The EU in International Sports Governance: A Principal-Agent Perspective on EU Control of FIFA and UEFA

Product Description
This book demonstrates that the European Union (EU) can curtail the autonomy of FIFA and UEFA by building upon insights from the principal-agent model. The author argues that EU institutional features complicate control, but do not render the EU powerless, and that FIFA and UEFA can deploy a variety of strategies to mitigate control.
Review
“Arnout Geeraert has written an authoritative, theoretically-informed and timely study of one of the most challenging issues facing international football. It should be required reading for all those concerned about the quality of governance of the world’s most popular sport.” (Professor Barrie Houlihan, Loughborough University, UK)
“Arnout Geeraert has written a penetrating account of how the EU has established itself in the field of sports governance. By developing an innovative framework for analysing the relationship between the EU and private governing bodies, this book’s relevance goes well beyond the area of sports governance. Required reading for anyone interested in the developing role of the EU.” (Professor Sebastiaan Princen, Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
“This book offers a very thorough and thoughtful analysis of European football governance. Arnout Geeraert provides an impressive elucidation of a complex and underexplored topic. His timely book makes a very fine contribution to the literature. It should be essential reading for all those interested in European sport governance and will also be of great interest for students and scholars of European Integration Studies and Sport Studies more generally.” (Professor Arne Niemann, University of Mainz, Germany)
From the Back Cover
This book analyses the levels of influence that the European Union (EU) has over sport governing bodies (SGBs). Contrasting with the US authorities' decisive action, the EU seemed largely absent from the 2015 FIFA corruption saga. Even though the EU has established itself as an actor in its own right in international sports governance, there is still a lack of clarity over its capabilities to control SGBs. By employing a triangular principal-agent model, and by focusing on the case of EU control of FIFA and UEFA, the author demonstrates that the EU holds significant opportunities to control SGBs through both law and policy. There are, however, important limits as well. EU institutional features complicate control, but do not render the EU powerless. Most importantly, though, SGBs can deploy a variety of strategies to mitigate control. In considering these strategies and their effects on the EU's influence, this book provides an informed analysis that will particularly appeal to students and scholars of the EU, sports organizations, and global governance.
About the Author
Arnout Geeraert is Post-Doctoral Fellow at Leuven International and European Studies (LINES), University of Leuven, Belgium. He is governance advisor to Play the Game/ Danish Institute for Sports Studies. His current work explores the role of the European Union in international sport through different theoretical lenses and looks into elements of good governance in sport organisations in general.