Criminological Aspects of Sport Policy

Abstract

Sport policy is a purposeful activity of various subjects connected with organizing and holding sports competitions. Such activity may be state-organized, administrative, financial, commercial, engineering and construction-related, military, security, professional, corporate, training, entertainment, relatively mass-scale, agent, referee, qualifying, and others. It should be taken into account that, besides officially recognized sports, there are also illegal competitions. Criminological aspects, connected with the possibility of crime, can be found everywhere. All of these leads to the necessity of establishing and developing sport criminology as a component of sport policy. Criminological aspects of sport policy are especially evident in the market conditions. Their analysis is necessary for the optimization of preventive work in the most important areas. The authors single out three such areas: criminal law prevention of crime in sports, enforcement of prevention policy for criminal and criminogenic sports, and counteracting sport extremism. The effectiveness of work in the first area is close to zero because special «sport» criminal law norms are not and will not be enforced. The analysis of the second area leads the authors to the conclusion that it is necessary to intensify the counteraction to criminal sports, primarily, dog fighting and street racing. As for the criminogenic sports, they can be conditionally broken into two categories: those promoting violence and cruelty, and those equipping athletes with the skills interesting for the criminal community (organized criminal groups). The first category includes MMA-type female fights. This disgusting spectacle, broadcast on TV, is absolutely contrary both to the female nature and to the traditional values of peoples of Russia. Such fights should be prohibited in the Russian Federation. The third area requires monitoring to prevent fans’ movements from turning into extremist organizations. The promotion of patriotic feelings among fans should be recognized as a strategic direction in the prevention of sport extremism.