A sports governing body is a

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include

disciplinary action In a deliberative assembly, disciplinary procedures are used to punish members for violating the rules of the assembly. Codes and rules According to Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), discipline could include censure, fine, suspension ...

for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the

that they govern. Governing bodies have different scopes. They may cover a range of sport at an international level, such as the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

and the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and func ...

, or only a single sport at a national level, such as the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisat ...

. National bodies will largely have to be affiliated with international bodies for the same sport. The first international federations were formed at the end of the 20th century.

Types of sports governing bodies

Every sport has a different governing body that can define the way that the sport operates through its affiliated clubs and societies. This is because sports have different levels of difficulty and skill, so they can try to organize the people playing their sport by ability and by age. The different types of sport governing bodies are all shown below:

International sports federations

International sports federations are non-governmental non-profit organizations for a given sport (or a group of similar sport disciplines, such as aquatics or

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

) and administers its sport at the highest level. These federations work to create a common set of rules, promote their sport, and organize international competitions. International sports federations represent their sport at the Olympic level where applicable. About 30 international sport federations are located in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, with about 20 or so in the

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

area, where the International Olympic Committee is located. International federations are typically organized with legislative and executive branches at the top. The legislative body is usually referred to as a congress or general assembly of the international federation and is responsible for defining its sports policies. It consists of all of the national federations, each of which receives one vote. On the other hand, the executive branch, which is often referred to as the council or executive committee, consists of elected members by the legislative branch and is responsible for directing, managing, and representing their federation.

Trusts

Trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "sett ...

are organizations or groups that have control over the money that will be used to help someone else, such as the

Youth Sport Trust Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yout ...

National governing bodies

National governing bodies have the same objectives as those of an international federation, but within the scope of one country, or even part of a country, as the name implies. They support local clubs and are often responsible for national teams. National Olympic Committees and

National Paralympic Committee A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...

s are both a type of national federation, as they are responsible for a country's participation in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

and in the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

respectively. However, a national governing body (NGB) can be different from a national federation due to government recognition requirements. Also, national governing bodies can be a supraorganization representing a range of unrelated organizations operating in a particular sport, as evident in the example of the

Northern Ireland Federation of Sub-Aqua Clubs The Northern Ireland Federation of Sub-Aqua Clubs (NIFSAC) is the National Governing Body (NGB) for ''Sub Aqua'' in Northern Ireland. ''Sub Aqua'' is a broad term encompassing both recreational underwater activities such as recreational diving and ...

List of national governing bodies

Event organizers

Multi-sport event organizers are responsible for the organization of an event that includes more than one sport. The best-known example is the

(IOC), the organizer of the modern

. General sports organizations are responsible for sports-related topics, usually for a certain group, such as the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

sports groups. General sports organizations can also exist for the army and other groups, but they usually are medium-sized, as they do not have that much of a budget to work with.

Professional leagues

Professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...

leagues are usually the highest level of play in sport, specifically if they consist of the best players around the world in a certain sport. Because of this, they usually work with national or international federations, but there is usually a separation between the different federations. Most North American professional leagues usually do not have amateur divisions, as the amateur divisions are mostly run in separate leagues. Also, most professional leagues are related to other leagues, as players usually attempt to play in the league with the highest level of play. Because of this,

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

can occur; or, in league systems without promotion and relegation, clubs in professional leagues can have a team in the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

s. This enables them to shuffle players who are not doing well to the minor leagues, which will inspire them to contribute more to the team by playing better.

Criticisms

A 2014 study by the Institute for Human Rights and Business criticized major sports governing bodies including the IOC and FIFA for not having sufficient provisions for human and labor rights.

References

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