This article focuses on a turning point in Finnish sports policy at which the new performance-based governmental steering model replaced the old corporatist operational model. This shift is approached through a long-term analysis of Finnish sports policy and structures. The government`s power increased when the old hierarchical and representation-based pyramid structure of the sports movement crumbled and was replaced by a sports community that was based on looser collaboration. The article reviews the performance-based funding system applied by the Finnish government to sports organisations and the structural reform of the sports movement. The aim is to estimate the impacts of these changes on large national sport federations, in particular. The article analyses the effects of the new steering model and the development process of the various domains in the areas of youth sports, elite sports, adapted physical activities and adult sports. The results of the analysis show that the structural reform was never fully completed and that the impact of performance-based steering has waned in the activities of the large sport federations in the 2000s.
© Copyright 2016 International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. Taylor & Francis. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.