Playing with the Rules: Influences on the Development of Regulation in Sport

Citation

Vamplew W (2007) Playing with the Rules: Influences on the Development of Regulation in Sport. International Journal of the History of Sport, 24 (7), pp. 843-871. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360701311745

Abstract
Sport today is a rule-governed practice: constitutive rules, both prescriptive and proscriptive, define required equipment and facilities as well as setting the formal rules of play; auxiliary rules specify and control eligibility: and regulatory rules place restraints on behaviour independent of the sport itself. This article offers a broad sweep examination of the historical process of rule development in sport including an assessment of the influence over time of gambling, fair play ideology, economic pressures, technological developments and legal intervention. En route a seven-stage scheme of constitutive rule development is postulated which it is hoped will set a research agenda for sports historians to test with case studies of particular sports.

Keywords
Sport; Rules; Sports Social aspects; Sports Rules; Sports History

Journal
International Journal of the History of Sport: Volume 24, Issue 7

• Playing with the Rules.pdf