Special Themes

With five states enacting legislation on the use of name, image and likeness rights (NIL) by NCAA student athletes, it is imperative that student athletes start exploring how they can use this groundbreaking legislation, as best as possible. 

College sports have been part of the American reality since the late 19th century when the Yale rowing team competed against the Harvard rowing team to what marked the beginning of an era: the era of college sports. Nearly 170 years have passed since then, but one thing remained the same, college athletes have never been able to use their image rights to benefit monetarily, up until recently.

When in 2015 a handful of football players tried to unionise and were rejected by the National Labour Relations Board, Donald Remy, NCAA’s chief legal officer applauded the decision and argued that: “Student-athletes are not employees, and their participation in college sports is voluntary”.  

The European Union (EU) has for years now been designing and implementing laws and policies that aim to prevent the use of the Union’s financial markets for money laundering, a process through which illegally obtained money are put through various transactions and deals that can eventually make the money appear as they were obtained from legitimate sources.

In a previous piece we pointed out the legacies of infamous drug lords such as Pablo Escobar and the Rodriguez brothers in the world of football.  It is not necessary, however, to send our imagination in pursuit of Netflix to the depths of South America in order to examine the relationship between criminals—money launderers to be precise— and the sport industry.

In previous editions of the MSA blog, we have addressed corruption in sports, but this month we have decided to narrow it down to a very specific type that we believe deserves special attention. Corruption comes in different forms and can be found on all levels of the sports world on a local, national, institutional and international level.

Money laundering is a hot topic on the global financial and political agenda right now, and the fight against it has become increasingly important in a world where governments are struggling to keep their fiscal balances in check, and reverse the rising incidence of tax evasion, drug trafficking and consumption, and criminality in general.

Corruption is not something new in the world of sports. It has existed since the establishment of sports competitions.

Betting is deeply ingrained in the cultural framework of sports and is even viewed as a pre-existing activity which is part and parcel of competitions.

One of the first and most basic theories an aspiring sport economist will come across in sport literature is the uncertainty of...

In 2018, Ulrich, Pope, Cléret et al., published the results of an anonymised survey that was conducted in 2011-12 and asked more...

By Constantinos Massonos, Contributor Electronic games first appeared in the 1960s and their rapid development and worldwide expansion, is directly linked to the technological advances in computing of the last six decades. The launch of the Internet and the World...

By Andreas Themistocleous, Contributor I really want to avoid the discussion on whether eSports are an actual sport. The moment the International Olympic Committee announced its consideration on including eSports in future Olympic Games, I was left without an...

By Niovie Constantinou, Contributor The eSport industry has grown vastly in the past decade, and what was once considered a hobby has now become a serious career path that can actually pay very generously. Video games are no longer simply designed to be played, as...

By Lazaros Ioannou, APC Sports Consulting Limited While gaming is becoming more and more popular with mainstream culture and as eSports continue to gain more followers, the argument whether eSports are indeed a sport and if professional gamers should be considered...

By Lazaros Ioannou, APC Sports Consulting Limited  Out of the 10.500 athletes that competed in the 2016 Olympics, a mere few hundred received a medal; even fewer are those who received substantial sponsorships which can support them financially after their...

By Anna Kyprianou, Contributor “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet”, Bobby Unser The Olympic Games are considered the ultimate success for an athlete. Many athletes train every day for years just to earn their spot in the Olympic Games. Even though...

By Constantinos Massonos, Contributor  More than 10,000 athletes from all over the world have competed in the last Summer Olympics with the dream of winning a gold medal. While a small fraction of Olympians seizes the opportunity and becomes rich and famous...