The Paucity of, and Dilemma in, Evaluating Corporate Social Responsibility for Development through Sport

Corporate social responsibility (csr) and sport—often in combination with each other—are being increasingly voiced as vehicles that assist various forms of social and economic development, particularly in years with mega-sporting events like the 2010 football World Cup. However, there is little evidence of evaluation to demonstrate that csr-for-development or sport-for-development works (especially over time). This article examines the extent to which evaluation of csr for development through sport has been undertaken, with specific reference to the 2010 World Cup—an event portrayed as displaying developmental virtues. The research highlights not only a paucity of evaluation for csr for development in general and csr for development through sport in particular (as discussion on evaluation largely revolves around financial performance, often from the perspective of the corporation) but also a dilemma: when prevailing techniques of evaluation of mainstream development are conducted, a concern is raised that the techniques implemented are overly managerial or one-dimensional, representing a crass tick-box mentality that fails to address the contextual environment in which development is delivered and steeped in unequal power relations. As a result, the critical development perspective can point to a further element that highlights the paucity and inherent problems of csr for development.