65. Dan Hough on integrity and corruption in sports
Dan Hough is Professor of Politics (Politics), Head of Department of Politics (Politics) at the University of Sussex, founding director of the Center for the Study of Corruption and a football (soccer) aficionado. Find out how Dan’s 14th birthday played a pivotal role in him getting interested in corruption research. Spoiler alert, it includes Ben Johnson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Johnson_(Canadian_sprinter)) In his early work, Dan studied corruption in German politics, including the donations scandal surrounding former German chancellor Helmuth Kohl (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDU_donations_scandal). Another case that links sports and corruption that Dan mentions, refers to the Andrew Mangan betting scandal (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/7987807.stm). Matthew and Dan discuss why corruption researchers need (more) patience, how the success of different anti-corruption strategies depends on the context and the challenges of democratization and anti-corruption in Kenya. The two discuss incremental change in anti-corruption, Dan referring to Willy Brandt’s approach towards the former Soviet Union (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt). The interview shifts towards discussing corruption in sports, whether we should care about it in the first place, and how big sports events can lead to “sports washing” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportswashing). Dan outlines the key difference between those who play sports to make money, versus those who make money to play sports, the importance of playing sports the right way to teach integrity. Matthew and Dan discuss social norms of corruption (lit review: https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781789904994/9781789904994.00010.xml) and the importance of how you treat referees (great podcast on that issue: https://www.pushkin.fm/episode/ref-you-suck/). The interview ends with Dan’s views about the responses to the Qatar2024 World cup and the doping allegations against the Russian Olympic athletes. Link to the CIPE award voting: https://t.co/LeTtNiPM6w?amp=1