DEVELOPMENT OF A BASIC MODEL USING INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY FOR SPORTS MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING IN ARAB
SOCIETIESLAMARTINE PEREIRA DACOSTA
PROFESSOR
UNIVERSIDADE GAMA FILHO, PPGEF
ANA MARIA MIRAGAYAASSISTANT PROFESSOR
UNIVERSIDADE GAMA FILHO
Prince Faisal bin Fahad International Prize for Arab Sports Research
Development – Sixth Session (2006-2007)
Third category: Sports Marketing
Personal research
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ABSTRACTThe present research aims to select and describe a basic model for sports
management which can be used by Arab societies, with emphasis on marketingas a tool of promotion and development of sport in its different manifestations.
The research problem from which such research originated (major assumption)is related to the question of how to develop management and sports marketingin the Arab world, which today shows not only practices and sports events ofhigh relevance but also cases of low relevance of management. The social,
cultural and technological context which refers to the problem of the research
was established through recent scientific literature review published by Arabauthors. For this purpose it was observed that Information Technology – IT and
the Internet are today’s choices of larger convergence in the consulted sources
for a fast, balanced and adequate development to the cultural and religious
customs of Arab societies as a whole. As a first step, this investigation applied a
Test of Concepts (Conceptual Testing), which could guide the elaboration of theintended basic model. The methodology in this case was defined by theapplication of a semi-open questionnaire following traditional marketing
techniques, having as universe of respondents the National Olympic Academies –NOAs of Islamic countries. The application of such an instrument of datacollection was done personally, initially in Olympia Greece, in June of 2006, andafterwards through e-mail with respondents either related or indicated by the
NOAs until January 2007. Out of the 14 most active Islamic NOAs, according toregisters obtained from the International Olympic Academy (Greece), 8
manifested by means of the respondents linked to them, which represented
57.1% of the total. This result validated the research through posted
questionnaire. The 15 respondents who participated in activities at the NOAs
added comments to the tested concepts through the questionnaire. The second
stage of the investigation was the interpretation of the results by means ofcriteria of convergence, from which 5 concepts were selected according to a
problem-solving formula. After that these concepts acted as principles for the
choice of a model of management and marketing already experimented and inoperation and which could fulfill the general objective of the research. In
conclusion, such process by comparisons fell upon the choice of the “ATLAS OF
SPORTS”, a database of free access and non-commercial use which proved to becapable to cater in a simplified fashion for today’s fundamental demands for thedevelopment of sports in the Arab world through IT and the Internet.

2

DEVELOPMENT OF A BASIC MODEL USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYFOR SPORT MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING IN ARAB SOCIETIESINTRODUCTION“The Olympic ideals and principles exactly coincide with what our Islamic religion
has been preaching for fourteen centuries”.
HRH Prince Faisal Bin Fahad, “Saudi Arabia and Olympism”,
Olympic Review, nº132, 1978, pp. 628-632.

The present research aims to select and describe a basic model for sports
management which can be used by Arab societies, with emphasis on marketingas a tool of promotion and development of sport in its different manifestations.
The research problem from which such research originated (major assumption)is related to the question of how to develop management and sports marketingin the Arab world, which today shows not only practices and sports events ofhigh relevance but also cases of low relevance of management in cooperation
between countries, regions and sports disciplines.
The hypothesis that gives support to the construction of a basic model for
management refers to the opportunity that countries that have various ethnic
groups and economic situations and which follow the Islamic religion can
improve not only sports practices and results but also international competitivity.
In other words, the perfecting of sports management and marketing in this caserepresents some reinforcement of the national economies as well as anadvancement of the Arab societies as a unified block through sport, especiallythrough Olympic sport, which is already traditional in the Arab world.
Within the context of the initial approaches of this study, it is important tocharacterize sports management and marketing in adjustments to the generalobjective and to the central hypothesis of this investigation. Within these3

circumstances, once more, opportunity has been adopted as criterion. It is thenessential to cite the following Arabic source of studies on management whenchallenges of the new millennium are analyzed: “A new generation of Arableadership has started to surface in several Arab countries, one that is familiar
with the high-tech world, which embraces a global vision, and can reasonably
aspire to world-class standards of excellence, with such leadership, countries of
the region will be in a better position to promote a common vision based onthese values” (Azzam, 2002, p. xi)
In terms of the general direction of this investigation, sports management
and marketing has been understood as dependent on a platform of informationthat allows identification and selection of necessary interventions for thedevelopment and promotion of sports in Arab societies. This would start from
relationships with the Olympic ideals and the Olympic Movement which already
exist

in

operational

conditions.

Such

platformofinformation

has

been

understood by the present study as part of the Internet and for this concept it isnecessary to cite Azzam (2002, pp. 36-37): “ The impact of the Internet on thedeveloping countries, including those in the Arab region, could be more powerfulthan in the West. Countries with high distribution margins, less competition andprice transparency are likely to see the biggest gains in efficiency as a result of
the Internet”.
As a result, sports management and marketing in the adopted option by
this research are defined basically as a tool which includes a network of
relationships via Internet, in which autonomous users cooperate with one
another generating and sharing information. As information becomes knowledge,that is to say, nexus of practical utilization, always re-interpreted within time
periods and geographical space, it makes up the bases for decision-making
processes or technical elaborations. The collaborators of this process of mutual
development within the Arab world are not only federations, clubs, managers

4and sports coaches but also companies, government agencies, investors, various
groups and people potentially able to generate information and support sports
activities for either commercial purposes or not-for-profit objectives.
In a last instance, the concepts/meanings of management and marketingare understood by this investigation as dependent on basic information about
conditions of operation of sports activities. If information is not available,
improvisation will take over, which will push away financing sources andpotential sponsors.
The evidences that pointed to the construction of the presuppositions of
this aforementioned investigation were:1.

Sports which have been related to the Olympic Movement
inaugurated by Pierre de Coubertin since the very beginning of
the 20th century in Arab societies with continuous expansion
and overcoming of conflicts between the nations and blocks
affiliated to the International Olympic Committee.

2.

The constant presence of Arab societies in the Olympic Gamesand in other events of great international importance reflects
adherence of institutions and governments as well as popularinterest in sport.

3.

The growing involvement of the Arab world in Olympic events
has been recently reinvigorated by the 15th Asian Games which
took place in Doha, Qatar, in 2006, when the strategy ofstaging the 2016 Olympic Games in this Arab country wasestablished by means of official initiative of the Qatar National
Olympic Committee – QNOC (China View, 2007)1.

4.

The impact of the good management practices utilized by QNOC
in the Asian Games 2006 were recognized in the Olympic milieu
of the West as it shows in the London 2012 Forum (2006)2 .

5

5.

Since the end of the decade of 1990, technical studies of Arabauthorshave

indicatedthedevelopment

ofInformation

Technology – IT as a pre-requisite to be fulfilled by the Islamic
countries so that they have success in national development
and active participation within the global economy of the 21st
century(Masmoudi,

1998;

Ayish,

1998).

This

prognosis

presupposes the development of sports in the Arab world as
dependent on a better and always growing use of IT in its
management and marketing.

DELIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
The above evidence (number 5) delimits initially the research here reported
according to the items that follow:i.

The field of definitions of the research is IT, in which it refers to thecirculation of information and respective transformation in knowledge
usable in sports management and marketing.

ii.

The degree of generalization of the model of IT to be constructed andof the description of its operational details should be regulated by areview of sources of Islamic countries in relation to the degree ofpenetration of the new technologies of computers within thesesocieties.

iii.

Following Masmoudi (1998, p. 134), author who discusses losses andbenefits of IT in Arab Societies, the delimitation of this research has
considered

the cultural factor –which includes

religion –asfundamental in the sense of the observation of the level and of the6pace of adoption of new technologies in terms of construction of theaforementioned model in items i and ii.
iv.

Another delimitation which seemed to be adequate was that of sports
related to the Olympic Movement and the International Olympic
Committee, which was equally developed in Arab societies, following
the doctrine of international cooperation with complete independenceof each country affiliated to Olympic organizations and events.3 This
investigation does not include non-Olympic sports and their peculiarorganizations as they had either unequal patterns of adherence ornone at all in relation to the nations that make up the Arab world.

v.

The delimitation which focuses only on a model of management andmarketing through the Internet is admitted in this investigation as
point of departure and basic platform for common development of the
Arab societies in these disciplines of knowledge of modern sport. Thisapproach does not necessarily exclude other versions of management
and marketing which are either already available in the cited countries
or planned to be implemented in the future.

