Volume 10, Issue 3

This paper traces the systematic production of a volleyball-specific ‚Vollzugskörper‘ (‚tuned body‘) based on ethnographic observation. With the term Vollzugskörper, we refer to a body whose reper­toire of movements has been shaped through training and practice to meet the demands and engage in the practices of the volleyball game. We examine training from a praxeological perspective as an (observational) dispositif, consisting of practices, techniques, and socio-material arrangements, in which embodied dispositions are shaped and organized in a specific way. In the case at hand, we deal specifically with the formation of an intelligible Zuspielerinnen-Körper, or setter-body: the body of a player that is capable of participating in the volleyball game and of delivering the ball for play by other players. We then discuss our proposal to expand the concept of the ‚Vollzugskörper‘ to incor­porate that of the ‚Vollzugsleib‘ (‚tuned lived body‘). The latter concept focuses attention on the fact that bodies are not only ‚recruited‘ from practices, as is often maintained in praxeological approaches: Bodies also shape themselves in a reflexive mode of execution - that is, through touching, perceiving, and judging - to fit the form of the game in which they are engaged in order to be involved as “agile moments” (Peter Fuchs) in the game’s practical performances.

One of the crucial tasks of an organization is to recruit qualified and competent staff. In the process, search costs arise for both applicants and employers. Applicants look for positions that are consi­stent with their skills, whereas employers look for applicants who fulfill the requirements of the job. Due to the heterogeneity of the sports labor market, this paper seeks to determine the requirements set by job providers in sports. To answer this research question, job advertisements (N=700) were quantitatively analyzed using a coding frame to differentiate the stated qualifications. The results of cluster analysis reveal that specific job profiles exist in certain professional fields.

The UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations fully went into effect at the start of the 2013/14 season. The main objective of this regulatory intervention is to counteract the rising indebtedness of Eu­ropean football clubs and to reduce their increasing dependence on investors. Improving the ef­fectiveness and efficiency of such regulatory measures requires an in-depth understanding of the institutional framework. The conceptual article therefore begins by describing and analyzing the relationship between UEFA and European football clubs from an institutional economics perspec­tive. With regard to property rights, the analysis shows a shift in ownership and power structures to UEFA’s disadvantage. Furthermore, it reveals that the relationship between the governing body and the clubs corresponds in many respects with a classic principal-agent dyad. The analysis builds on a previous case study by Schubert (2014) and extends his model. Finally, based on an evaluation of UEFA’s strategy in its Financial Fair Play regulations, theory-driven recommendations are derived for improving the efficacy of this regulatory intervention.