Integrity in sports governance
I approach the issue of integrity in sports governance through the lens of eligibility regulation and policy, governance, and epistemic failures. Since I am not only a sociologist and critical scholar but also a member of the sports community, my commitment to advancing integrity in sports governance is motivated by my belief in the social promises of sport and its potential to build bridges and celebrate humanity in its all its diversity.
Consistent with this vision, from 2022-2025 I worked with the International Olympic Committee to support the rollout of the IOC Framework on Fairness, Inclusion, and Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations. My current work in this area builds on this first hand experience working at the center of the Olympic movement with diverse partners and stakeholders, offering critical perspectives on integrity failures in the policy process as well recommendations best practice.
Areas of work include: scientific integrity in the evaluation and use of research and data; centering the voices of athletes targeted by eligibility regulations; upholding medical ethics and doing no harm through regulatory practices; responsible and constructive engagement of wider stakeholders; and access to justice for athletes affected by eligibility decisions.
Related publications (please contact me if you do not have access):
Pape, M. (2019). Expertise and nonbinary bodies: Sex, gender, and the case of Dutee Chand. Body & Society, 25(4), 3-28.
Pielke, R. and Pape, M. (2019). Science, sport, sex, and the case of Caster Semenya. Issues in Science and Technology, XXXVI(1), 56-63.
Pape, M. (2020). Regulatory regimes, ignorance, and testosterone: The case of gender eligibility in international sport. In J. Sterling and M. McDonald (Eds.) Sports, Society, and Technology: Bodies, Practices, and Knowledge Production, pp. 219-245. Palgrave Macmillan.
Pape, M. (2022). Institutional ignorance and the obscuring of race in gender eligibility regulation. In L. McGoey and M. Gross (Eds.) International Handbook of Ignorance Studies, 2nd edition, pp. 247-256. Abingdon: Routledge.
Martowicz, M., Budgett, R., Pape, M., Mascagni, K., Engebretsen, L., Dienstbach-Wech, L., Pitsiladis, Y., Pigozzi. F., and Erdener, U. (2023). Position statement: IOC Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 57(1), 26-32.
Posbergh, A., Bekker, S., Cooky, C., Pape, M., Teetzel, S., Travers, A. (2024). Critical reflections on the governance of women and gender expansive athletes: An intersectional interdisciplinary dialogue. Sociology of Sport Journal, 41(4), 353-361.
Williams, A., Heffernan, S., Herbert, A., Hamilton, B., Sánchez, F., Gollish, S., Rutherford, A., Montgomery, H., McNamee, M., Camporesi, S., Ospina-Betancurt, J., Fife, N., Cox, L., Holt, R. ., Pitsiladis, Y., Malinsky, F., Guppy, F., Pape, M., Vilain, E., Pielke, R., Jr, Cable, N. ., Chantler, S., Phillips, S. and Stebbings, G. (2024). Fair and Safe Eligibility Criteria for Women's Sport: The Proposed Testing Regime Is Not Justified, Ethical, or Viable. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 34, e14753.