METHODOLOGY STRATEGYThe objective of selecting a basic model of sports management andmarketing through the Internet implied in assuming exploratory research, that is
to say, a study in which the problem is not sufficiently described and delimited inits details.
As such, this exploratory research is classified as qualitative as it is used
to indicate answers to the questions related to ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘when’, and not‘how often’, or ‘how many’, typified by quantitative research. These choices aremuch more justified by Gumuresson (2000, p.85-86), specialist in researchmethods in management and marketing, who considers qualitative research7equivalent to quantitative. The distinction between both types resides in thecapacity of the qualitative nexus to produce understanding or ‘Verstehen’,according to the jargon of scientific methodology, while quantification is related
to explanation, which is generally causal, without any attention to meanings ofrelationships and of socio-cultural processes.
Moore (1992), another classic author in the area of management andmarketing, recommends the use of exploratory and qualitative research to test
concepts before the launching of a new product in the market. In this case, thetest consists of the submission of written concepts to users of the future product,
service or strategy through personal interviews, field surveys and focus groups.
This procedure of consultations can be complemented by quantitative methods,
combining understanding with explanation.
This way, the selection of a basic model of management and marketingfor Arab societies naturally depends on qualitative exploratory research about
concepts that will give support and meaning to the intended choice. In thisparticular, Moore (1982) adds that the concepts to be tested should describe
solutions to one problem. Actually, Oyen (1992, pp. 1-10) proposes descriptive
comparative research in face of problems of diversity of opinions, concepts,
behaviors etc. in a given group of countries. A methodological strategy (crossnational) which treats data – concepts, in this case – related to one point at atime is then admitted in this research.
Besides his preoccupation in having transversal research and avoidingchanges in time periods that cannot be compared, Oyen (1992, p.10)
emphasizes the necessary distinction between micro and macro levels fordescriptive and comparative analyses. Effectively, a concept with cross-national
meaning can only be justified in macro-level terms because the diversity ofdetails does not allow for adequate comparisons at the lowest levels.

8

To sum up, the investigation presented by this report was delineatedtaking into consideration item iii of the previous section “Delimitations of the
Research”, which emphasized the cultural factor – religion included – asfundamental. And, in these circumstances, the study fell upon a test of concepts,
which took place before the choice of the IT model. Such concepts were
understood as referring to Olympic sport once cultural approaches were admitted
as part of scientific literature review, naturally elaborated from Arab sources.
The investigation was then developed as follows by items of operation.

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE RESEARCH
The field survey consisted of the application of a questionnaire which
included concepts related to culture, religion and perspectives of economic andsocial development of the Arab world, having as complement sports in generaland Olympic sports in particular. The written statements in a total of 16 items
were produced as scientific literature review, which is recent and which
originated from Arab authors. Each statement was adjusted to the sports areaaccording to current knowledge in Olympic studies and multiculturalism obtainedin DaCosta (2002, pp. 39-176).
The concepts elaborated for this test were all referred to the macro levelof cross-national comprehension of the Arab world and as such only three
answers were possible to be accepted: ‘yes”, “no” and “do not know”. This levelof generalization of the answers was adequate to the macro level perspective. It
had Oyen (1992, p.10) as support when this author suggested that people ingeneralunderstand better the nexus of space in hierarchically ordered levels

including the social environment and the nation in which they live.
As a result, the cross-national context was admitted as valid by means ofgeneralizations already found in the literature review, once possible details could
produce false causalities. In other words, answers in scale – such as Lickert’s for9example – or othermethodological solutions were not considered in thisresearch because each concept should be tested as either adequate or not toIslamic nations in general.
The questionnaire was elaborated as semi-open with enough space forcomments from the respondents. This was done to increase the degree ofparticipation in the research.
To sum up, the objective of the applied instrument in this field research
was to test concepts that could guide the choice of a basic model ofmanagement and marketing adjusted to the necessary sports relations among
Arab societies. And, in this sense, the questionnaire was applied between June
2006 and January 2007, initially through personal contact and later through email, according to the reports that follow. Appendix 1 shows the questionnaire
here described and analyzed in relation to its application and validity.
RESPONDENTS
The preliminary design of the research defined the National Olympic
Academies (NOAs) as support agents for the information which is necessary totest the concepts of the model to be identified as that of sports management andmarketing. This decision was based on the fact that the NOAs are consideredsegments of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) – maximum authorities in
Olympic sports in each Arab society, which devote themselves to studies andinvestigations and which circulate internationally with continuous participation in
the activities of the International Olympic Academy (IOA), headquartered inAncient Olympia, Greece.
A consultation to IOA Reports4 published between 2000 and 2004 showedthat the NOAs present at the annual IOA Sessions were the ones hosted in
Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Sudan, Oman, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria and Iran. This group of NOAs was thenconsidered as the universe of this investigation in terms of Islamic nations as

10they fulfill minimum and adequate qualifications for the test of concepts
materialized by questionnaire of Appendix 1. It is important to notice that thenature of the research problem demanded from the respondents a preliminary
concept of the status of Olympic sport in each country in focus and in the Islamic
world as a whole, reducing the universe of qualified informers.
The application of the questionnaire was directed to subjects who
participated in the activities of the NOAs, which resulted in a total of 14 potential
respondents. This total equals to the whole of Islamic countries here considered
proactive due to their active participation in the IOA events. Therefore, thecriterion of being proactive was applied in order to give more consistency to thechosen group of respondents.

SAMPLEThe present investigation proved inadequate to the use of statisticalmethods and of samples which included a great number of respondents because
the object of this research was Islamic culture and technological advancement,
which requires qualitative comprehension of relationships between society andtechnology instead of quantitative explanations which do not belong to cultural
phenomena.
Therefore, the sample of this study was defined as indicative and notstatistical of the universe of 14 NOA respondents when the answers to thequestionnaire were studied. These positive replies included 8 NOAs, representing
57.1% of the universe of this research. This result was considered satisfactory
once the procedure of posting questionnaires is valid from 10% of return (Bing,
Akintoye, Edwards & Hardcastle, 2005).
It is essential to point out that the totality of the respondents had links
with the respective NOAs and that in the cases of Tunisia, Sudan, Qatar and11

Saudi Arabia there were 2 informers. Three informers were linked to NOAs of
Iran, and Oman, making up in these conditions 15 respondents, representing the
8 countries of the sample. Appendix 2 shows the relationship of the informers of
the questionnaire survey with their NOAs of origin as well as their electronic
addresses.
The initial application of the questionnaire was done through personal
contact and interview with 7 respondents (Tunisia, Sudan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
Oman and Iran)5.
The 46th International IOA Session, July 2006, held in Ancient Olympia,
Greece, made up the opportunity of personal contact of one of the researchers of
the present investigation with 7 Islamic participants of the event – out of a totalof 11 – who tested the concepts of aggregation of cultural and religious
traditions with sports tendencies and today’s advancements of IT. After that, thequestionnaire went through some language changes as a result of this two-weekcontact in Olympia and has also been used as a means of identification of Islamic
authors for the production of the book “Olympic Studies Reader”, to be launchedin 2007/2008 as part of a project of the IOC associated with universities of theWestern and Eastern worlds.6
Finally, the indicative and non-statistical sample of 15 respondents
included not only those who answered by means of interviews but also the ones
who answered by electronic mail after their names were chosen by the NOAs.
The title of the instrument that tested the concepts (Appendix 1) was adjusted tothe profile of the respondents as “Sport Management in the Arab World from a
Multicultural Perspective”. The profile of the participants was defined in thequestionnaire according to the various types of positions they maintain withsports such as sport leaders, scholars, undergraduate and graduate students,
researchers, sport professionals and journalists.

12

LITERATURE REVIEWThe review of scientific literature from Arab sources had the central
hypothesis of this study as a reference. It was then organized in the 16
conceptual positions of the questionnaire, which included references in its final
section. This way, the selected data of the literature review were incorporated tothe instrument of the test, becoming concepts subjected to appreciation andvalidation by the respondents.
Nevertheless, the sports version in each concept consisted in the
projection and adaptation to the social, cultural and technological state describedby the selected Arab authors (see italicized declarations in Appendix 1). This
procedure was inspired in Puig (1997), author who describes and analyzes sports
organizations

byinternational

comparison

and

who

concludes:“Sportorganizational models are distinguished by diversity. This reveals that suchmodels are not the exclusive product of rational decisions but rather of a specificsocial-historical context”.
More specifically, the sportive concept put to test by the questionnaire
represents a solution to the development directed by the social and culturalcontext of the Arab world, which also conciliates with the macro level
delimitation and the research problem in proportions and characteristics.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The data collected through the questionnaire shown in Appendix 1 were
initially processed (Appendix 3) as percentages were attributed to the incidence ofnegative, positive and do-not-know answers for each of the 16 items. The Table
shown in Appendix 4 was constructed based on the quantitative revision of theanswers given, which represents a selection of the concepts which only referred tosports. The criterion of the “80 – 20 rule of management” was then applied. This13

criterion corresponds to Pareto’s Principle in statistics, which states that in businessmatters generally 80% of facts occur as a counterpoint of the other 20% (Reh,2006), which is the case of the test, negative answers and lack of knowledge.
This procedure was the first round analysis of the questionnaire results of the
field research, which selected only the items that obtained percentage equal orsuperior to 80%, totaling 13 concepts, having as basis the development of sport
in general and especially Olympic sport.
The table of Appendix 5 constitutes a refinement of the ‘80 – 20 rule ofmanagement’ showing the final selection of concepts: declarations with support
equal or more than 90% of positive answers from respondents. The results were
therefore product of the analysis of convergence of the positive options, summing
up at the end 5 declarations identified by capital letters from A to E.
The analysis that followed was that of comparison of the concepts A, B, C, D
and E with a database model for Internet use, also described by items and chosenparticularly because it supposedly fulfilled the requisites of the objective of thisinvestigation.
The table of Appendix 6 presents the basic definitions and operationaldescriptions of “ATLAS OF SPORTS”, database developed and updated in Brazil
since 2003, with last verification online in January 2007 done by the researchersof the present investigation at <www.atlasesportebrasil.org.br>.
Appendix 8 consists of a comparative analysis of the concepts tests by thefield survey and consolidated by the table shown in Appendix 5, having as
reference the 6 items from “a” to “f” of Appendix 6.
By this last procedure it was possible to observe that the “ATLAS OF SPORTS”
is in fact an alternative of a basic model for sports management and marketing which
can be used by Arab societies. In fact, it was possible to conclude that there wassome adequacy of the selected model to the principles of the Arab world for its
definition due to the high level of correspondence between the data of the tables of14

