BIOLOGY OF EXERCISE

Social capital is a key component in understanding the relationship between European sport governing bodies and civil society. A core concept in sociology, political science, organizational behaviour and business, social capital is rela-tively new in the context of European sport governance. In exploring the boundaries of both sport and social capital in theory and practice, one can see sport as a form of positive social capital that promotes social cohesion, trust, social ties, etc. However, it could also be perceived as «dark » so-cial capital since the politics of sport do not always deliver the social benefits they proclaim due to the «exclusionary» vs. inclusive factors: commercialization, doping, institutional-ized gender personification, the leaky pipeline and the glass ceiling in SGBs and in competitive sports. Sport has not yet evolved into a form of social capital which can be nurtured and reproduced to raise social cohesion and eliminate social exclusions. KEY WORDS: sport as social capital, «dark » social capital in sports, social capital production/reproduction, gender personification in sports, leaky pipeline and glass ceiling