Understanding Sport Corruption： An Examination of People＇s Perceptions Toward Corruptions

The purpose of this study was to examine： （1） the relationship between people＇s perceptions toward corruptions and magnitude of national corruption in a country; and （2） the relationship between people＇s perceptions toward corruptions and sport corruptions according to different levels of corruptions in sport. To examine the relationship, 110 corruption cases in sport and Corruption Perception Index （CPI） database between 2000 and 2010 were collected and analyzed. Results of study revealed： （1） there was a positive correlation between people＇s perceptions toward corruptions and magnitude of national corruptions; （2） there was a negative correlation between people＇s perceptions toward corruptions and sport corruptions; and （3） there was a mean difference of people＇s perceptions toward corruptions between individual level （e.g., individual match-fixing） of sport corruption and team level （e.g., team doping） of sport corruption. This study provides practical implications with administrators in sport organizations in that the results of study offered better understanding of how sport corruptions are serious and how to prevent and reform different levels of sport corruptions （individual, team, organization）. Despite its contribution, this study has limitations because the study only analyzed 110 corruption cases between 2000 and 2010 and used defective corruption measurement, CPI. Thus, future research will examine sport corruptions using more appropriate measurement and will discuss how to prevent and reform corruptions in sport.