Running head: SPORT POLICY IN SWEDEN 1

Sport Policy in Sweden

Student's Name

Institutional Affiliation
SPORT POLICY IN SWEDEN 2
SPORT POLICY IN SWEDEN 3

Sport Policy in Sweden

Swedish sports policy is among the best in the world, but this has been created by the

government's interest in people's leisure time was a critical component of an ambitious goal to

create the best conditions for citizens to live a decent life. There was a clear desire to cultivate

people into cultivated, healthy, and equal citizens. However, the multiple streams framework is

critical in understanding the development of the nation's sports policy. This framework considers

sports policy to marsh up different problems and solutions in the sports industry. These problems

do not get to be part of the policy formulation process until their reach the political arena. The

framework, therefore, works based on three streams, namely the issues, policies, and politics.

The problem stream focuses on the challenges deemed "public" in the sense that they necessitate

government intervention to resolve (Daniel & Michael, 2016). These issues usually come to the

attention of policymakers as a result of a crisis or feedback from existing programs that draw

public attention. People perceive a situation as a "problem" when it differs from their

understanding of the desired state (Daniel & Michael, 2016). On the other hand, the policy

stream focuses on the work of experts and analysts who investigate problems and develop

alternative solutions. This stream identifies, assesses, and narrows down the myriad possibilities

for policy action and inaction to several feasible recommendations for the policymakers (Daniel

& Michael, 2016). Finally, the political stream includes factors that affect the body politic, such

as national moods, changes in executive or growing interests of influential advocacy groups.

When the streams come together during specific critical times, an issue is given the

mandate as a public agenda that demands institutional resources and public policy attention; this

framework is preferred in the analysis of Swedish sports policy because it provides more than a
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systematic and linear understanding of the policy formulation process. In real-world scenarios,

policy influencers advocate for their respective interests to capitalize on arising opportunities.

These are policy entrepreneurs who play a crucial role in shaping the three streams and how they

intersect as they assess the impacts of current and future policies. As they direct public policy

trajectory, these policy entrepreneurs are the primary agencies running the multiple-streams

framework.

Multiple Streams and Sweden Port Policy

Sweden is regarded as one of the world's top sporting nations. A large percentage of its

current population is involved in sports as competitors, trainers, managers, coaches,

or supporters.   The Swedish welfare system is based on an efficient and well-organized model,

which has greatly aided the country's sports policy (Fahlén & Stenling, 2015). The sports

movement has been entrusted with organizing recreation in Sweden with financial support from

the national and local government, private industry players, and self-organized grassroots

movements.  Despite having a long history of collaboration between different stakeholders, the

national sports policy faced considerable challenges between 2000 and 2010, which redefined

the current system.

Problem Stream

Impacts of the Economic Crisis

The early 1990s economic crisis in Sweden had severe ramifications for the public sector.

The nation's expenditure dropped from 69% of GDP in 1993 to 54% in 2000. his was majorly

caused by increasing pension cuts, unemployment insurance, and the elimination of bank support

schemes. By the mid-2000s, costs relative to GDP in leisure, culture, and religion had fallen (-

0.6% points) (MGI 2012). This resulted in restructuring national and local government roles in
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sports to reduce expenditure (MGI 2012). These structural changes also impacted local

governments' involvement in organized sports. Leisure departments were integrated with culture

departments; sports facilities were contracted out, grants and subsidies were reduced, and the

remaining financial grants were channeled as remunerations for services rendered. Sports clubs

were offered the opportunity to take over responsibility for sports facilities in exchange for

grants covering a portion of the operating costs to cut down on the costs for maintenance and

administration of such facilities. As a result of performing a service in exchange for monetary

compensation, overtook the local governments and became subcontractors, further public

agencies involved in grassroots sports activities.