Appendices 5 and 6, with the exception of item “C” of the concepts, which focuses on
multiculturalism and respect to diversity. Moreover, because the “ATLAS OF SPORTS”
is a simplified information system of low operational cost, free access, no cost and nocommercial objectives, its adoption presents a minimum of risks to sports institutionsin any country.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The discussion of the analysis presented in the previous section has
proved significant because of the revision of the choice of the “ATLAS OF
SPORTS” model as a solution to the problem of this investigation. Effectively,
there is a great variety of basic models of information for management andmarketing, but few refer to sports. For this reason, the option of the “ATLAS OF
SPORTS” seems to be thoroughly appropriate when one searches for information
systems in IT which could support the needs of data for decision and operationsin the sports arena.
This identification was presented at the International Association forSports Information (IASI), an international association that brings together aworldwide network of information experts, librarians, sport scientists andmanagers of sport libraries, information and documentation centers. The desired
system was not available at this institution once the 9 largest international database systems on sports affiliated to IASI devoted themselves mostly to scienceandtotechnical

knowledge

http://www.iasi.org/guides/index.html).

of
For

this

sportspractice(see

reason,management

andmarketing for IASI are only areas of knowledge and not tools for administrativedecision and respective operations. Summing up, IASI is more for needs ofuniversities and laboratories than for sports enterprises and institutions such asfederations, clubs, NOCs, NOAs, media, etc.

15

A similar process took place with any search in the COMPASS system “CoOrdinated Monitoring of Participation in Sports”, organization linked to theEuropean Union with access at http://w3.uniroma1.it/compass/. COMPASS isconcerned with data collected in national sports participation surveys which use
questionnaires to collect information on a range of specified sporting activities
over a specified period of time. This institution gathers 9 European countries
which follow COMPASS standards that privilege Olympic sports as basic sports
for the assemblage of a statistics system in sport. Although numbers about
sports participants and athletes are necessary for decisions about management
and marketing, the data collected by this system are not enough to supply thesearch for knowledge about sports relations and links with society and with
culture. In other words, institutional data as well as data on lack of means,practices which are geographically located, finances, government projects,
history of initiatives and other implications of national, local and regional
development of sports are not made available through COMPASS. And as such,
this system does not cater for today’s needs of sports in the majority ofdeveloping countries, including Islamic countries.
Taking these conditions into consideration, the choice of the database of
the “ATLAS OF SPORTS” was validated by its design which was supported morein the perspective of the needs of the sports than in the organization of statisticsof the systematic and standardized collection of data as it occurs today in the socalled developed world. This option is part of the presentation of the “ATLAS OF
SPORTS” (DaCosta, 2005, pp.7 – 10), which also emphasizes that not only
simplified procedures but also procedures for short term implementation precedeand can operate as a valid alternative due to the absence of national statistics inthe sports sector (see Appendix 6).
Even being a simplified and low cost system, the “ATLAS OF SPORTS” wasintroduced as an innovation in IT as it can be observed in the comparative Table

16

of Appendix 7. The “ATLAS OF SPORTS” as a system of information can succeed
in any community and volunteer system typical of sports practice in countries
which face social inequalities. In other words, the “ATLAS OF SPORTS” can deal
at the same time with technologically advanced activities and poverty, as it
happens in Brazil, where it originated (see item “c” of Appendix 6).
In this sense, there is also meaningful information related to the Islamic
world and the experience of the ‘ATLAS OF SPORTS” in Brazil, which resides in
the fact that Brazil is a multicultural country with great ethnic diversity in which
9 million descendents of Arabs have chosen as a second home. The data base of
the “ATLAS OF SPORTS” have been operating in conditions similar to those foundin Arab societies, which explains then the high correspondence found between
the table of concepts of Appendix 5 and the items of description of the “ATLASOF SPORTS” in Appendix 6.
CONCLUSIONS
The data collected and processed initially by the survey method and thenby a test of concepts to establish the profile of the basic model of information for
sport management and marketing showed significant convergence about the“ATLAS OF SPORTS”. This conclusion also seems to present a solution to the
problem of the present investigation which was about how to make operational asystem to be identified by the various societies of Arab culture, a challenge
equally faced by the “ATLAS OF SPORTS” in a society which is also thoroughly
diversified and which lives with an IT of external influences.
In addition to these findings, it is important to finally point out that thefield survey revealed that the respondents seemed to be more comfortablediscussing the questions related to Olympic sports and to sports in general thanwhen talking about cultural themes, which is natural in relation to their voluntaryand private devotions and professional occupations. However, the results of thetest of concepts of the basic model of management and marketing (Appendix 5)

17

show that culture, society and religion are present in the 5 selected concepts,
this way typifying a larger influence of sports in the Arab world.
However, the influence of Olympic sport is present in 3 of the 5 citedconcepts. In other words, the relevance of the study developed lies especially inthe finding that the sporting Olympic traditions also inhabit Islamic traditions.
And to explain this mutual adaptation in a conclusive way it is crucial to cite
again HRH Prince Faisal Bin Fahad’s words, former president of Saudi Arabia
NOC, from three decades ago, “The Olympic ideals and principles exactly
coincide with what our Islamic religion has been preaching for fourteen
centuries” (quoted in “Saudi Arabia and Olympism”, Olympic Review, no. 132,
1978, pp. 628 – 632).

NOTES
1. Thenews

agencywww.chinaview.cn

the

China

View

following

publisheddeclaration,

in

dated

its

websiteJanuary14,

2007:”The success of the 15th Asian Games has proved host Doha’s
capability of staging big event and is part of a strategy to bring the2016 Olympic Games to the west Asian country, the Qatar National
Olympic Committee”.
2.

Declaration

of

the

2012

LondonForumatwww.the2012londonolympics.com (6th, Feb., 2006): “The 15th AsianGames as the biggest sporting event to be staged in the Arab world
and the second largest sporting event in the world after the Summer
Olympics, will bring

Doha’sinfra-structure

to theinternational

standards”.
3.

See DaCosta (2002, pp.91-106), chapter “Olympic globalization inhistory: sport, geopolitics or IOC power politics?”

18

4. See Reports of IOA referred to Sessions from 40th to 44th in the
Chapter “Guests”.
5. The Islamic participants of the 2006 Annual IOA Session nonrespondents were from the NOAs of Algeria, Jordan, Indonesia andMauritius.
6. See information of the IOA in relation to the production of the book
“Olympic

Studies

Reader”

atwww.olympic.org/uk/passion/studies/full_story_uk.asp?id=1853

REFERENCES
Arabic References
AYISH, M. (1998). Telecommunications Trends and Policies in the United ArabEmirates and their Implications for National Development. In ECSSR, The
Information Revolution and the Arab World. London: British Academic Press,
pp. 141-159.
AZZAM, H. T. (2002). The Arab World facing the Challenge of the newMillennium. London: I. B. Tauris Publishers.
EL YAZAMI, D., ESMER, S., BIRDAL, A., AL SOUHAIL, S., YACINE, T. &BOUFOUR, A. (2002) Conclusions: Prospects of Strong Protection ofCultural Diversity in the Mediterranean. In Minutes of the Regional
Seminaron

Euro-Mediterranean

Partnership,

CulturalDiversity

Universality of Human Rights. Rabat: 9 – 12 May 2002, pp. 52 – 55.

19

and

MASMOUDI, M. (1998). The Arab World and the Information Age: Promises andChallenges. In ECSSR, The Information Revolution and the Arab World.
London: British Academic Press, pp. 120-140.
TARABICHI, G. (2006). Arab Intellectuals and the Discontents of Globalization, Text
from Internet site www.boel-meo.org, Heirich Böll Foundation – Middle East
Office, Accessed on Oct. 15, 2006. Original text: From Arab Renaissance to
Apostasy – Arab Culture and its Discontents in the Age of Globalization, Sage
Books, London / Beirut, 2000.

Non-Arabic References
BING, L., AKINTOYE, A., EDWARDS, P. J. & HARDCASTLE (2005). Perceptions ofpositive and negative factors influencing procurement for construction
projects in the UK: Findings from a questionnaire survey. Journal ofEngineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 12, No 2,
February, pp.125-148.
CHINAVIEW (2007). Qatar Games. www.chinaview.cn (Jan., 14, 2007).
CONFEF & CEV (2007) www.atlasesportebrasil.org.br (Portuguese and English
versions).
DACOSTA, L. P. (2002). Olympic Studies. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Gama Filho.
DACOSTA, L.P. (Org.) (2005) Atlas do Esporte no Brasil / ATLAS OF SPORTS in
Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Shape, pp. 6 – 29.
GUMURESSON, E. (2000). Qualitative Methods in Management Research.
London:Sage Publications.
LONDON 2012 FORUM (2006). Doha Asian Games 2006 Preparations Acclaimed.
www.the2012londonolympic.com (Feb., 6, 2006).
MOORE, W. L. (1982). Concept Testing. Journal of Business Research No. 10, pp.
279-294.

