Perceptions of Sport Governance and Performance in United Arab Emirates

This study examines the perceptions of sport regulators and executives on national sport. Mann–Whitney test and exploratory factor analyses reveal the lacking of unified interpretations of sport performance and governance between sport state regulators and sport executives. While regulators impose reform policies, sport executives perceive these policies as being jurisdictionally external, bureaucratic, and trespassing. Sport executives resist change by establishing a parallel organisational culture based on their interpretation of good governance and excellence. National sport performance is vulnerable to continuous mismatch as regulators insist on implementing reforms and sport executives seek more state funding and more institutional autonomy.