Drug use and Doping issues

Doping posed a serious danger to Sweden's reputation as an elite competitor, particularly

following the deaths of athletes competing at the national level. From 1989 to 1992, seven elite-

level orienteers died when training or competing. these athletes from central Sweden we

were doping to gain unfair advantages in the same area of central Sweden (Wesslén, 2001). Their

deaths sparked a wave of doubt about the country's anti-doping and drug-control laws. Doping

was also seen as a barrier to fair and open competition in European sports, particularly among

elite athletes. It was a demotivating aspect for sports in general, and it placed an excessive

amount of pressure on professionals. At the same time, concern that athletes who consume

erythropoietin (EPO) and engage in blood doping were jeopardizing sports legitimacy was

growing. The legitimacy and future of sports like cross-country skiing and other endurance-

intensive sports in Sweden depended on the nation’s ability to deter such behavior (Lindholm,

2013). These new problems brought needed to be addressed in both elite and mass participation

sport policy as they challenged the core values of sports as an educator for the citizens.
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Competitiveness at the international level and Organized sport

By 1998, the Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC) had expanded from 53 NSFs, 12,606

clubs, and slightly over 2 million members to 67 sports federations, 21,859 clubs, and

approximately 3 million members (Norberg, Sjöblom, Fahlén, & Fahlström, 2012). However, the

rate of expansion was slowing. By 2007, after the issue of the EU white paper that addressed the

importance of physical activity as a prioritized leisure activity, the slowdown period was

extended even further. The goal of the white paper was to emphasize how a lack of physical

activity contributes to the occurrence of overweight, obesity, and a variety of chronic conditions,

which are considered contributors to the strain on the economy (EU, 2007). This increased the

popularity of self-organized activities such as walking, jogging, exercising in private gyms, and

participating in adventure or alternative sports such as hiking, skateboarding, and snowboarding.

The focus on self-organized small-scale activities derailed ambitious plans which were

inaccurately implemented to commercialize sports and improve competitiveness (Fahlén &

Stenling, 2016). This created a vicious cycle of increased idolization, commercialism, spectacle,

violence, and competition focus.

Individual sports ambitions are frequently driven by a desire to achieve elite status and

the opportunity to do so is motivated by extensive commercialization. Participants' patterns are

based on socioeconomic division lines that favor the middle class. Other issues were raised as a

result of the evolution of Swedish society until 2005, such as concerns about ethics,

commercialization, and increasing opportunities for equality (Lindström, 2011). On a national

level, the boundaries between areas for leisure including outdoor activities, entrepreneurship, and

locations for rest were subject to accessibility and sustainability considerations. Questions of

responsibility were being raised, and these areas are were attracting the attention of a growing
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number of actors. It became clear that not all activities are motivated by predetermined

objectives or citizens' needs (Lindström, 2011). The Swedish sport strategy in the 2000s had a

huge difficulty in trying to achieve a balance between funding for mass participation and elite

sport activities. The dispute was whether government funds should be used to further the

objectives of a small, already privileged group of Swedish athletes, rather than establishing

advantageous conditions for more children and youngsters to participate in grassroots activities.

Shifting Political Landscape

Elite sport occupies a marginal political position in Sweden. The SSC prefers to

characterize sport's societal benefits in public health, voluntarism, and youth development, rather

than emphasizing elite sports accomplishments, achievements, and medals (Norberg et al.,

2012).  Furthermore, government support for sport was primarily in subsidies for sports facilities,

youth grants to participate in sports activities, and financial assistance to the national sporting

federations; this move resulted in even fewer targeted investments in elite sports. The reduced

investments in elite sports sparked increased forecasts on the potential loss of the nation's

competitiveness at the international level.  Furthermore, public funding of elite activities was

viewed as a lesser priority by the social democratic welfare regime founded on the ideals

of equality rather than ranking and elitism (Norberg et al., 2012).

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Policy stream

policy stream focuses on the work of experts and analysts who investigate problems and

develop alternative solutions. This stream identifies, assesses, and narrows down the myriad

possibilities for policy action and inaction to several feasible recommendations for the

policymakers

Dealing with Challenges from Economic Crisis

Drug and Doping

Differences in the rationale for combating doping occurred between policymakers and

sport stakeholders in terms of what constitutes doping under their various legislation. The

Swedish sport policy, for example, strongly supported the use of amphetamines as a prescription

drug (Lindholm, 2013). The international community which the Swedish Sports Confederation

was part of outlawed the use of such drugs earlier despite laxity implementing the policies by

individual nation states.  Anti-Doping Sweden (ADSE) began efforts to systematically decrease

anomalies and continuously improve its operations in order to meet the standards of the World

Anti-Doping Code. The expectations of athletes clubs, special interest groups, athletes and

members of the public was also just as important for a doping-free sport. However, the decision
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was motivated by a desire to adapt to emerging international norms rather than a need to

critically evaluate local policies addressing elite sports. The key proposals in this case were to

improve the effectiveness of sports governing bodies' processes and working techniques in drug-

free affairs, as well as to become ISO-certified.

