Michael Pedersen shared perspectives on good governance in sport at the European Symposium on Ethics and Governance. Organized by the Chair of Law and Business Ethics at Paris-based University of Cergy-Pontoise’s School of Law, the Symposium was convened in collaboration with the OECD in the context of the annual OECD Integrity Week. It brought together approx. 200 participants at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France on 18 April 2016.

The Symposium offered a 1.5-hour casual conversation with Michael on the stage. Roxana Family facilitated the conversation in her capacity as Chair of Law and Business Ethics and Dean at University of Cergy-Pontoise’s School of Law. Topics addressed included ethics and sport as well as governance challenges facing sport organizations and evolving good governance practices in sport.

Among many perspectives shared, Michael Pedersen encouraged participants to expect societal issues to be at play in sport too, inasmuch as sport reflects society with all its beauty and all its flaws. He also outlined the complex nature of sport governance related challenges such as doping and match-fixing. Most importantly, Michael referred to conflicts of interest as the biggest, crosscutting challenge yet to be adequately and effectively addressed by any sport organization.

In terms of solutions, Michael Pedersen emphasized that a one-size-fits-all approach to good governance in sport is not the best solution, given that sport organizations across sports and countries are very different in terms of size, resources and specific governance challenges. Last but not least, he advocated the development of effective approaches to motivating and defining winning as a mix of excellent performance and excellent behavior, inside as well as outside the stadium.