20

OYEN,

E.

(1992).

Comparative

Methodology–

TheoryandPracticeinInternational Social Research. London: Sage Publications.
PUIG, N. (1997). Sport Organizations in Italy, Germany and Spain. Play theGame. site available at www.playthegame.org/articles/Puig
REH, J. (2006) Pareto’s Principle – the 80 – 20 rule. “Management About” site,
available at
http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/Pareto081202.htm

APPENDIX 1
SPORTS MANAGEMENT IN THE ARAB WORLDFROM A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Questionnaire
Respondents: sport leaders, scholars, students (undergraduate and postgraduate), researchers, sport professionals and journalists.

Please, write an X in one of the three columns which best reflects your opinion(Yes, No, I don’t know) in relation to the numbered items below. Each set ofstatements includes: (1) a declaration based on Islamic authors with reference tothe complexity, specificity and inner dynamics of Arab societies of nowadays; (2) asentence or declaration in counterpoint to the preceding item related to sports ingeneral and/or Olympic sport in particular, which can result in knowledge that cangenerate innovations in sports in the Arab World in either management or cultural
terms. Extra space is provided for you to complement your perspectives with21

explanations, comments, or personal opinions related to your own country. This
extra information is essential and greatly appreciated. You can write as much as
you wish by adding other Word documents. Please note that you can write inFrench or English.

Name of the respondent:
Educational background (summary):
Institution:
E-mail address:
Country and city of residence:
Academic activities in the sports area (summary):
Year of beginning activities related to sports:
Declarations based on Islamic authors with reference to the
Arab societies of today, additionally reviewed (Italic format)
for the interest of sport management and multiculturalism
in Olympic sport (source and original theme)

Yes

No

Do
not
know

1 - In spite of the fact that Arab and Moslem World have been often
understood as a collection of several independent nation-states withseparate identities, for cultural and sport concerns today’s Islamic
World may be seen as a single and unified society (Barakat, 1993, p.
xi; theme: social and political transformations).

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

Additional remarks

2 - Arab societies differ dramatically from the longtime dominantWestern view that has considered them a mere mosaic of sects,
ethnic groups and tribes involved in conflicting orientations.
Management enterprises, sport and cultural expressions from
Islamic countries often recognize the polarities and difficulties of
their social relationships but they usually emphasize theircommon destiny and outstanding potentials (Barakat, 1993, p. xi;
theme: social and political transformations).
Additional remarks

3 - The access to telecommunications services in Islamic countries– especially in the United Arab Emirates’ area – is increasingly
becoming an active link to the global economy of the 21st century.
Moreover, the Arab World is attempting to cope with the rapid
developments in Information Technology (Ayish, 1998, pp. 141 –
159; theme: the information revolution and the Arab World) withpositive impact in the growth and operations of organizations ingeneral, in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Additional remarks

22

4 - There are a number of very real forces and conditions making (for unity in the Arab World; their existence partly explains the
dynamism of Arab society and its continuous struggle (Barakat,
1993, p. 3; theme: social and political integration). This fact
informs knowledge producers towards a theory of action for the
future of sport, cultural promotion and management sciences.

)

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

Additional remarks

5 - A crucial problem usually detected among Islamic countries
lies, not in the ideal of integration itself, but in the gap or
imbalance between this ideal and actions designed to achieve thehistorical task of achieving unity (Barakat, 1993, p. 4; theme:social and political integration). Thus, in terms of modern
management the search of unity is an opportunity and theimbalance is the risk to be faced by innovators and entrepreneurs
from Moslem societies.
Additional remarks

6 The fragmentation of Islamic countries in the strongly felt
differences among Bedouin, village and urban dwellers is also an
important cause of the lack of unitary social force in the Arab World.
This interpretation often emphasizes the use of conflict-management
practices in decision-making procedures and political arrangements(Barakat, 1993, p. 8; theme: social and political integration). So far,sport and cultural activities may have the role of experimental settingsfor conflict-management practices in reason of their potential capacityof accommodating antagonist groups to one another.
Additional remarks

7 Social integration and national unity are increasingly understoodby progressive Arab movements to mean harmony with diversity
rather than the imposition of cultural uniformity. In any case,efforts to impose unification from the top have proved
unsuccessful (Barakat, 1993, p. 8; theme: social and political
integration. Sport and other cultural activities are primarily
concerned with bottom-to-top management, which often improvessocial integration.
Additional remarks

8 - The journey of the Arab World from a ‘power culture’ to a23‘performance culture’ requires strong leaderships capable oftaking bold decisions that could see the Arab World into today's
knowledge-intensive society (Azzam, 2002, p. 12; theme: theArab World: preparing for a new era of growth). Moslem culture
has always emphasized performance in art and sciences andmodern forms of sport are perfectly adapted to this tradition
which is often reinforced by the very nature of sporting practices.
Additional remarks

9 - Globalization will be sustainable if it is perceived as an efficient
way to exchange cultures, rather than as a way for one culture todominate others (Azzam, 2002, p. 26; theme: the backlash against
globalization in the region). Modern management conducts andcontrols global trends taking into account local traditions; in theIslamic countries. Olympic sports are a good example of this local
adaptation with ties with global procedures.

( ) (

)

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

Additional remarks

10 - The impact of Internet on the developing countries, including
those in the Arab region, could be more powerful than in theWest. Countries with high distribution margins, less competitionand price transparency are likely to see the biggest gains inefficiency as a result of Internet (Azzam, 2002, p. 36; theme: the
new economy and its impact on the Arab region). The Internet isa new way to empower cultural and sport relationships and to
adopt advanced management practices, which is now being
developed in most Islamic societies.
Additional remarks

11 - The Seminar ‘Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Cultural,
Diversity and the Universality of Human Rights’ with 80 experts
from Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia,
Turkey and Morocco, reported the conclusion that hiding thecultural diversity of a society will automatically generate violence,even fratricidal conflict. Conversely, peaceful management oftensions between the individual and the general level is the verybasis of the democratic ideal (El Yazami et al., 2003, pp. 54 –55); theme: Cultural rights are universal human rights). Thus,
multiculturalism in sport basically means to use management
tools capable to guarantee respect at all levels for society’s
internal diversity. Some Olympic values, in this case, represent
models of behavior to leaders, managers and athletes in many
Islamic countries when they focus on dignity of each and every
person as considered being equal and attached to human nature.
Thus, multiculturalism in sport basically means to use management24tools capable of guaranteeing respect at all levels of any society’s
internal diversity. Some Olympic values, in this case, represent
models of behavior to leaders, managers and athletes in many Islamic
countries when they focus on the dignity of each and every person as
they are all considered equal and attached to human nature.
Additional remarks

12 - To guarantee respect to multiculturalism within the Arab
World, three levels must be considered simultaneously:
globalization (counter-pointing universalism that respects cultural
diversity with imperial universalism); the partnership zone
(equitable partnership, recognizing the diversity of societies andculture within the zone); and the societies included within thezone (guaranteeing the respect for cultural diversity in eachState). All these situations, even the most sensitive ones, have tobe accommodated (El Yazami et al., 2003, p. 54); theme:
Rejection of ‘blind equality” and differentials). Sports in generaland Olympic sport in particular in most cultural settings havehistorically accommodated those three levels for the sake ofcompetition. This condition is valuable to consolidate the Islamic
culture as well in its progressive adaptation to internal (samecountry) and external (between countries) diversity.

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

This condition is valuable to consolidate the Islamic culture in its
progressive adaptation to internal (same country) and external(between countries) diversity.
Additional remarks

13 - The Arab countries need to pursue a regional vision in order
to be able to compete internationally. One key advantage is thatof the common language, which if used wisely will allow new
economy companies to have a large Arab-speaking regional
market (Azzam, 2002, p. 49; theme: The new economy and its
impact on the Arab region). Another proved way to integrate
Islamic regional interests facing global trends is sports activities
and institutions when they are primarily affiliated to International
Federations and the IOC.
Additional remarks

14 - The traditions of financial systems in the Arab World havecreated a management emphasis mainly on asset size and market
share, in the belief that the large balance sheet would guarantee
competitive advantage in the long run. However, innovative
claims are willing to accept constant change rather than stability,
networking instead of rigid hierarchies, and partnerships as
opposed to self-sufficiency (Azzam, 2002, p. 86; theme:25Transformation of management philosophy). The sport sector
from Islamic countries has been exposed for a long time toconstant changes and partnership among themselves and with
non-Moslem countries and institutions; thus, this sector is readyto make developments towards more advanced innovative claims.
Additional remarks

15 - Concerning religion and other cultural heritages, traditional
values continue to prevail. But that is not what distinguishes Arab
culture. What most distinctively characterizes Arab cultural
identity in this today’s transitional period is the ongoing struggle
between opposing values orientations, confirming the complexityof Arab culture at present (Barakat, 2003, pp. 181 – 205; theme:
National Character and Value Orientations). Sport in the context
of conflicting values is a matter of reconciliation in the Arab World
as far as it is a creative expression of innovation, representing at
the same time some reinforcement of the local and regional
traditions. By all means, Moslem religion does not contradict
modern sport and even gives great value to traditional sport
activities. This view is also akin with the fundaments of “allnations, all games’ doctrine as proposed by Pierre de Coubertin,
the reformer of Olympic Games in early 20th century.

