Managing Drugs in Sport

As recent high-profile drugs scandals have demonstrated, sport organisations rarely have a coherent, meaningful, long-term management strategy regarding drug use and abuse. Typically, sport managers hope drug problems never happen and engage in damage control when they do. This important new book argues that drugs in sport must be seen as a legitimate management issue; that the reality is that athletes will use and misuse drugs, and that sport managers require a sophisticated understanding of this issue to enable them to develop effective strategies and responses.

Drawing on cutting-edge management theory, the book explores the characteristics of drugs in sport as another aspect of managerial life. It offers a broad-ranging introduction to the policy and business contexts that have shaped responses to the issue of drugs in sport, and examines the significance of this issue in functional areas of sport management such as human resource management, marketing, risk management, and entrepreneurialism. The book discusses practical management concerns, such as managing sport science programs and working with anti-doping organisations, and offers clear recommendations for the future management of sport.

This is the first book to offer a complete framework for engaging with drugs in sport as both a management and integrity issue, and is important reading for all advanced students, researchers and practitioners working in sport management, sport business, sport policy, sport governance, or business ethics.