Corruption In Football: Essay On Business Ethics Perspective.

Theories of Business Ethics

Discuss about the Corruption in Football.

Business ethics are the moral principles which show the way how a business should behave. By the help of this business ethics, anybody is able to examine the ethical principles and the ethical problems which occur within a business environment (Dierksmeier et al., 2016). Business ethics is actually the study of business practices and policies regarding the controversial issues related to the business such as insider trading, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, fiduciary responsibilities, discrimination, and corruption. Most of the time, these business ethics are guided by the governmental laws, however, these business ethics also provide a framework to every business by the help of which the organizations are able to obtain the acceptance of their public (Ferrell et al., 2015). In the recent days, sports are the most important part of the human’s life. However, it is also a conflicting phenomenon. Sports are connected with both the great humanistic values and dirty business such as corruption, doping, violence, etc. Corruption is actually the dishonest behavior of those people who have the power or authority such as the government officials and the managers of the sports associations (DesJardins & McCall, 2014). This corruption resembles those unethical activities such as accepting or giving bribes, laundering money, defrauding investors, double dealing, diverting funds, manipulating election, and under-the-table transactions. Nowadays, the football sport also gets highly corrupted and affects the entire association tremendously.

Consequentialism theory considers those acts which are morally right and depends only on the consequences and on the goodness of those consequences. Consequentialism is actually the category of normative ethical theories which considers the consequences of the behavior of a person and judges them whether they are right or wrong according to the conduct (Garriga & Melé, 2013). Basically, Consequentialism only says that whether the act of a particular person is right or wrong depending on the results of their act or behavior. It identifies the right and wrong behavior of any person who is related with the association depending on the moral or values of that particular organization. Consequentialist Ethical Theory is actually a general normative theory which depends on the moral evaluation of any rules, acts or institutions only based on the goodness of the consequences (Khalid Ali et al., 2014). There are two types of Consequentialism. They are as follows

According to this theory, it is found that how the consequences affect an individual or a group. Egoism is actually an action which is morally right at that time when the decision maker is able to decide freely to follow their interests or desires (Weiss, 2014).

Consequentialism theory

Universal Consequentialism

According to this theory, it is found that how the consequences affect each and every party who are involved. Universal Consequentialism is actually the moral rightness of all people based on the consequences.

Both types of Consequentialism theory are related to the theory of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is also a Consequentialist Ethical Theory which states that the morality of any act only depends on some relation which is related to the average utility (Hoffman et al., 2014). Utilitarianism is actually the principle of greatest happiness. The theory of utilitarianism basically depends on the quantitative maximization of the level of doing something good for humanity or the society. Utilitarianism is actually a form of Consequentialism. Most of the utilitarian theories are engage with producing a large amount of good for humanity and society. However, negative utilitarian is promoted to prevent a large amount of evil or harm (Hartman et al., 2014). Act utilitarianism is actually looked into the single actions and basically depends on the moral judgment of the pleasure amount, whereas rule utilitarianism looks into the action of a class and asks the person that whether the action is able to create more pleasure than the amount of pain for the society.

Non- Consequentialism theory

According to the Non-Consequentialist Theory, any person is able to judge the rightness or wrongness of any action depending on the intrinsic properties of that particular action, not on their consequences. It is a general normative theory of morality which determine the rightness or wrongness of any act, rules, or pattern of running a business (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). It basically depends on the other parts rather than the goodness or badness of the consequences of that particular action.

The Non-Consequentialism theory is of two types. They are as follows

Ethics of duties or Deontological theory basically support the moral judgments rather than the principles or rules.  Deontological theory mainly focuses on the independent moral duties or rules (Eon Rossouw & Van Vuuren, 2010). According to this theory, if anybody wants to make any correct decision which has a greater value then it is required to for that particular person to have a clear idea about the moral duties and should understand the exact rules related to that particular decision. The term deontological means “reasoning of duty”. This theory does not consider the consequences of any action (Horne & Manzenreiter, 2016). They only consider the moral or goodness of their duties. It basically determines the rightness or wrongness of any acts or rules.