The role of alcohol and cigarettes in mass participation policy was a prominent issue of

discussion at the Swedish Sports Confederation's General Assembly in 2003. The assembly's

goal was to update the alcohol and tobacco policy restrictions in sport (Riksidrottsförbundet

2012). One of the movements' goals was to assist the government's efforts to reduce alcohol and

cigarette consumption and raise the age for drinking among the youth. The movement also

emphasized smoke-free interior environments and smoke-free outdoor zones. The use of drugs

was often associated with their advertising strategies, which enticed younger generations to turn

to drugs rather than health measures that were not just a model for Sweden, but also for Europe.

Competitiveness and organized Sport response

To counteract the detrimental consequences of commercialization, the focus needed to

move to the Swedish model, which emphasizes sports for all. To counter private institutional ties

impacts on sports differentiation was recommended. However, in Sweden, the state sport

subsidies are traditionally given to monopolistic umbrella organizations. This made it extremely

difficult to differentiate the role of private which is critical for competitiveness and providing

sport for all through mass participation at grassroot level. Differntiating these roles also faced the

fact that the parliament and the government decided on the funding, while  the SSC, decided on

the distribution and administration details.

The main policy priority became mass participation through widened recruitment and

decrease of drop-out rates for the government to gain public favor for fund distribution. When it
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comes to sports funding, One-third of sport clubs' revenues came from and training and

membership fees in the 2000s, one-third came from commercial operations like lotteries,

sponsorship, and sales activities, and the remaining third came from governmental money

(Riksidrottsförbundet 2012). Local governments also donated approximately to facilitate sport

facilities and sport club activities (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016). county councils also contributed

in running of RSFs. As a result, national government support for sport was traditionally been

based on tax income. As a result, it became part of the national budget and was subject to annual

scrutiny by the legislature. Fredrik Reinfeldt’s government needed to make mass participation a

priority in order to defend the allocation of tax funds to a non-governmental bodies. This priority

was linked to the legitimacy of government funding, which is based on the assumption that sport

has a societal impact in terms of public health and civic engagement, as well as organized sport's

ability to make its activities accessible to a broad range of people. To summarize, the Swedish

government has both recognized elite sports as a public concern and, granted requests for

government support and talent development since the turn of the millennium.

Political Stream

the political stream includes factors that affect the body politic, such as national moods,

changes in executive or growing interests of influential advocacy groups.

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Drug use and Doping in sports

At the European level, anti-doping policies considered both a legal and a health and fair

competition (European Union, 2007). The case law of the European Convention on Human

Rights against doping holds a state liable for the actions their participants in elite sports as

the state is believed to have delegated a task to the private entity. If violations of drug use and

doping are discovered, Sweden, as a signatory state, will be held accountable for acts it directed

private entities to commit (Lindholm, 2013). Sweden was also a key player in the World Anti-

Doping Agency's (WADA) anti-doping program, promoting doping-free sports. The Swedish

Sports Confederation is responsible for monitoring EU member states' efforts to combat doping

in other international contexts, including within the EU, and it also collaborates with the Swedish

Olympic Committee on international anti-doping issues. Sweden's commitment to anti-doping

and drug use policy in both elite and mass sport has become more than just a policy formulation

process for the Swedes. The use of stimulants like Amphetamines for improve athletic

performance rather than for medical reasons was illegalized. In 2000, the Doping Act was
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amended to criminalize possession of certain stimulants without a medical prescription.

