ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book talks about the governance of international sport which is in several respects the most globalised of human activities, transcending the constraints of language and cultural specificity. It explains the world of mega-sporting international non-governmental organisations (SINGOs) and global sport governance in order to offer an interconnected set of descriptions and explanations as to where the lions may be lying in wait, as the shibboleths and the religiose and righteous ideologies of the old SINGO regimes have become increasingly exposed, challenged and called to account. The book considers the historical origins of the modern sports that have spawned the SINGO phenomenon, before looks at comparisons between the features of our two mega-SINGOS, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), in their founding years.