Non-Consequentialism theory

Ethics of rights and justice

Natural rights are the basic thing which is required in every action. In every action, the natural rights of any person should be respected and protected. Justice is the fair treatment of any individual in any type of given situation which they deserve (Nelen, 2015). The ethics of rights basically consider those behaviors which are morally good when any individual acts on the principle of rights and also show respect to the rights of the other people such as the human rights. Ethics of justice is also called morality of justice (Palmer & Megaw, 2014). Justice and rights are not distinct issues. However, the term “rights” generally highlight a different aspect of the term "justice". Duty is the main thing which links the justice and rights.

Recently, in continues manner the Federation Internationale de Football Association i.e. FIFA lose their credibility. Day by day the rate of corruption is getting increased as the World Cup is the biggest event in the world of football and huge numbers of people watching this event. In the recent days, sports are the most important part of the human's life (Hopkins & Treadwell, 2014). Generally, sports are connected with both the great humanistic values and dirty business such as corruption, doping, etc.  In football most of the cases of corruption are takes place relating to the games such as the players perform badly, sometimes the players intentionally lose the game because they take lots of money from those people who bet that the player's team should lose the game, etc.  There also have other types of corruption which take place within the football game (Boeri & Severgnini, 2014).

Business ethics is actually the study of business practices and policies regarding the controversial issues related to the business.  According to the theories of business ethics, corruption is an unethical activity which is performed by the players or the managers within a football organization. According to deontological theory, one should support the duty of another person, but if the person follows any unethical duties then it goes against the business ethics (Nowy & Breuer, 2016). For example when a player takes lots of money from the people who bet that the player's team is losing the game then the whole team also support that player and share the betting money among them. This type of activity is absolutely unethical because large numbers of people watch these events and those players do not have any rights to make jokes of the beliefs of these viewers (Chiweshe, 2014). This also hampers the quality and ability of the players. When the performance of the players or the decisions of the managers of the football association is able to bring out positive outcomes then it can be said that they supports Consequentialism but if they follow any unethical activities such as doping, betting, or other activities which create corruption then it is said that they do not support Consequentialism. Actually, according to the Consequentialism, it supports any activities which ultimately results better in future (Cashmore & Dixon, 2016). However, some of the times the competition among the bookies influences the players to give their better performance.

Relation between Business Ethics and Corruption in Football

In this case though betting is an illegal activity but the conflicts among the bookies help to improve the quality of the team. There also has another example that sometimes the higher authority paid more money to their players for better performance in that case to taking money is an unethical activity for the players but ultimately the result is good for future. Hence, such type of activities is good for the business of a football organization. However, corruption tremendously affects the business of this football association and also has a bad impact on this sport and society. Nowadays, it is found that there are some business ethics issues which affect the entire sports sector (Bean, 2016). The sports industry is actually an odd combination of those businesses which are highly profitable, passionate spectators and fans, celebrities, etc. for this reason the stakes are also high professionally and financially. Sports like football are generally related to huge amount of gambling. This sport is a multi-million-pound industry which is inclined towards the organized crime and corruption. There are several cases of corruption in the world of football. In the year of 2010-11, the executive committee of FIFA has been charged for selling votes for those countries that, who became the host of the World Cup (Sugden & Tomlinson, 2016). At that time, the largest telecom company of Germany looks into the illegal activities for trying to win the contracts which value millions of Euros from the company of Volkswagen. According to the Non-Consequentialist Theory, any person is able to judge the rightness or wrongness of any action depending on the intrinsic properties of that particular action, not on their consequences (McLeod, 2014).

It is a general normative theory of morality which determine the rightness or wrongness of any act, rules, or pattern of running a business. Therefore, according to this theory, the largest telecom company in Germany is able to judge the wrongness of Volkswagen Company. Business ethics are the moral principles which show the way how a business should behave (Kyprianou, 2013). By the help of this business ethics, anybody is able to examine the ethical principles and the ethical problems which occur within a business environment. Corruption is actually the dishonest behavior of those people who have the power or authority such as the government officials and the managers of the sports associations. This corruption resembles those unethical activities such as accepting or giving bribes, laundering money, defrauding investors, double dealing, diverting funds, manipulating election, and under-the-table transactions (Boeri & Severgnini, 2013). The Bilfinger association is also blamed that they have paid a huge amount of bribe money for getting the order to construct stadia in Brazil. The persons who are involved in such type of corrupted activities have to face severe consequences such as heavy fines, suspended from any sports for a long period of time, loss of job permanently, etc. Due to this corruption, the essence of football is getting destroyed. This essence of football is generally consisting of the sportsmanship and behavioral values of the players and also their love for their game and fans. Corruption always found a way to affect everything within that particular sport. If in such way corruption is continues for few more years then it totally destroys the sports industry (Paradiso, 2016).

