Published this month, ASOIF’s Sixth Review of International Federation Governance found continued progress across gender equality, safeguarding, election transparency, whistleblowing mechanisms and procurement practices. The findings reinforce a growing view across the sports sector that good governance is not simply about compliance. It is increasingly becoming a strategic asset.

Governance in an Uncertain World

The report arrives against a backdrop of geopolitical instability, increasing scrutiny of sports organisations and growing expectations from athletes, sponsors, governments and fans.

For Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Chair of the ASOIF Governance Task Force, governance has become a critical tool for navigating uncertainty.

“In a world of geopolitical instability and low-trust environments, strong internal governance – which is credible, transparent and trustworthy – becomes a competitive advantage,” she said.

That perspective reflects a significant shift in how governance is viewed within sport. Historically, governance frameworks were often seen as administrative requirements. Today, they are increasingly recognised as the foundation upon which organisations build trust, manage risk and deliver long-term impact.

The ASOIF review itself is now a decade-long exercise designed to help International Federations strengthen governance culture and ensure they remain fit for purpose in an increasingly complex operating environment.

Steady Progress Across the Olympic Movement

The headline findings paint a largely positive picture.

All 31 International Federations that participated in both the 2023-24 and 2025-26 reviews exceeded the governance benchmark score of 150 points. The average score increased by more than 10 points, while the number of federations achieving the highest A1 category doubled from seven to fourteen.

Among the leading federations achieving A1 status were FIFA, World Athletics, World Rugby, World Aquatics, World Triathlon, FIBA, the International Tennis Federation and the UCI.

ASOIF President Ingmar De Vos believes these improvements are essential for protecting the autonomy and legitimacy of international sport.

“Upholding high IF governance standards is an important element of ASOIF’s Strategy 2026-2032 and absolutely essential for defending IFs’ autonomy, enabling them to fulfil their vital role in the complex international world of sport,” he said.

From Policy to Practice

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the review is that progress is increasingly being demonstrated through implementation rather than policy creation alone.

The report identifies notable improvements in several areas. Twenty-four federations now operate confidential reporting mechanisms, compared with 15 in the previous review. Twenty-nine federations demonstrated active safeguarding policies supported by training, event safeguarding officers and disciplinary procedures. Fifteen federations now require greater financial disclosure during election campaigns, more than double the number recorded in the previous assessment.

There has also been progress in gender balance, open procurement and financial transparency. These are not marginal administrative issues. They are the operating systems that determine whether international federations can respond credibly to social, environmental and commercial pressures.

The Sustainability Connection

For Global Sustainable Sport, the ASOIF findings are particularly significant because governance is one of the strongest enablers of broader sustainability performance.

Within the recently published GSS SPI Index, governance is assessed through the Power pillar, which examines leadership, accountability, transparency, ethics, strategy and organisational culture. Strong governance alone does not guarantee sustainability success, but organisations that perform well in governance are generally better placed to embed sustainability into decision-making, reporting, stakeholder engagement and long-term planning.

This is where the ASOIF review and the SPI Index begin to tell a connected story. ASOIF measures the maturity of governance systems. The SPI Index examines how those systems translate into sustainable, purposeful and impactful performance across seven pillars: Partnerships, Participation, People, Planet, Power, Profile and Prosperity.

What the SPI Index Shows Across Summer Federations

Across the Summer Olympic International Federations assessed in the SPI Index, the average overall score is 4.07, placing the group broadly in the C range. Five federations currently achieve a C+ grade: World Rugby, FIFA (Football), World Athletics, FIVB (Volleyball) and FIH (Hockey). A further 16 sit at C, with nine at D+ and four at D.

The pillar-level analysis reveals an important pattern. Summer Olympic federations perform strongest in Partnerships (5.49) and Power (Governance) (4.65), suggesting that many organisations have established sustainability strategies, governance structures and stakeholder relationships. However, scores fall significantly in Planet (3.10) and Profile (Media & Communications) (3.39), highlighting a common challenge across the sector. While awareness and governance frameworks are increasingly well developed, fewer federations are yet demonstrating consistent environmental outcomes or systematically measuring and communicating impact. The findings align closely with ASOIF’s governance review, reinforcing the view that sport is making significant progress in building the foundations for sustainability, but still has work to do in translating governance and strategy into measurable action and long-term results.

Leading Federations by SPI Pillar (Top 5 Per Pillar)

• Partnerships: World Rugby, FIBA (Basketball), FIFA, FIVB, World Athletics
• Participation: FIBA, FIFA, BWF (Badminton), World Sailing, World Taekwondo
• People: FIBA, World Rugby, BWF, World Athletics, World Taekwondo
• Planet: UCI (Cycling), World Sailing, FIVB, ICF (Canoeing), World Rugby
• Power: World Rugby, World Athletics, UCI, FIFA, ITF (Tennis)
• Profile: FIH (Hockey), FIVB, World Sailing, ICF, UCI
• Prosperity: FIFA, World Rugby, World Athletics, BWF, FIBA

The findings reinforce one of the key conclusions emerging from the SPI Index: many federations have established awareness and governance structures, but the next challenge is demonstrating activity and measurable impact. In GSS terms, the sector is steadily progressing from Awareness to Activity, with Impact increasingly becoming the defining measure of leadership.

Winter Sport’s Sustainability Leader

The winter federation data provides an important point of comparison. Across the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF), only one federation currently achieves a C+ rating within the GSS SPI Index. That organisation is the International Biathlon Union (IBU), which has established itself as the clear sustainability leader within winter sport and lies second amongst all Olympic sports federations. The remaining winter Olympic federations currently sit within the D+ category, highlighting both the IBU’s leadership position and the wider opportunity for progress across the sector.

What makes the IBU particularly noteworthy is not simply its rating, but the consistency of its performance. The federation leads the winter sports movement across all seven SPI pillars, demonstrating a balanced approach that combines governance, environmental action, stakeholder engagement, communications and long-term organisational resilience. At a time when winter sports face some of the most immediate consequences of climate change, from snow reliability and event scheduling to venue viability and athlete welfare, the IBU’s performance illustrates how environmental risk can become a catalyst for stronger governance and more integrated sustainability leadership.

Size Matters, But Leadership Still Counts

The ASOIF review also highlights an important reality for international sport: resources continue to influence outcomes.

Federations with larger revenues and staffing levels generally achieved higher governance scores than smaller organisations. However, ASOIF also notes that size is not destiny. Several smaller federations achieved strong governance results despite more limited resources.

The same pattern appears in sustainability. Larger federations often have more capacity to produce strategies, reports and dedicated programmes. But the SPI data shows that leadership, clarity and consistency can also allow smaller or more specialised federations to outperform expectations.

From Governance to Future Readiness

The Sixth Review does not suggest that the work is complete. Challenges remain around risk management, due diligence, board diversity and the implementation of governance frameworks across all federations.

But the direction of travel is clear. International Federations are strengthening their governance systems at the same time as sustainability expectations are expanding. The challenge now is to connect these two agendas more deliberately.

Good governance is not the end point. It is the platform from which sport can build stronger partnerships, protect people, respond to climate risk, communicate with credibility and create lasting value.

In an era defined by uncertainty, public scrutiny and rising expectations, the federations that thrive may not simply be those with the biggest budgets or the most successful competitions. They may be the organisations that build the strongest systems of trust, accountability and impact.

As Samardžić-Marković observed, governance is no longer merely a protective mechanism. It is becoming a competitive advantage.