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

( )

Additional remarks

16 - National cultures, including Arab culture, need wings asmuch as they need roots in the process of integration within a
globalized culture. If there is a decisive issue about the future of
Arab culture in the era of globalization, it is on how the Arab culture
will remain rooted in its soil and land, and yet at the same time how
it will fly in the skies of globalization (Tarabichi, 2000, p. 20; theme:
Globalizing the Arab World). Arab sports, mainly in their Olympic
connections, are becoming a trial of globalization, but as opposed towestern cultures, by thinking locally and acting globally just because
they are making use of globalization’s advantages and eschewing its
disadvantages.
Additional remarks

References:
AYISH, M. I. (1998). Telecommunications Trends and Policies in the United ArabEmirates and their Implications for National Development. In The Emirates

26

Center for Strategic Studies and Research, The Information Revolution and
the Arab World. London: British Academic Press.
AZZAM, H. T. (2002). The Arab World facing the Challenge of the New
Millennium. London: I. B. Tauris Publishers.
BARAKAT, H. (1993). The Arab World – Society, Culture and State. London:
University of California Press, Ltd.
EL YAZAMI, D., ESMER, S., BIRDAL, A., AL SOUHAIL, S., YACINE, T. &BOUFOUR, A. (2002). Conclusions: Prospects of Strong Protection ofCultural Diversity in the Mediterranean. In Minutes of the Regional
Seminaron

Euro-Mediterranean

Partnership,

CulturalDiversity

andUniversality of Human Rights. Rabat: 9 – 12 May 2002, pp. 52 – 55.
TARABICHI, G. (2006). Arab Intellectuals and the Discontents of Globalization, Text
from Internet site www.boel-meo.org, Heirich Böll Foundation – Middle East Office,Accessed on Oct. 15, 2006. Original text: From Arab Renaissance to Apostasy –Arab Culture and its Discontents in the Age of Globalization, Sage Books, London /Beirut, 2000.

27

APPENDIX 2
Questionnaire “Sports Management in the Arab World
from a Multicultural Perspective”
Names, countries and e-mail addresses of respondents (June 2006 - January 2007)
M. Zaoui – Tunisia < maha.z@gnet.tn >W. Mohamed Sulieman – Sudan<drwelli99@yahoo.com>

H. Al - Hajri – Qatar < hammad@qnoc.net.qa>
M. Al Otaibi - Saudi Arabia < 0fficer@sasma.org.sa>
S.M. Al Naamani – Oman <s.naamani@refinery.co.om>
S. Ashtian – Iran < niciri@neda.net >S. Haji Taqawi – Bahrain < sosotq55@hotmail.com>
A. Khalifa Ali Al-Shmali - Oman < alshamli@yahoo.com >M. Mootassem – Qatar<mrym18@hotmail.com>

S. Amir Hosseini - Iran <seyedamir.hosseini@gmail.com >M. Al Fahaid – Saudi Arabia < fahaidmn@hotmail.com >28

M. ZAHAR - Tunisia < dr.mzahar@planet.tn >H. Abdullah Al Dalhami – Oman <aldalhami@hotmail.com>
M. Mahdi Rahmati - Iran < mahdi.rahmati@gmail.com >L. Ayoubi- Syria < liliana@ureach.com >APPENDIX 3
SPORTS MANAGEMENT IN THE ARAB WORLDFROM A MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Questionnaire – Results
Respondents: 15 members or active participants of NOAs from Islamic
countries.
Aim: Concept Testing for a basic model development in sport management
and marketing.
Additional remark: the respondents’ comments were summarized keeping
their original contents.

Declarations based on Islamic authors with reference to
the Arab societies of today, additionally reviewed (Italic
format) for the interest of sport management andmulticulturalism in Olympic sport (source and original
theme)

Yes

No

%

%

1 - In spite of the fact that Arab and Moslem Worlds have been
often understood as a collection of several independent nationstates with separate identities, for cultural and sport concerns

73.3

29

Do
not
know
%

2.0

6.6

today’s Islamic World may be seen as a single and unified society(Barakat,
1993,
p.
xi;
theme:
socialandpolitical
transformations).
Additional remarks# This unification depends in the sport discipline; in mycountry the championships of football move from one region toanother and this creates respect to each other. I can not say
the same about swimming as far as there is a concentration ofswimming pools in the capital.
# Despite the separate identities that our nations have or
maybe even the conflicts that arise at some times among us,
when it comes to culture and sports we are very much alike
and more unified. Our cultures are very close and we sharemany similar customs. When it comes to sports we forget all
our differences and we come together as one nation.
# Concerning the political system we can see some cultural
influences# I’m not sure that the world see us as a single and unified
society# Each Islamic country has its tradition and many different
languages
2 - Arab societies differ dramatically from the longtime
dominant Western view that has considered them a mere
mosaic of sects, ethnic groups and tribes involved in conflicting
orientations.
Management enterprises, sport and culturalexpressions from Islamic countries often recognize thepolarities and difficulties of their social relationships but theyusually emphasize their common destiny and outstanding
potentials (Barakat, 1993, p. xi; theme: social and politicaltransformations).

80.0

13.3

6.6

93.3

0.0

6.6

Additional remarks# In general sports has had positive effects on decreasing
ethnic conflicts difficulties although many of these difficulties
are organized from Western policies over Islamic countries. As
we see in Afghanistan and Iraq.
3 - The access to telecommunications services in Islamic
countries – especially in the United Arab Emirates’ area – isincreasingly becoming an active link to the global economy of
the 21st century. Moreover, the Arab World is attempting to copewith the rapid developments in Information Technology (Ayish,
1998, pp. 141 – 159; theme: the information revolution and theArab World) with positive impact in the growth and operations oforganizations in general, in addition to sports and culturalactivities.
Additional remarks

30

# There have also been developments in the Education sector
as well as Human Rights issues especially in Qatar# International sports have had positive impact on
development of relations between the sports organizations andathletes in Arab countries.
# The information revolution can help the growth of sport in
the Arab World.
# There is today more interest in sport and cultural activities
from the media and the general public
4 - There are a number of very real forces and conditions 86.6
making for unity in the Arab World; their existence partly
explains the dynamism of Arab society and its continuous
struggle (Barakat, 1993, p. 3; theme: social and political
integration). This fact informs knowledge producers towards atheory of action for the future of sport, cultural promotion andmanagement sciences.

6.6

6.6

26.6

20.0

53.3

80.0

6.6

13.3

Additional remarks# The importance of sports management only in recent years
has become more visible in our countries. Marketing has
expanded more in the sports federations.
5 - A crucial problem usually detected among Islamic countries
lies, not in the ideal of integration itself, but in the gap or
imbalance between this ideal and actions designed to achieve
the historical task of achieving unity (Barakat, 1993, p. 4;
theme: social and political integration). Thus, in terms ofmodern management the search of unity is an opportunity andthe imbalance is the risk to be faced by innovators andentrepreneurs from Moslem societies.
Additional remarks# Modern management is also an important factor for thegrowth of sport in our countries

6 The fragmentation of Islamic countries in the strongly felt
differences among Bedouin, village and urban dwellers is also an
important cause of the lack of unitary social force in the Arab
World. This interpretation often emphasizes the use of conflictmanagement practices in decision-making procedures and politicalarrangements (Barakat, 1993, p. 8; theme: social and political
integration). So far, sport and cultural activities may have the roleof experimental settings for conflict-management practices inreason of their potential capacity of accommodating antagonist
groups to one another.
Additional remarks

31

# This is widely seen among sports groups and alsoorganizations based on my own experience.
# As clubs have less influence than sports disciplines, there isless antagonism in local sport (towns, villages, etc.).

7 Social integration and national unity are increasingly
understood by progressive Arab movements to mean harmony
with diversity rather than the imposition of cultural uniformity.
In any case, efforts to impose unification from the top have
proved unsuccessful (Barakat, 1993, p. 8; theme: social andpolitical integration. Sport and other cultural activities areprimarily concerned with bottom-to-top management, which
often improves social integration.

86.6

0.0

13.3

86.6

6.6

6.6

Additional remarks# To reach high levels of sports and other cultural activities itshould have a political decision from the top, which follows thepolicy of the country.
# Islam has special emphasis on multiculturalism and in
KORAN we have a special verse on the value of multiple
cultures.
# In sport activities athletes from different backgrounds andsocial level have the opportunity to show their abilities andachievements. So different people get to know about eachother and this is a community development.

