Since the manipulation of competitions became one of the main threats to sport integrity, both the academy and international organizations have sought to establish a coherent conceptual framework that defines what type of practices determine a manipulation and what are the factors that might cause it. Although the literature has shown that match-fixing is a multifaceted phenomenon that includes individual, relational, and institutional variables, most of the authors have focused their explanations on individual factors, and institutional prevention campaigns continue to understand match-fixing as a problem of moral failure of in-field sports actors. This work proposes a novel framework of holistic interpretation that, for the first time and in a dynamic way, analyzes the micro, meso, and macro factors that might condition/guide actors’ willingness to get involved in manipulations. The articles describe reasons and causes and explain while it is important to differentiate among individual integrity, competence integrity and institutional integrity. To a large extent, the errors and ineffectiveness of the fight against the manipulation of sport competitions have been related to the lack of understanding of the different types of integrity that require different approaches and differentiated public policies. The conclusions suggest innovative paths to more effective policy-making processes.

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sport integrity,match-fixing,policymaking,holistic approach,sport governance.