Useful, fair, and effective. Parliamentary justification for affirmative action in sports leadership

The French law “for real equality between women and men” (2014) marked a turning point in the fight against gender inequalities in sport governance. It introduced new gender quotas on executive boards of national sports federations. However, the law has failed to achieve genuine parity, one of the French government’s objectives. What are the ideological reasons that prevent the establishment of parity? This article looks to gain a better understanding of how public authorities conceptualize inequalities in sport governance. The analysis focuses on the justifications (Boltanski and Thévenot, 1991) advanced by members of parliament during legislative debates. Results show that although the law is explicitly aimed at achieving “real equality,” the arguments put forward promote a tangible or “effective equality.” Finally, the law leads to the production of “elitist equality” (Pochic, 2018) because the different and multidimensional forms of discrimination are not taken into consideration. By only considering gender inequalities, members of parliament participate in the implementation of systems that only benefit a certain category of women, thus recreating new forms of inequalities.