The Improvement of Sport Governance Through Professionalization of National Sport Organizations

The main aim of this thesis was to examine the possibilities of professionalization of National Sport Organizations as a way to improve sport governance. The main objectives were to investigate the mindset of leading people in National Sport Organizations in Croatia and the region (specifically presidents, board members, and general secretaries/directors), to get an overall idea about the current state of National Sport Organization professionalization, and to find which form of professionalized National Sport Organizations contributes best towards efficiency in the context of increasing demands in sport. Another objective was to find out the possibilities of professionalization, i.e., whether National Sport Organization presidents or board members could be made up of only professionals with specific competencies needed for carrying out the tasks set out in statutes, laws, and programme, and finally, to detect the processes (e.g., accounting, legal affairs, organizing competitions, etc.) which could be professionalized in National Sport Organizations. The growing demands of stakeholders towards National Sport Organizations lead to constant problems and changes in National Sport Organization leadership structure. Starting from the existing pyramidal structure of the sport system, the aim was to examine whether and what changes could be made to introduce elements of the for-profit world to improve efficiency. Since no research has been conducted on the topic of sport governance in Croatia to achieve the aim and objectives of this thesis, a mixed methodology, exploratory sequential design, was used. The qualitative research was conducted initially, and its results served as the basis for the quantitative research, conducted in a broader sample. The research results showed that professionalization is an option to solve problems in sport governance regarding the functions and processes that follow it. Since sport has a particular significance for Croatian society and the task of NSOs is to develop and promote sport, recommendations were given to the creators of sport policy in the country to take steps to help National Sport Organizations and other sport organizations improve their functioning.