TY - JOUR
T1 - The challenges of harmonising anti-doping policy implementation
AU - Read, Daniel
AU - Skinner, James
AU - Smith, Aaron C.T.
AU - Lock, Daniel
AU - Stanic, Maylin
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the World Anti-Doping Agency for funding the present research through their Social Science Research Grant Program.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Funding Information:
The work was supported by the\u00A0World Anti-Doping Agency. The authors would like to thank the World Anti-Doping Agency for funding the present research through their Social Science Research Grant Program.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The policy-implementation gap conceptualises how policy intentions and outcomes often differ due to a failure to consider the realities of implementation. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) directs Olympic anti-doping policy, seeking to harmonise anti-doping policy globally; however, the realisation of consistent implementation has proven challenging. A major cause of inconsistent policy implementation is inter-signatory variation, but the mechanisms of variation are poorly understood. WADA provides an excellent example to explore why policy gaps occur in international sport governance. Consequently, we aimed to analyse the different types of inter-signatory variation in anti-doping policy and identify practical solutions to address inter-signatory variation in anti-doping. Data were collected from the Regional Anti-Doping Programme (RADO), a group of organisations tasked with increasing the capacity of NADOs globally. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 RADO staff and board members who were sampled as key informants to discuss how inter-signatory variation affects anti-doping policy compliance. Following reflexive thematic analysis, we identified four thematic categories explaining inter-signatory variation in anti-doping implementation: (1) socio-geographic, (2) political, (3) organisational, and (4) human resources. Based on our analysis, we theorise why the policy-implementation gap occurs and provide recommendations to improve anti-doping policy implementation.
AB - The policy-implementation gap conceptualises how policy intentions and outcomes often differ due to a failure to consider the realities of implementation. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) directs Olympic anti-doping policy, seeking to harmonise anti-doping policy globally; however, the realisation of consistent implementation has proven challenging. A major cause of inconsistent policy implementation is inter-signatory variation, but the mechanisms of variation are poorly understood. WADA provides an excellent example to explore why policy gaps occur in international sport governance. Consequently, we aimed to analyse the different types of inter-signatory variation in anti-doping policy and identify practical solutions to address inter-signatory variation in anti-doping. Data were collected from the Regional Anti-Doping Programme (RADO), a group of organisations tasked with increasing the capacity of NADOs globally. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 RADO staff and board members who were sampled as key informants to discuss how inter-signatory variation affects anti-doping policy compliance. Following reflexive thematic analysis, we identified four thematic categories explaining inter-signatory variation in anti-doping implementation: (1) socio-geographic, (2) political, (3) organisational, and (4) human resources. Based on our analysis, we theorise why the policy-implementation gap occurs and provide recommendations to improve anti-doping policy implementation.
KW - implementation
KW - National Anti-Doping Agencies
KW - network legitimacy
KW - regime theory
KW - World Anti-Doping Agency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85179699253&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14413523.2023.2288713
DO - 10.1080/14413523.2023.2288713
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85179699253
SN - 1441-3523
VL - 27
SP - 365
EP - 386
JO - Sport Management Review
JF - Sport Management Review
IS - 3
ER -