Sport Industry Group

FTSIS 08: Comms chiefs define 'crisis'- 5 Nov 2008 00:00:00

During the Crisis Management Panel at The FT Sport Industry Summit 2008 in association with the Honda Racing F1 Team's earthdreams programme, Alastair Campbell, former press secretary to the British Prime Minister, stressed that the word ‘crisis’ is the most overused word in the English language.

“There are really very few crises,” he said. “Sometimes where there’s money there’s muck, but when you get someone like Hamilton or football players that make vast amounts of money, they have the same motivation for those who don’t make as much money.” He added, “I can’t think of the last time genuine crisis happened in British sport.”

When asked whether he would consider the current economic situation means a crisis for sport, Campbell said, “I think there is a global financial crisis. I’d be very surprised if long-term some of the football clubs don’t disappear because I think the finances of football are unsustainable.”

Along with the current economic “crisis” possibly affecting football, Lord Condon claimed the sport also is facing some challenges it hasn’t faced regarding cheating. When asked what other sports, apart from cricket experience problems with betting and fixing matches, Lord Condon, deputy chairman of G4S, cited football, saying the sport faces issues with cheating by time-zone and technology manipulation. While overall the majority of sport is clean, he said, most sports have some sort of problem.

Paul Charles, director of communications for Virgin Atlantic, admitted that there are sports they would avoid because of this issue, such as older cricketers, as they might be involved in cheating.
 
However, Campbell continued to press that there are few crises and that the best plan businesses can follow is remember to separate their view from the public’s views. Phil Hall, chairman of PHA Media, agreed with Campbell, advising businesses to concentrate on the reality.