However, as erythropoietin (EPO) use was relatively uncommon among the general public,

policymakers were less concerned about it as a public health issue or a negative factor in a

country's sport policy reputation. There was no rationale for such a move unless policymakers

felt compelled to drastically change existing regulations to conform to international standards

Anti-Doping Sweden also ensured any anomalies in its legislative process is streamlined

in the face of international community through a quality management system focusing on

fairness and fight against doping. ADSE processes and regulations were also ISO certified by

2002 as it acts as the umbrella guiding sport activities and anti-doping regulations (Anti-Doping

Sweden, n.d). Policy implementation also become strict as athletes caught with steroids became

subject to criminal charges. An excellent example in elite sports is the case of Robin Rahm who

was a professional ice hockey goalkeeper. Rahm tested positive for a number of anabolic

substances. The application of such policies especially in elite sports could be viewed as harsh.

However, association of sports enhancement and doping medications to national pride made

cases like Rahm high profile. Increased media reporting on the suspension even resulted in

police enforcement launched that resulted in admittance of substance abuse and subsequently

getting a two-year suspension.

Sport policy in Sweden was highly liked to the positive values of the society. Similar to

the internalization of anti-doping policies, other drug policies got attention at national level with

the intention of keeping sports activities drug free. The Alcohol Act (2010:1622) was enacted

with the intent of restricting the sale of alcoholic beverages. All legal advertising of alcoholic

beverages (more than 2.25 percent alcohol by volume) must achieve a certain level of

moderation, according to the statute. It should not be obtrusive, demanding, or encourage the
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consumption of alcoholic beverages, and it should not be directed at anyone below 25 years. The

Radio and Television Act prohibits was also established to prohibit alcohol advertisements on

television and radio (2010:696) as a way of limiting access to under aged (Nordia Law, 2019).

These policy changes affecting mass participation in sports was not random. The arising issues

of violence and aggression in sports was partly attributed to the use of drugs. Support for the

policy therefore capitalized on increasing need by the public to maintain the model of “sport for

good” and increasing need for active involvement by youth is sports.

Competitiveness and organized Sport

There was no better way to improve mass participation than through the largest

movement that appeals to the emotions of the Swedish households-youth movement. In 2005 the

General Assembly of the Swedish Sports Confederation requested a strategy for the sports

movement’s collaboration with the schools. The staff of the Swedish Sports federation and of

Swedish Sports Education jointly produced a strategic plan to which will be added an action

plan. The aim of the plan was to raise the sports movement’s ambitions and to seek to achieve

two fundamental goals in the secondary schools. The strategy will also provide guidelines for

collaborating with the schools in the Lift for sport programs. Both short and long term projects

were implemented including the Young leaders project that ran from January 2008 until June

2009. This program was part of the Lift for sport and is aimed in the first instance at leaders with

posts of responsibility in youth clubs as well as athletes aged 16 to 25 (Riksidrottsförbundet

n.d.). Another trajectory for the sport policy was “the Handshake’ program” was launched in

2002–2006 (€100 million) to encourage sport organizations to intensify cooperation with

schools, invest more in girls’ participation and to reduce fees for participation, with the

overarching aim of opening doors to sport for more children and youth (Fahlén & Stenling,
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2016). The program funds were distributed by letting sport clubs apply for funding for activities

corresponding to the program objectives. The basic idea of the program was to stimulate

development in NSFs and to let sports clubs apply for funding for projects aimed towards the

program’s ambitions.

This increased and explicit focus on mass-participation sparked a debate on the effects of

Handshake program on elite sports development resulting in the formation of the Democratic

Fostering and Competition Fostering (DFCF) (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016). DFCF was tasked with

the role of evaluating the effect of the state’s support to elite sport development. The inquiry

determined that elite sport goals were missing in government sport policy which made its

incorporation in the Handshake program a challenge. Consequently, the inquiry suggested for the

state sport policy to be supplemented by an explicit elite sport purpose, accompanied by

earmarked resources to develop at the same rate as mass participation rather being left in a

marginal position (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016). The proposal eventually resulted in a €25 million

quadrennial, means-tested support for Swedish elite sport (Fahlén & Stenling, 2016), providing

some counterweight to the sport-for-all focus prevailing during most of the history of

government support to sport.