INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

D. CONCLUSIONS ON “ETHICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL
ASPECTS RELATED TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES”
Introduction
Discussions about Olympism seem to eventually end up talking
about ethics. This was particularly true in the lectures and student
presentations this year. Defining « ethics » as the standard for action
and a criteria for evaluating consequences, it appears that almost every
topic covered in the modern Olympic Movement has underlying
ethical concerns that require further examination. For example, when
discussing issues of gender, violence, star cult status of athletes,
sport’s influence on the environment, amateurism, and talent
identification, it is important to consider the ethical implications and
consequences of each action. This is particularly true concerning the
1. economics/marketing of sport,
2. sport and the media,
3. doping,
4. and the notion of universalism.
A summary of what was discussed regarding these four areas, the
issues each creates, and some recommendations to make each area
more ethical in the future follows. We saw that in all of these areas it
was important to recognize that there is often a discrepancy between
ideals and reality, and between talking about issues and practical
action when making ethical decisions.
1. Ethics & Sport Economy and Marketing
There are two fundamentally different views of the role of ethics in
the economy of sport: one that tries to incorporate ethical values into
the picture by training economists and managers in the application of
soft management skills and values, and one that maintains that ethics
complicates economics too much to be of practical use. The latter
position holds that because the field of ethics asks what ought to be
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