IS WINNING MEDALS IN INTERNATIONAL SPORT SIMPLY A MATTER OF MONEY? AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON IN 15 COUNTRIES: Conquistar medalhas no esporte internacional é apenas questão de dinheiro? Uma comparação internacional em 15 países.

Since 2009 a research team from 15 countries has collaborated in an international comparative study on elite sport policies, called SPLISS 2.0. This was a follow up to the SPLISS 1.0 study in 2008 when the authors celebrated the publication of their book "The Global Sporting Arms Race". A consortium of researchers leads the project: project coordinator Veerle De Bosscher (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium and Utrecht University, the Netherlands), Simon Shibli (Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom), Hans Westerbeek (Victoria University, Australia) and Maarten van Bottenburg (Utrecht University, the Netherlands).
The Sports Policy factors Leading to International Sporting Success (SPLISS) have been compared in 15 countries(or 16 regions), including Australia, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland (UK), Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Estonia and Flanders and Wallonia (Belgium). A total of 58 researchers and 33 policy organisations collaborated in the project.
The study used the model of nine pillars that determine the effectiveness and efficiency of elite sport policies, as was discussed earlier in this book: (1) financial support, (2) structure and governance in elite sport, (3) sports participation, (4) talent identification and development, (5) (post) athletic career support, (6) training facilities, (7) coach education and support, (8) (inter)national competition and (9) scientific research and innovation. Its uniqueness lies in the involvement of the key stakeholders in elite sport, and the mix of ‘measurement’ and qualitative evaluation.