Sport management and policy in the era of COVID-19

Just before the start of the 2020 decade, the world was informed of a new virus called SARS-CoV-2, hereafter COVID-19. Originally identified in China, it spread quickly around the world in early 2020, with millions of people hospitalised and dying worldwide. Governments enacted various levels of measures that generally included the introduction of social distancing and lockdown procedures, hence disrupting numerous industries such as the sport sector (Manoli et al., 2022). As suggested by Manoli et al. (2022, p. 2), “From the postponement of mega-sport events, to the stopping of sport leagues, and the closure of leisure centres, the sport and leisure industry adhered to the various Covid-19 measures taken by local and national governments.” It is within this context, late in 2020, that the Council of Europe released the European Union (EU) Work Plan for Sport for the period from 1st January 2021 to 30th June 2024 (EUR-Lex, 2020). One of the key topics identified in the EU Work Plan is ‘Strengthening the recovery and the crisis resilience of the sport sector during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ Four themes are related to this key topic, namely: medium and long-term impact of the pandemic on professional, high-performance and grassroots sports; possible need for structural modifications in the sport system; role of public authorities; funding opportunities. While the restrictions linked to COVID-19 have gradually been relaxed across the world since 2020, their effects may have had, and indeed may still have, important consequences on the sport industry. This thus underlines the importance and timeliness of reviewing existing evidence about such effects around the four themes suggested in the EU Work Plan for Sport. It is worth noting that COVID-19 did not only impact the EU Work Plan for Sport but also the scientific production of academic studies since its emergence in 2020. This is reflected in the range and depth of articles, commentaries and special issues published on the topic since. In the present chapter, the aim is to provide an overview of this literature with a focus on Europe, or on conceptual content applicable to Europe, to inform: the main issues associated with sport management and policy in the era of COVID-19 in relation to the four themes that have emerged through the EU Work Plan for Sport, the knowledge gained through it, as well as the challenges faced for future research, and for policy emphasis, development and implementation. From a methodological perspective, the authors of the present chapter decided to centre their attention on four journals: European Sport Management Quarterly (ESMQ), International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics (IJSPP), Journal of Global Sport Management (JGSM) and Managing Sport and Leisure (MSL). ESMQ published two special issues on COVID-19 in 2021 and 2022, while MSL and JGSM published one each in 2022 and 2023, respectively. IJSPP did not publish any special issue on COVID-19, but published some manuscripts useful to better understand and/or discuss the (potential) impact of COVID-19 on sport in Europe, with an emphasis on the role of public authorities. This literature was reviewed to inform the present chapter, with the addition of any relevant manuscripts published more recently by these journals. Overall, 32 academic sources were initially included in the analysis. They were manually classified in one of the four themes identified in the EU Work Plan for Sport, depending on what the authors of the current chapter considered as being the theme primarily informed by the source. The sources were also considered as dealing with a main issue not already covered by another source and hence included in the present chapter; or not dealing with a main issue or dealing with a main issue already covered by another source and hence disregarded. More precisely, the first author suggested an initial classification and rating that was then reviewed by the second author before an agreement was reached. Eventually, 18 academic sources were included in the final analysis informing this chapter. The main themes that emerged through the data analysis of the sources are discussed below.