8 - The journey of the Arab World from a ‘power culture’ to a‘performance culture’ requires strong leaderships capable oftaking bold decisions that could see the Arab World into today's
knowledge-intensive society (Azzam, 2002, p. 12; theme: theArab World: preparing for a new era of growth). Moslem
culture has always emphasized performance in art and sciences
and modern forms of sport are perfectly adapted to thistradition which is often reinforced by the very nature ofsporting practices.
Additional remarks# Sport is also in the tradition of the Arabic society# In sport practices females are not encouraged to participate
with men. However, women are improving their performances.
# There are various levels of importance for religion concerns,
depending in the Arab country we are talking about.
# The “Koran” says that physical practices and games, witheither competition or recreation are good for the people and forthe families.
# In our countries the influence of religion is good for sports32

although there are concerns with the ways to practice but notwith the sports themselves.
# Sport is part of religion.
#Religion, sport and government are a circle....
9 - Globalization will be sustainable if it is perceived as anefficient way to exchange cultures, rather than as a way for one
culture to dominate others (Azzam, 2002, p. 26; theme: thebacklash against globalization in the region). Modern
management conducts and controls global trends taking into
account local traditions; in the Islamic countries, Olympic sports
are a good example of this local adaptation with ties with global
procedures.

86.6

6.6

8.6

100.0

0.0

0.0

Additional remarks# Globalization in some Arab countries comes from Islam
which is enthusing the country policy.
# But unfortunately what we see in today’s global world is that
one culture is trying to dominate and use its power to do so.
# But not in all Islamic countries the local traditions exchangewith globalization trends.
# The Islamic religion always appreciated local, community andfamily events and things; therefore, to take into consideration
sports management with emphasis on the local environment isalso a good solution for development.
# Club is just a place.
# Management and marketing are always growing in Arabsocieties but there seems to be qualified professionals. In otherwords: hardware OK; software: very bad.

10 - The impact of Internet on the developing countries,
including those in the Arab region, could be more powerfulthan in the West. Countries with high distribution margins, lesscompetition and price transparency are likely to see the biggest
gains in efficiency as a result of Internet (Azzam, 2002, p. 36;
theme: the new economy and its impact on the Arab region).
The Internet is a new way to empower cultural and sport
relationships and to adopt advanced management practices,which is now being developed in most Islamic societies.
Additional remarks# It can be used to highlight different cultures from many
countries that can be use.
# I do agree that the Internet has a huge impact in the Arabregion but I do not necessarily agree that it could be more
powerful than in the West. I also do agree that it is a new way
to empower culture, sports, education and many things.

33

# Internet has to be improved and used more.
# The “Koran” encourages learning and this expression alsomeans knowledge in our language. The Internet is a means to
get to know and learn.
#We need decision-makers.
11 - The Seminar ‘Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Cultural,
Diversity and the Universality of Human Rights’ with 80 experts
from Lebanon, Algeria,
Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Egypt,
Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco, reported the conclusion thathiding the cultural diversity of a society will automaticallygenerate violence, even fratricidal conflict. Conversely,
peaceful management of tensions between the individual andthe general level is the very basis of the democratic ideal (ElYazami et al., 2003, pp. 54 – 55); theme: Cultural rights areuniversal human rights). Thus, multiculturalism in sport
basically means to use management tools capable to guarantee
respect at all levels for society’s internal diversity. Some
Olympic values, in this case, represent models of behavior toleaders, managers and athletes in many Islamic countries
when they focus on dignity of each and every person as
considered being equal and attached to human nature.

100.0

0.0

0.0

93.3

0.0

6.6

Additional remarks# It is important also to teach people to appreciate andembrace the differences among them because that is whatmakes us unique is being different. And if we truly follow theIslamic religion we will find that it is based on respecting
others no matter how different they are from us and treatingthem all equal.
# The Olympic values can help to increase the human value.
# The problem in Islamic societies is not the Olympic values.
The problem is some prejudices that survived from the pastand have been understood as values.
# Friendship and health are Islamic values that can be sharedwith Olympic traditions.

12 - To guarantee respect to multiculturalism within the Arab
World, three levels must be considered simultaneously:
globalization (counter-pointing universalism that respects
cultural diversity with imperial universalism); the partnershipzone (equitable partnership, recognizing the diversity ofsocieties and culture within the zone); and the societies
included within the zone (guaranteeing the respect for cultural
diversity in each State). All these situations, even the mostsensitive ones, have to be accommodated (El Yazami et al.,2003, p. 54); theme: Rejection of ‘blind equality” anddifferentials). Sports in general and Olympic sport in particularin most cultural settings have historically accommodated those
three levels for the sake of competition. This condition is34valuable to consolidate the Islamic culture as well in its
progressive adaptation to internal (same country) and external(between countries) diversity.

Additional remarks# If we want to look at Islamic societies, if Islam has been
followed in the right way, respect to multiculturalism willautomatically happen.
# We consider the diversity as a power of culture growth.
13 - The Arab countries need to pursue a regional vision inorder to be able to compete internationally. One key advantage
is that of the common language, which if used wisely will allow
new economy companies to have a large Arab-speaking
regional market (Azzam, 2002, p. 49; theme: The new
economy and its impact on the Arab region). Another proved
way to integrate Islamic regional interests facing global trends
is sports activities and institutions when they are primarily
affiliated to International Federations and the IOC.

86.6

6.6

6.6

93.3

6.6

0.0

Additional remarks# I do agree that if we reach a regional vision we can competeinternationally but we are so busy with small unimportant
things that are keeping us apart from one another. I also
believe that foreign involvement in our issues plays a big partin that.

14 - The traditions of financial systems in the Arab World havecreated a management emphasis mainly on asset size andmarket share, in the belief that the large balance sheet would
guarantee competitive advantage in the long run. However,innovative claims are willing to accept constant change rather
than stability, networking instead of rigid hierarchies, andpartnerships as opposed to self-sufficiency (Azzam, 2002, p.
86; theme: Transformation of management philosophy). The
sport sector from Islamic countries has been exposed for along time to constant changes and partnership among
themselves and with non-Moslem countries and institutions;thus, this sector is ready to make developments towards moreadvanced innovative claims.
Additional remarks# I am specially experiencing that in Qatar; the country is
rapidly changing in almost all sectors, networking is increasing
as well as partnerships which proves that we are willing toaccept change# The “Koran” also appreciates memory of the past as guide to35adaptations to the present data and this gives prestige to
Olympic sport.

15 - Concerning religion and other cultural heritages,
traditional values continue to prevail. But that is not what
distinguishes
Arabculture.
Whatmostdistinctively
characterizes Arab cultural identity in this today’s transitional
period is the ongoing struggle between opposing values
orientations, confirming the complexity of Arab culture atpresent (Barakat, 2003, pp. 181 – 205; theme: National
Character and Value Orientations). Sport in the context ofconflicting values is a matter of reconciliation in the Arab World
as far as it is a creative expression of innovation, representing
at the same time some reinforcement of the local and regional
traditions. By all means, Moslem religion does not contradict
modern sport and even gives great value to traditional sport
activities. This view is also akin with the fundaments of “allnations, all games’ doctrine as proposed by Pierre de
Coubertin, the reformer of Olympic Games in early 20th
century.

33.3

26.6

40.0

80.0

0.0

20.0

Additional remarks# I can emphasize the part that mentions that the Muslim
religion does not contradict modern sport and it gives great
importance to sports and it encourages Muslims to be fit andpractice sports because if you have a healthy body you will
have a healthy mind

16 - National cultures, including Arab culture, need wings asmuch as they need roots in the process of integration within a
globalized culture. If there is a decisive issue about the futureof Arab culture in the era of globalization, it is on how the Arab
culture will remain rooted in its soil and land, and yet at the sametime how it will fly in the skies of globalization (Tarabichi, 2000,
p. 20; theme: Globalizing the Arab World). Arab sports, mainly intheir Olympic connections, are becoming a trial of globalization,
but as opposed to western cultures, by thinking locally and acting
globally just because they are making use of globalization’s
advantages and eschewing its disadvantages.
Additional remarks# I do agree that our roots are very important to us and thiswill create a big challenge if we would like to have wings andfly but if managed and done properly it can happen. We still
can preserve our identity and roots and at the same time
become global and have wings.
# Clubs in my country has often the name of the village or
town they are located. So they represent the communities into
which they are thinking about. In the case of big clubs

36

sometimes they go abroad to compete so they are acting
globally. But not always; football, for example, does not give
space to other sports and it is a global movement.
# The role played by the government in these games between
what comes in from the outside and local habits isfundamental, even when in the case of clubs.

References:
AYISH, M. I. (1998). Telecommunications Trends and Policies in the United ArabEmirates and their Implications for National Development. In The Emirates
Center for Strategic Studies and Research, The Information Revolution and
the Arab World. London: British Academic Press.
AZZAM, H. T. (2002). The Arab World facing the Challenge of the New
Millennium. London: I. B. Tauris Publishers.
BARAKAT, H. (1993). The Arab World – Society, Culture and State. London:
University of California Press, Ltd.
EL YAZAMI, D., ESMER, S., BIRDAL, A., AL SOUHAIL, S., YACINE, T. &BOUFOUR, A. (2002). Conclusions : Prospects of Strong Protection ofCultural Diversity in the Mediterranean. In Minutes of the Regional
Seminaron

Euro-Mediterranean

Partnership,

CulturalDiversity

andUniversality of Human Rights. Rabat: 9 – 12 May 2002, pp. 52 – 55.
TARABICHI, G. (2006). Arab Intellectuals and the Discontents of Globalization, Text
from Internet site www.boel-meo.org, Heirich Böll Foundation – Middle East Office,Accessed on Oct. 15, 2006. Original text: From Arab Renaissance to Apostasy –Arab Culture and its Discontents in the Age of Globalization, Sage Books, London /Beirut, 2000.

