A string of doping and corruption scandals have left one third of British people with even less confidence in sport than they had a year ago, according to a survey.
Faith in administrators who run sporting organisations and the athletes themselves has been corroded by further revelations of corruption within Fifa and the doping suspicions that continue to dog Team Sky and Sir Bradley Wiggins.
A survey of 2,000 people in Britain found one third believe their “trust in the sport industry has declined in the last 12 months”.
The research appears at the heart of a new report on the future of sport seen by the Guardian and published on Wednesday by the strategic communications consultancy, the Brewery at Freuds.
Despite recent doping scandals predominantly involving athletics and cycling, it is football that fans have the least amount of confidence in, with 36% saying they do not trust the sport at all. This damning indictment of the state of national game appears to stem from the corruption at the heart of the world governing body, Fifa.
However, some of those surveyed mentioned feeling disenfranchised, with the money at the top of the game failing to translate into cheaper ticket prices for fans. A total of 74% agreed that sports today are more “concerned with making money than providing entertainment and enjoyment for their fans”.
This poses a threat to the sport industry, with one in four fans saying recent events make them less likely to attend a match and three in 10 saying they would be less likely to buy merchandise.
A perceived disconnect between multimillionaire players and those on the terraces was also cited as a reason for lacking trust. One man surveyed said: “They’re a bunch of overpaid tossers. I grew up watching a bunch of local lads who had come from nothing. Now they’re not local any more, they don’t care.”
Another said: “I don’t think I’ll ever go again. When I used to go as a kid, the atmosphere was electric. Now there’s so much money in it, it doesn’t feel real any more.”
There were some encouraging findings from the report, with a large majority recognising the important role sport can play in society. More than three quarters (77%) claimed to see elite sport as inspirational and 73% say the diverse backgrounds of sporting stars in the UK today is a celebration of a multicultural society. Seven in 10 (71%) believe sport is a force for good.
Tanni Grey-Thompson, who contributed to the report, said: “Sport has to work harder than ever to safeguard its reputation and to maintain the special relationship it has with fans. This report demonstrates that this is a time of huge change – and opportunity – across the industry. It is vital we all continue to examine what more needs to be done.”
Read the full report here