Day by day the fans or the people lost their energy and interest on this sport and do not want to engage their time by supporting something which is known as fake. Each and every football league in every corner of the world is affected by the consequences of corruption. The football associations should keep their main focus on avoiding corruption from that time when it takes place for the first time. If this corruption is successfully removed from the sports industry then there is no need for further investigation in future (Di Ronco & Lavorgna, 2015).  If the football organizations or associations are able to stop corruption before it takes place, then they are able to win the half battle against corruption. Recently, the scandals which are occurring in World Cup have brought the corruption to the attention of every human being. If the people and also the football associations do not start to fight against the corruption then it will affect the entire sport and end up the game totally. Due to this corruption, the fans also stop to support their teams or players and thus the game lost its popularity. Each and every football institutions should establish an investigation team, whose main task is to investigate the illegal activities within the organization and stop them immediately (Numerato, 2015). The football associations also implement some prevention methods, by the help of which the investigation team is able to examine the unethical activities and immediately stop them before it happens. If corruption is removed from the sports industry then everybody is able to enjoy the actual game. For understanding the current situation of corruption in sports industry one should have a clear idea about the theories of business ethics (Carmichael et al., 2014). By the help of these theories, one should understand what is right or what is wrong for the football associations and the players to improve and develop themselves for future. By the help of these theories of business ethics anybody is able to identify the unethical activities such as corruption, betting, accepting bribe money, laundering money, defrauding investors, double dealing, diverting funds, manipulating election, under-the-table transactions etc. which takes place within the game and sports industry. By the help of Consequentialism theory, one should able to understand the consequences of corruption and the goodness and badness of any activities (Haberfeld & Sheehan, 2014). Consequentialism only says that whether the act of a particular person is right or wrong depending on the results of their act or behavior. It identifies the right and wrong behavior of any person who is related with the association depending on the moral or values of that particular organization. The utilitarian theories are engaged with producing a large amount of good for humanity and society (Reade, 2014). However, negative utilitarian is promoted to prevent a large amount of evil or harm. The events like a football league, World Cup tournaments, etc. have a great impact on the society. As for example, in the year of 2010, South Africa hosted the world’s largest event FIFA World Cup. After that, they are able to stimulate their local economy and the people of South Africa also able to enjoy the advantage or benefits of social mobility which is provided by that big event (Brooks et al., 2013). Therefore, it can be said that by the help of the theories of business ethics one should able to detect the goodness of this event and the positive impact of this sport on the society.

To prevent corruption in football, at first, it is required to stop the betting activities, match-fixing, etc. The football associations or the institutions should take a strict action against those people who are involved in such unethical activities. If the people and also the football associations do not start to fight against the corruption then it will affect the entire sport and end up the game totally. Due to this corruption, the fans also stop to support their teams or players and thus the game lost its popularity. At the time of training period, the football associations should aware the players about the demerits and effects of this corruption on their future. The seniors of these football institutions should train the new players to follow ethical activities and never support the unethical activities within the game. Each and every football institutions should establish an investigation team, whose main task is to investigate the illegal activities within the organization and stop them immediately. The football associations also implement some prevention methods, by the help of which the investigation team is able to examine the unethical activities and immediately stop them before it happens. If corruption is removed from the sports industry then everybody is able to enjoy the actual game.

Conclusion

According to the theories of business ethics, corruption is an unethical activity which is performed by the players or the managers within a football organization. Corruption always found a way to affect everything within that particular sport. If in such way corruption is continues for few more years then it totally destroys the sports industry. Due to this corruption, in future, the fans should lose their interest in the sports and stop to support their favorite team as they do not want to invest their time on fake events. By the help of these theories of business ethics anybody is able to identify the unethical activities.  If the people and also the football associations do not start to fight against the corruption then it will affect the entire sport and end up the game totally.

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