37

APPENDIX 4

CONCEPT TESTING FOR A BASIC MODEL DEVELOPMENT IN SPORTMANAGEMENT AND MARKETING FOR ISLAMIC COUNTRIESResults (1st round)Respondents: 15 members or active participants of NOAs from Islamic countries,
focusing on Olympic Movement development in the Islamic World.
Methodological instrument of the test: questionnaire with 16 options ofsolutions as referred to the research problem.
Selection of concepts: declarations with support equal or more than 80% of positive
answers from respondents, following the ‘80 – 20 rule of management’ (corresponding
to Pareto’s Principle in Statistics), which states that in business matters generally38

80% of facts occur as a counterpoint of the other 20% (Reh, 2006), that is in thecase of the test, negative answers and lack of knowledge.
Format: declarations only referred to sports and summarized from original versions
and comments from respondents.

Concepts of today’s Olympic sport development for theinterest of management andmarketing in Islamic
countries – Final selection with quantitative assessmentsin percentage of respondents’ total

Yes

No

%

%

I - Management enterprises, sport and cultural expressions
from Islamic countries often recognize the difficulties andconflicts of their social relationships but they usually emphasize
their outstanding potentials.

80.0

13.3

6.6

II - The Islamic World is attempting to cope with the rapid
developments in Information Technology with positive impact in
the growth and operations of organizations in general, in
addition to cultural activities and sports, including therelationships between leading organizations and participants orathletes.

93.3

0.0

6.6

III - There are a number of very real forces and conditions 86.6
making for unity in the Islamic World. This fact motivates
knowledge producers to create proactive solutions towards new
development projects for the future of sport, cultural
promotion and management sciences.

6.6

6.6

IV - The social inequalities of Islamic countries often emphasizes
the use of conflict-management practices in decision-making
procedures and political arrangements. Thus, sport and culturalactivities may also have the role of experimental settings forconflict-management practices in reason of their potential capacityof accommodating antagonist groups to one another.

80.0

6.6

13.3

V - Social integration and national unity are increasingly
understood by progressive Islamic movements to mean
harmony with diversity rather than the imposition of cultural
uniformity. Sport and other cultural activities are primarily
concerned with bottom-to-top management, which often
improves social integration.

86.6

0.0

13.3

VI - The future development of the Islamic World requires
strong leaderships capable of taking bold decisions that could
lead into today's knowledge-intensive society. Moslem culture
has always emphasized performance in art and sciences andmodern forms of sport may be perfectly adapted to this

86.6

6.6

6.6

39

Do
not
know
%

tradition which is often reinforced by the very nature ofsporting practices.
VII - Globalization will be sustainable if it is perceived as anefficient way to exchange cultures, rather than as a way for one
culture to dominate others. In the Islamic countries modern
management conducts and controls global trends taking into
account local traditions. Olympic sports are role models of thislocal adaptation with ties with global procedures.

86.6

6.6

8.6

VIII - The impact of Internet on the developing countries,
including those with Islamic culture and religion, could be more
powerful than past experiences of the developed societies. The
Internet must be promoted as a new way to empower culturaland sport relationships and to adopt advanced management
practices, which is now being developed in most Islamic
countries.

100.0

0.0

0.0

IX - Multiculturalism in sport basically means to use
management tools capable to guarantee respect at all levels
for society’s internal diversity. Some Olympic values, in thiscase, may represent models of behavior to leaders, managers
and athletes in many Islamic countries when they focus on
dignity of each and every person as considered being equal andattached to human nature.

100.0

0.0

0.0

X - Sports in general and Olympic sport in particular in mostcultural settings have historically accommodated globalization
trends and respect to social and cultural diversity for the sakeof competition. This condition is valuable to consolidate theIslamic culture as well in its progressive adaptation to internal(same country) and external (between countries) diversity.

93.3

0.0

6.6

XI - The Islamic countries need to pursue a regional vision inorder to be able to compete internationally. Another proved
way to integrate Islamic regional interests facing global trends
is sports activities and institutions when they are primarily
affiliated to international Olympic institutions.

86.6

6.6

6.6

XII - The Olympic sport activities and organizations from
Islamic nations has been exposed for a long time to constantchanges and partnership among themselves and with nonMoslem countries and institutions. Thus, this sector is ready tomake developments towards networking and more advanced
innovative claims.

93.3

6.6

0.0

XIII - Islamic sports, mainly in their Olympic connections, arebecoming an important trial of globalization, but as opposed towestern cultures, by thinking locally and acting globally justbecause they are making use of globalization’s advantages andeschewing its disadvantages.

80.0

0.0

20.0

40

Reference
REH, J. (2006) Pareto’s Principle – the 80 – 20 rule. “Management About” site,
available at
http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/Pareto081202.htm

APPENDIX 5

CONCEPT TESTING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BASIC MODEL FOR SPORTMANAGEMENT AND MARKETING FOR ARAB SOCIETIES – Results (2ndround)
Final selection of concepts: declarations with support equal or more than 90%
of positive answers from respondents.

Concepts of today’s Olympic sport in Arab societies for the interest of
management and marketing basic model of development
A - The Arab World is attempting to cope with the rapid developments in Information
Technology with positive impact in the growth and operations of organizations in general,in addition to cultural activities and sports, including the relationships between leadingorganizations and participants or athletes.

41

B - The impact of the Internet on the developing countries, including those with Islamic
culture and religion, could be more powerful than past experiences of the developed
societies. The Internet must be promoted as a new way to empower cultural and sport
relationships and to adopt advanced management practices, which is now being
developed in most Islamic countries.
C - Multiculturalism in sport basically means to use management tools capable ofguaranteeing respect at all levels for society’s internal diversity. Some Olympic values,in this case, may represent models of behavior to leaders, managers and athletes inmany Arab societies when they focus on dignity of each and every person as consideredbeing equal and attached to human nature.
D - Sports in general and Olympic sport in particular in most cultural settings havehistorically accommodated globalization trends and respect to social and cultural
diversity for the sake of competition. This condition is valuable to consolidate the Arab
culture as well in its progressive adaptation to internal (same country) and external(between countries) diversity.
E - The Olympic sport activities and organizations from Islamic nations have been
exposed for a long time to constant changes and partnership among themselves andwith non-Moslem countries and institutions. Thus, this sector is ready to makedevelopments towards networking and more advanced innovative claims.

APPENDIX 6

Atlas of Sport Database Model for Internet Usage
Basic Definitions and Operational Descriptions (additional remarks in Appendix
7)
Last Update: January, 2007
National scope online demonstration: www.atlasesportebrasil.org.br
Local scope online demonstration: www.cref2rs.org.br/atlas

a. ATLAS OF SPORTS – It is an IT system configured as database which aims tooperate as point of departure for efficient and advanced management of
national, regional and local sports, helping to improve functions such as reorganization, professional qualification, institutional leadership, marketing andother activities typical of sports competition or just promotion of health andrecreation. The ATLAS OF SPORTS model is rooted in Olympic sport and storesinformation produced by volunteers, using the Internet as a means of principal
access, amplifying the offer of knowledge and facilitating the management of42

sports entrepreneurial projects. The main focus of the ATLAS OF SPORTS lies on
geographical space and on national and local themes, whenever possible withnew interpretations, comparisons and examples related to other countries. This
procedure of innovation in sport is also justified as reinforcement to the local
cultural traditions, which is the basis of any sporting development.
b. The experimental stage of the ATLAS OF SPORTS model took place in Brazil,
consisting of a book in Portuguese (complete texts) and in English (summaries
and maps), with non-profit objectives, published in 2005 with the title “Atlas doEsporte no Brasil”. Its production started in 2003 and had 410 volunteer authors
and 19 editors (volunteers and professionals), who operated through a network.
The book included 300 themes related to physical activities in their many
disciplines of practice, sports management and production of knowledge. This
book gave the initial references to a free and non-commercial system of accessthrough the Internet, whose production has been decentralized since 2006 withthe participation of 9 Brazilian States (32% of 27 states). The reward of thevolunteers is the identified authorship of the texts in a proper section within the
database and which can be added to their curriculum vitae for academic andprofessional purposes. The positive impact of the book made the development of
the IT version possible having the Internet as basic support.
c. The ATLAS OF SPORTS of the various States and cities of Brazil are reduced
versions and complement the national ATLAS OF SPORTS of 2005 (2003/2004
data), which focuses on a specific region, putting together basically chapters
devoted to municipalities with more details than the national ATLAS OF SPORTS,
with the addition of chapters with themes that have more meaning for the Statein focus, specific or re-adaptation/updating of local themes already found in thenational ATLAS OF SPORTS. Therefore, the ATLAS OF SPORTS has beendeveloped as a means of integration with information being offered through an
Internet website at the following address: <www.atlasesportebrasil.org.br>. The
objective is more visibility and understanding of sporting activities throughquantitative, qualitative and spatial data. This type of procedure imposes itself
due to the cultural diversity and inequalities that are typical of Brazil, which also
happens in many developing countries.
d. FreeAtlas: Process of management of scientific research on sport done basicallyby local and regional volunteers on disciplines and sporting knowledge. The
results belong to the public domain and cannot be used to obtain profit(freeware patents internationally required). This innovative process ofmanagement was generated from the initial project of the ATLAS OF SPORTS
with routines, formats, and programs planned and initially tested in Brazil, but
related to tendencies of the globalization of sport. As it is a tool for management
and marketing, FreeAtlas follows the principle of social responsibility, withvoluntary or semi-voluntary participation, strengthening the relationships ofsports with society, aiming at collective benefits and integration of people,groups, and institutions devoted to sport according to the culture and local
economic possibilities.
e. Consortium ATLAS OF SPORTS: association of sponsors to provide financial
support of the ATLAS OF SPORTS database on the Internet. The first version of
the ATLAS OF SPORTS had 11 sponsoring institutions that comprehended thewhole country, including the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the Ministry ofSports of Brazil besides government agencies, companies, universities, etc.
Today, financial support is organized according to local options and conditions.
At national level, that is to say, in terms of keeping the webpage on the43Internet, the annual cost with technical labor and hardware is of approximately
US$50,000.00 (costs in Brazil). Summing up, the model ATLAS OF SPORTS has
also been developed as a tool for marketing and for sports sponsorship,
produced in an environment of IT and with integration of leading institutions ofsports and government.
f.

