The Sports Ethics Examiner

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The Sports Ethics Examiner

Empowering People Towards More Ethical, Safer & Inclusive Sport.

24/08/2026

On August 21, Good Good Golf, a popular golf media brand, posted a video promoting a driver.

In it, co-founder Garrett Clark runs toward former Division I female golfer, Alexis Miestowski as she reaches for the club, knocks her to the ground, stands over her and warns her not to touch it.

Good Good and Callaway removed the video after immense online criticism.

Good Good also apologised, Callaway expressed disappointment and the Tour condemned the depiction of violence.

👉🏻 is also the title sponsor of a PGA Tour event this November.

While the shove was the most visible problem, it was not the only one.

Here are five ethical issues the ad raised about violence, representation, decision-making and accountability.

24/08/2026

In July 2025, five former members of ’s 2018 World Junior hockey team were acquitted of s*xual assault charges stemming from a 2018 incident in London, Ontario.  A year ago, we explained that a criminal acquittal should not decide where sport’s responsibility ends.

Our coverage made a distinction that remains important: a criminal court determines whether an offence has been proven to the criminal standard… BUT sporting bodies have their *own* rules, responsibilities and standards of conduct. 
Hockey Canada continued its disciplinary process, and this month an independent appeal board ruled that all five players had breached Hockey Canada’s Code of Conduct.

Four remain suspended from Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs, with reinstatement dates ranging from 2026 to 2030.

But there is another part of the story: all five remain eligible to play in the .

The NHL operates separately from and reached its own decision about their eligibility.

In this post, we share five quick takeaways from the case, including:

👉🏽 what the latest decisions mean for accountability
👉🏿 why the NHL’s own standards deserve scrutiny, and
👉🏻 what inconsistent responses can mean for survivors and trust in sport.

18/08/2026

Why do some of the world’s wealthiest people want a piece of sport? 💵🤔

Money is the obvious answer. 🪙 Sportswashing is another familiar one.

But what about when the financial returns aren’t so lucrative?

Or that some billionaires simply don’t care about improving their reputation?

A cleaner image may not be what they want from sport at all.

Owning a team or buying into a sporting institution can put people inside networks that connect business, politics, institutions and communities…and closer to the people, relationships and opportunities within them. That access has value.

Money isn’t the only currency in sport…
sometimes, the return people want is *power*.

And as billions continue to flow into sport, we should pay less attention to price tags 🏷️ , and more about happens when economic, cultural and institutional power becomes increasingly concentrated in the same hands.

06/08/2026

There has never been just one way to understand sport.

For centuries, modern sport has been treated as though it represents the way to play. In reality, it is only one sporting tradition among many.

This carousel explores how and traditional sporting systems were marginalized as modern sport spread globally, and why many continue to endure anyway…not simply as games, but as living systems of culture, identity, community, and knowledge.

It also explains why recognizing *different* sporting knowledge systems matters, not only for history, but for the future of sport.

🪶 Warm congratulations to The Haudenosaunee women’s lacrosse team who last week secured forth place, their best finish in the 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship in their fifth appearance. Haudenosaunee Nationals

31/07/2026

By now you’ve seen that FIFA has proposed creating a new commercial company that would hold many of its commercial rights while selling up to a 20% stake to outside investors.

FIFA says the proposal would generate the largest investment in football development in history.

However, in recent days, ’s member associations voted to oppose the proposal, and the have also withdrawn their support.

Much of the discussion has focused on the proposal itself.

This post explores a different set of questions.

Not whether the proposal is inherently good or bad (it’s bad), but: what it reveals about the purpose of sport governing bodies, how commercial growth should be governed, and whose interests football’s institutions ultimately exist to serve?

23/07/2026

Who gets to belong in women’s sport?

When women’s eligibility becomes something that must continually be verified, s*x testing risks shifting from questions of fairness to questions of *control*.

Some sporting bodies are requiring all women to undergo testing.

Others may single out only those who exceed expectations or don’t fit narrow ideas of what a woman “should” look like or how she “should” perform.

Either way, women are asked to prove they belong.

Excellence itself can become a reason for suspicion.

Over time, this can create a culture where difference is treated as a problem to be managed rather than a reality of sport.

S*x testing does more than set eligibility criteria, it reinforces the idea that there’s only one right way to be a woman in sport.

This post breaks down six things people need to know about s*x testing in sport.

20/07/2026

We don’t celebrate football because it’s perfect.

We celebrate it because we believe in its potential. 🙌🏿🙌🏾🙌🏼

The things we value most should never be beyond criticism, they should inspire our highest expectations.

Accountability also isn’t the opposite of celebrating football, it’s how we protect what makes the game worth believing in. ⚽️

What feel good stories did we miss?

10/07/2026

This weekend, returns to the .

For many, it’s another comeback story. For others, it raises a much bigger question.

What does it communicate when athletes continue to be platformed after allegations or legal findings of s*xual violence?

This topic surrounds many conversations in sport, yet it is often overshadowed by debates about guilt, innocence, due process, or whether someone “deserves a second chance.”

Those questions matter.

But they are not the *only* questions that matter.

This post breaksdown:

👉🏽the difference between legal accountability and public accountability
👉🏿why criminal and civil cases can have different outcomes, 👉🏼why some survivors pursue civil proceedings,
👉🏽and how public rehabilitation can be shaped through media, commercial partnerships, and institutional support.

Ultimately, this isn’t just about one athlete.

It’s about the choices made by sporting institutions, sponsors, media, and all of us, and what those choices communicate to survivors, to fans, and to society.

05/07/2026

Every time a national team is announced, most of us ask the same question:

Did they pick the best players? ⚽️🏆

But sporting organizations are making a second decision too.

They are deciding who should represent them.
That distinction matters.

Every athlete selected wears more than a jersey.

They also carry the reputation, credibility, and values of the institution that chose them.

For decades, sport has made eligibility decisions that extend beyond criminal law.

Athletes have been suspended or declared ineligible under sporting rules for issues such as , , and because sporting institutions have responsibilities that criminal courts do not.

When allegations involve abuse, however, the picture becomes much less clear.

At this , several players are competing while allegations of s*xual violence remain before the courts.

This carousel does not ask whether those athletes are guilty, it asks a different question.

If deciding who wears the jersey is one of the clearest ways a sporting institution expresses its values, what responsibilities should guide that decision?

Because every selection says something… not JUST about the athlete, but also about the institution that chose them.

18/06/2026

This June, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proposed a symbolic Palestine-Israel U15 match as the opening fixture of its new Youth Football Festival.

For some, the initiative may represent football’s potential to promote peace and dialogue.

For others, it raises difficult questions about safeguarding, trauma, symbolism, participation, and how sporting institutions respond to conflict.

This post breaks down four ethical considerations.

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