According to a survey by the State Sports Council, the aim is to influence the work of researchers and prevent the emergence of unfavorable results.
– Influencing and pressure is done through stakeholders, ie partners are used. as messengers and asking them to take the agenda of influencers forward, the report says.
Topics related to equality, equality, minorities and discrimination are particularly sensitive. Likewise, top sports and the sports system, the economics and finance of exercise and sports, and themes that involve something negative like doping or bullying.
– Research results are not always favorable for the sports industry. Reporting on such results does not fit into the narrative of Finnish sports, where everything is good and wonderful, the report says.
Painting and influencing is not a new phenomenon in society in general. For example, a recent study by the Association of Judges found that more than half of respondents to the Association’s survey have experienced inappropriate use, and in particular, painting, aimed at influencing performance and undermining trust.
In academia, the coronavirus pandemic and other crises have restricted researchers ’freedom to teach, research, navigate, and publish their research findings. In inquiries from the Disclosure Advisory Board in 2015, 2017, and 2019, several investigators have reported harassment.
15% (14 people) of the respondents to the Sports Council’s survey of sports researchers said that they had been subjected to research-related pressure in the previous five years. 6% of the respondents had experienced harassment and painting.
– It is nice to be a sports researcher if you say that children do not exercise and that sports receive too little public support. If, then, an attempt is made to open a debate on, for example, gambling activities or the expertise of key institutions in sport, or on the ethics of sports governance, the report will be silenced.
– Typically, after a news release in the media, one of the above-mentioned parties contacts and ‘advises’ how the topic should be reported in public in the future – or not at all.
The occurrence of staining in particular is a nasty observation, as it may change the way we act, at least for young and part-time researchers.
Harassment targets researchers within the industry
A significant finding of the Sports Council’s report is that influencing and harassment seems to be directed at researchers, especially from within the sports industry – even from outsiders – rather than from outside the industry.
Thus, researchers are not always even protected in their own organization; the aim is to influence and distort the results of research, even to obscure unwanted findings and to prevent the systematic examination of information as it stands.
– I have also encountered even more direct threats in face-to-face situations, in which case I have been ‘told’ not to investigate certain topics or not to communicate certain results in the future, one researcher who responded to the survey states in the report.
An example of the harsh use of language for research activities is the manager Harri Halmeen interview in sports magazine issue 26/2020. In it, Halme criticizes the Ministry of Education and Culture’s grants to the Likes Research Center.
– Lafka lives extremely far in the peak of betting resources, and its researchers mainly focus on the sports business and their own truths in its own crumbs, Halme uploaded in 2020.
Painting and pressure, as well as fear, have led to the disappearance of some research subjects. This can lead to the skewing of sports research and focus only on certain types of topics, which is a big issue in science policy.
Influencing, painting, and harassing have most often made their subjects feel unwell and silent, and reduced participation in public debate.
– There has been a desire to influence the communication of research results in different ways. There have been personal calls to me. Once, an employer has been called to block its investigator’s muzzle.
– There will be a bad mood and it will scare what the threatening party will come up with next.
– The harassment has reduced my enthusiasm for making expert appearances, because I can’t stand the resentment of the supervisor after the performances.
– When it lasted long enough, I completely abandoned certain topics in both research and public debate. I think about my research topic according to not having to deal with those who put pressure. The social media harassment resulted in me completely terminating my (social media) account.
An estimated 500 researchers had the opportunity to respond to the survey in September-October 2021.