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Lebanon’s record in international competitions is meagre. Since 1948, the year the country first participated in the Olympics, Lebanon has won only four medals: two silver, and two bronze. The last medal was obtained in 1980, during the Civil War that had ravaged the country from 1975 to 1990. Since 1992, the year of the first post-conflict era Olympics, only 11 athletes qualified for the Winter and Summer editions, but none won a medal. For the same period, countries such as Estonia, Georgia, and Jamaica with smaller populations and lower gross domestic product were able to win 20, 32, and 58 medals respectively. What are the reasons behind this condition? Is it the low public funding for sport? Is it rampant corruption gangrening the Lebanese sport structure? Or is it the fact that the sport sector, similar to any other public sector in this country, is a mere arena of struggle among political parties; thus, unable to provide the proper conditions for the establishment of an efficient national elite sport policy? This paper seeks to answer these questions by thoroughly examining the historical aspects of the Lebanese sport system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lebanon offers an interesting context for the study of sport policy as there is a lack of literature on sport policies in developing countries, and particularly, in small- and multi-confessional societies. Hence, the aim of this study was to illustrate how the dynamic of power between the state and the political parties/confessional communities is reflected in the national sport system. In particular the paper seeks to provide some insight into the mechanism in place to implement the concept of ‘balance of power’ or so-called mosaic society within the national sport system, looking specifically at structure and resource allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Corruption in sport may have different forms: bribes to International Olympic Committee officials, gambling scandals in football games, doping... But these scourges are not only related to bribery in winning a bid to organize an international sport event or to an athlete cheating, they are also very present in the policy of the government in this field. In fact, the economic, social and political growth of sport in the end of the 20th century has put this sector on the national agendas. Today, sport policy is subject to a structure mechanism and a financing system defined and implemented by the government. Therefore, if a country has a public sector tainted with corruption, it is very likely to affect the whole government apparatus, including the sport sector. When it comes to the public sector, corruption is mainly found in the bribery of officials, kickbacks in procurement and embezzlement of funds. This article examines corruption in the Lebanese sport system. It argues that the latter is highly influenced by the state's multiconfessional political system. This system, which is officially based on a communitarian balance that is difficult to reach, is transformed in reality into a struggle for overrepresentation, even in the field of sport. As the main goal for the different religious groups is to lead the political scene, this often implies corruptive and nepotistic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]