Political clientelism in Turkish sports federations

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Research question: The present study poses the question: are clientelistic relations present between sport federations and political power, and if yes, how are these exhibited?Research methods: The qualitative research approach to data collection included interviews with stakeholder representatives, analyses of legal/political documents and assessment of press coverage. The stakeholder interviews were conducted with the presidents and board members of sports federations and bureaucrats from the Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sport (n = 8).Results and findings: The findings confirmed the presence of clientelistic networks in Turkish sports. Notably, the election process for presidents and board members was manipulated by politicians, and ‘their own people’ were supported in gaining management positions. At the operational level, the events and decisions of federations were manipulated by the political power for politicians’ interests. Additionally, the allocation of budgets and the ease of accessing funds were shown to advantage politically supported ‘client’ federations.Implications: This research demonstrated that political clientelism and manipulation was present in the Turkish sports system. The study also highlighted political influence as an obstacle to the democratic structure of sports federations.