Space invaders: dominant and emergent regulatory actors in the case of World Aquatics and the International Swimming League

This article examines the regulatory space occupied by principal actors in elite sport, with a particular interest in how dominant actors in sports governance respond to the emergence of third-party competitions or ‘breakaway’ leagues. Applying a regulatory lens, the article identifies actors who, by virtue of their role and position, have long assumed or claimed legitimacy and authority in the running of a sport. In pursing that line of inquiry, the article focuses on the role of dominant actors assuming the constitutional right of prior approval in sanctioning and authorising qualifying events, along with penalties for athletes who participate in breakaway leagues. These controls in elite level swimming present a salient case where the sport has long been ruled by a singular actor, World Aquatics (WA), formerly known as Fédération Internationale De Natation. In recent years, WA’s dominant position has been interrupted by the rise of an emergent actor, the International Swimming League (ISL), which presented opportunities for either regulatory accommodation or disruption. In pursuing that scenario, the article draws on Hancher and Moran’s regulatory space metaphor (1989), which theorises the attributes of dominant actors occupying regulatory spaces. Concurrently, the article draws upon Arts’ Three Faces of Power concept (2003) to interpret the values, behaviours, and characteristics of various types of regulatory actors. By exploring the key characteristics of regulatory actors in the WA-ISL relational context, this article contributes to our understanding of organisational legitimacy and the regulatory power of dominant and emergent actors in global sport’s regulatory space.