently led to review of laws that govern sports in most countries. There has been other transaction in the industry which calls for legal enactment to protect them. Take example of intellectual property. Intellectual properties like trademarks, logos, domain names, copyright and patents owned by individual and clubs needs to be protected. There has to be legal structures that support these intellectual properties. (Ben, 2006) Another aspect of the industry that has attracted legal enactments is contracts signed between different players in the industry. Clubs enter into contract with individual and sign them as part of their squads. Individual sport person enter into legal contracts with their promoters. The provisions of these contracts must be protected by the law of the land to make sure that none of the party exploits the other and no one bleaches the contract. Legal enactments have been crucial in ensuring that the industry is run smoothly in terms of signing of contracts between different individuals with individuals and clubs. To comply with the rising need for legal legislation in the sport industry, each individual authority overseeing a specific sport has move to draft laws that defines the operation in the industry. FIFA is the world body that governs football and has moved fast draft legislation that governs the football industry. The Judo association in the UK, the British Judo Association has its own legislation that governs the sport. Other legislations are meant to protect the identity of sport bodies in the United Kingdom. For example, The British Olympic Association has legislation that protects the use of five rings which are meant for Olympic. The use of the ring and other insignias is protected under the law where the association has exclusive rights of using these symbols. The association was give this right in 1995 through an act of parliament after a long debate. Another area in sports that is governed in the UK is the collective sale of sports and TV rights. This has been featured in the UK legislation. This legislation was meant of make the industry self sustaining by collecting fee from the sales in all major events. This has seen the emergence of British Clubs as some of the richest and most successful in the world. In line with this there are the player's rights which are secured in legislations. This has been a subject of debate with clubs claiming the ownership of players' image while players are fighting for the control of their images to maintain the moral rights they need. Legal environment in the sports industry As has been explained, the sport and fitness in the UK is protected by legal framework. This has been very important in the management of the sport centres in the United Kingdom and also for enhancing the growth and development of various sports. United Kingdom has developed a strong sports culture through the provision of these laws that have been enacted in the legislation. This growth has been based on the confidence created to investors in the industry through the legal provisions. There have been a number of legal legislations that have impacted positively in the industry. One example of these legislations was the Game Plan published in 2002. This was used as a tool which helped the government of deliver its objectives for the sport and fitness industry. It was aimed at redefining the government's role in development of the industry in the development of the sports culture. It also defined the role to be played in bringing about success in the industry from within the industry. The government also looked into defining its role in management of national sporting facilities and hosting of major events. This legislation was particularly aimed at raising the sporting culture in the UK. This was to be achieved through encouraging the participation of all people including the young, adults and the elderly in sports. This was aimed at eroding the increasing burden that the government is carrying in treating lifestyle disease that have come due to the sedentary life that people are leading. The government was committed to raising participation in sports to almost that of other countries like Japan, China and others. This could be easily implemented in schools physical education program while the government would be committed to building more sports facilities near residential areas to encourage more adults and the elderly to participate in sports. (Roger, 2006) This report also recommended the creation of a cross departmental Sports and Physical Activity Board (SPAB). This board was created but later renamed Activity Co-ordination Team (ACT) in 2003. The board is under the Minister for Public Health. This board is bound to overlook the progress in public participation in sports, access to sports facilities, and general improvements that can be undertaken in the program. To solve the problem of sport facilities, the government recommended the use of school facilities by the whole community. The government then embarked on construction of more facilities and by 2006, the government hoped to complete 1700 facilities. This plan has impacted positively in the management of sports in the United Kingdom with the participation of the government in development of sports, it has become easier to manage the sports facilities since there are laid down rules in the management process. It has there has been a lot of funding in the sports industry especially in the development of sports facilities. This has helped to ease congestion in these facilities since there are more facilities that can be used by individual. This act has also seen a rise in number of people participating in sports. The frame work for sports in England sets out the new visions for the sporting industry in the country. This framework defines out what is to be achieved from 2004-2008. It defines the vision for the industry to make England the most successful sporting nation in the world. This vision is supposed to make the recommendations of the Game Plan to a reality. The vision is the goal that should lead to the achievement of what was intended in the Game plan. This plan has gained so much support from the people who have turned to sporting as a part of their daily lives. We are seen more and more people attending training on physical activity in the centre. This has impacted positively in the management since it has been easy to manage people who come to benefit in sports. In our centre we have taken different approaches of management in a bid to manage the large number of people who are flocking our sport centre. Managing the sport and fitness industry and sporting legal environment The above legal legislations have had positive and negative impact in the management of the sport centres. It is acceptable that the legislations have been able to raise the awareness of people on the need to engage in physical activity. This has seen more and more people flock out centres for sports. People have become more aware of the need to engage in physical activities as a measure to improving their health and well being. Through the above plans the government has been able to take more fiscal measures to ensure that the sporting sector is well funded. It has also been able to streamline the planning system to make sure that there are achievable plans set for the industry. This has enabled the growth of sports in the country The greatest impact the legislations has had is the removal of red tape for the sporting organization. This has made management easy for many sport centres. The management in sports centres was faced with a difficulty of going through so many legal requirements before acquiring equipments of making a change in its operation. The centres have become more independent but enter into partnership with the government and other sport centres. This partnership has been important in raising the awareness of the public since the sport centres collaborate with the government department to get more people involved. The legislation has defined the role that the centre has to play in ensuring the England becomes a porting country. This has been achieved through a national planning for sports ad community planning for sport as well. It has also encouraged innovation and delivery in sports. It should be acceptable to all of us that these legislations are important if the sporting industry has to be streamlined in England. They are important in defining the role of the government in development of sport industry and also in defining the role of other stakeholders in the industry. This definition helps each sector of the industry to redefine its strategy in order to achieve the target that it has to achieve. This also helps in defining the level and the kind of collaboration that should exist between different stakeholders in the industry. This collaboration should be all directed to achieving the vision 2020 of making England the greatest sporting country in the world. This vision guides the management of all the sports centres in England. The government has been successful with these legislations since they have achieved the short term goals that were initially set. They are in line with achieving the long term goals. It is claimed that most of the goals that were set in the initial game plan have already been achieved and that is why the country is focused on implementing the vision 2020. References The frame work for sports in England; Sport England. Accessed from, http://www.sportengland.org/national-framework-for-sport.pdf, on 22nd January, 2008 The Institute of Professional Sport (2006): Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. Retrieved from, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/0/A/institute_of_professional_sport_434_13kb.pdf on January 22nd 2008 Bourke, A. (2003). The Dream of Being a Professional Soccer Player; Journal of Sports and Social Issues, Vol. 28(5): 400-415 Ben, L. (2006). Legitimate sport or Criminal assault: What are the Roles of the Rules and the Rule Makers in Determining Criminal Liability for Violence on the Sport Field Journal of Criminal Law, Vol. 70(6): 400-450 Roger, W. (2006). Sports participants and the Law of Discrimination; London: Cavendish First Game Plan Delivery Report: April 2004. Accessed from, http://www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/3DB806FB-665A-4414-A8EE-541DA816DA3B/0/FirstGamePlanReport.pdf, on 22nd January, 2008 Read More