ATLAS STANDARDS: general and simplified references for the elaboration ofcontributions for the database ATLAS, subjected to successive reformulations
according to needs that came up in the editing process of information, in theprocedures of visual programming and in the adjustments of the texts toelectronic formats. These references for the orientation of volunteer authors arepart of the ATLAS website. These standards in comparison with either free orcommercial international database systems suggest larger advantage for ATLAS
platforms managed in developing countries (ref. Appendix 7). As a result, thesimplified procedures and procedures of implementation of short term precedethem and can operate as a valid alternative in the absence of national statisticsof the sports sector.

Sources:
DACOSTA, L.P. (Org.) (2005) Atlas do Esporte no Brasil / Atlas of Sport in Brazil. Rio deJaneiro: Editora Shape, pp. 6 – 29.
CONFEF & CEV (2007) www.atlasesportebrasil.org.br (Portuguese and English versions)

APPENDIX 7

Comparative Table Wikipedia-Encyclopedia Britannica-Atlas of Sports
operational characteristics– 2006
the institutions being compared

Comparison items

Objectives

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

To create and distribute a
free encyclopedia of thehighest possible quality toeach person of the planetin their own language.

To be the most complete andprecise source of information in theworld by unification or deepening of
knowledge.

http://pt.wikipedia.org

http://corporate.britannica.com

44

Typology ofSources: Internet webpages ofAtlas of Sports in Brazil

To organize knowledge about
sports as memory (dated events)
and geographical location (locatedevents) with final description offacts and updated and relevant
numbers of sports in Brazil, giving
support to fast consultations,studies and new research.

Number of articles orchapters

3.1 million articles(various sizes and typesof details) and around
10,000 authors – 2006
data.

120,000 (32 volumes in paper) –2006 data.

199 chapters (920 double pages;
410 authors and 17 Editors) in theprinted edition (2005) with
progressive expansion from thisbase to the online edition;
estimated preview for 2007: 400
chapters with 3,000 pages andmore than 1,000 authors.

2005, printed version (Confef)
Year of launching andversions

2001; Online and DVD(edition in German).

(sponsors)

Online encyclopedia(organized by entries andarticles), free access andDefinitions and languages
collaborative andvoluntary production(multilingual).

1768, printed version;
2001, online version.

Dictionary of themes instead ofwords, in alphabetical order andfocusing on multiple areas ofknowledge; commercial book
(English).

2006, online version (Cref 2 RS)
2007, CD / DVD versions (Cref 6
MG).

Thematic database with maps,
organized by chapters andadditions, free access online, and ofcollaborative and voluntary
production focusing on multiple
types of knowledge related tosports (Portuguese withsummaries, explanations and maps
in English).

Encyclopedia has been a current
expression since the 16th century
defining a work which includes all of
the sciences and arts in general; in
Theory of support to theordenation of data

Linus’s Law: “given
enough eyeballs, all bugs
are shallow”.

Knowledge management which isdefined basically as collection,
1772, a pioneer “Encyclopédie” wasorganization and use of information
publishedinFrancewith
35 by means of a union of producers
with consumers of data by adequacy
volumes, which aimed to organize of utility of the contents with thepractical needs of the users.
all of the knowledge that existed atthat time.

(1) Transcription andcopies;(2) Rights of photos andpictures.

(1) Any article can betranscribed, modified andamplified as long as therights of copies andmodifications arepreserved.
(2) Notification of specificconditions in each case.

(1) The contents of the entries areprotected by copyright international
conventions, patents andtrademarks. Rights of Encyclopædia
Britannica®
(2) Protection exercised by therights of the same publication.

45(1) Texts in PDF for free copies of
selected pages, for non-commercial
use and with mention to authorsand original work. Rights of authors
preserved without financial
compensation (attribution ofacademic or professional title).
(2) Copyrights to the identified
authors or to public use.

National level: Confef-Cref system

Institutional support

Wikimedia Foundation(non-profit organization).

Publication of the commercial
objectives of the company
Encyclopædia Britannica®.

State level: Cref with local
associations and partnerships
Production as service to thecommunity with no commercial
ties.

Revision and reliability

Instantaneous (online);internet users, specialists
or non-specialists in thesubjects (which has
generated controversy,
according to Wikipedia).

Programmed for edition (various
dates and conditioned to the rhythmof sales and marketing) andconducted by specialized andprofessional editors. Source ofrecognized reliability in its
information.

Revisions and updating byidentified authors with texts
submitted to Editors for morereliability. The texts already revised
are kept available for theaccompaniment of the changes
made. As it is a memory document,
the successive revisions represent
some criticism to the sources andto the interpretations in terms ofHistory. Growing reliability following
the revisions and register ofchanges.

References

Bibliography and links of
the Internet.

Standardized bibliography oftechnical and scientific sources.

Written oral, iconographic sourcesof various natures with nominal
indication; bibliographicalreferences in system chosen by theauthors; electronic addresses of
websites and sources.

Security of the original
information

Condition not available bythis model of electronic
encyclopedia.

Printed texts (unchangeable) andbook format.

Texts, quantitative data andmemory data in PDF format(unchangeable) for copies.

International rights andpatents

GNU General Public
License (free license forsoftware) - texts
distributed on a freebasis, keeping copyrights
and with no permission to
be used in a inappropriatemanner.

International conventions of
copyrights in relation to printed
books.

GNU Free Documentation Licenseunder the name
“FreeAtlas”, which prohibits
commercial use and reformulationsof original texts with noauthorization from the authors.
Starting in 2008, the reference willbe “FreeAtlas-LP DaCosta” based on
ISO 26000 that will regulate social
responsibility in companies.

Anyone who buys the encyclopedia
or consults it in a library.

Anyone through the Internet;
sports fans; students in generaland professionals related to sports,
physical education and recreation;
researchers of various areas ofknowledge and media
professionals.

PublicAnyone who uses theInternet.

46

Authors

Not identified; specialists
or non- specialists.
Voluntary adherence.

Authors and editors identified insecondary levels in the texts;
specialists highlighted in their areasof knowledge; texts of individual
authors in its majority. Professional
collaboration financially rewarded.

Authors and editors by voluntary
adherence; names next to theirtexts; important specialists
identified in their areas ofknowledge, or at the beginning of
their careers in certain areas;
individual or collective texts.

APPENDIX 8

Concepts of today’s Olympic sport development for theinterest of management and marketing in Arab societies
Ref.: Appendix 5

Correspondencewith the Atlas ofSport Database
model
Ref.: Appendix 6

A - The Arab World is attempting to cope with the rapid
developments in Information Technology with positive impact in
the growth and operations of organizations in general, in
addition to cultural activities and sports, including therelationships between leading organizations and participants, orathletes.

Items a, b, c, dand e.

B - The impact of Internet on the developing countries,
including those with Arabic culture and religion, could be more
powerful than past experiences of the developed societies. The

Items a, c, d, e
and f.

47

Internet must be promoted as a new way to empower culturaland sport relationships and to adopt advanced management
practices, which is now being developed in most Arab societies.
C - Multiculturalism in sport basically means to use
management tools capable of guaranteeing respect at all levels
for society’s internal diversity. Some Olympic values, in thiscase, may represent models of behavior to leaders, managers
and athletes in many Islamic countries when they focus on
dignity of each and every person as considered being equal andattached to human nature.

Item d.

D - Sports in general and Olympic sport in particular in mostcultural settings have historically accommodated globalization
trends and respect to social and cultural diversity for the sakeof competition. This condition is valuable to consolidate theArabic culture as well in its progressive adaptation to internal(same country) and external (between countries) diversity.

Items c, d and f.

E - The Olympic sport activities and organizations from Arabsocieties have been exposed for a long time to constantchanges and partnership among themselves and with nonMoslem countries and institutions. Thus, this sector is ready tomake developments towards networking and more advanced
innovative claims.

Items a, b and d.

48