frbleus1-3, Exercise 1: Why professionalism came late

Model answer (check the details):

1. The amateur ideal. Pierre de Coubertin and the Olympic tradition treated payment as corrupting, and the sports federations were run by amateurs. Evidence: statements and minutes of the USFSA and the federation, and press debates of the 1920s.
2. Football was one sport among several. It was less dominant than in England, and rugby, cycling and athletics had their own followings and officials. Evidence: attendance figures and participation numbers for each sport in the 1920s.
3. Organisation and geography. A large country with few big industrial cities had no equivalent of the English northern towns, so there was little economic base for professional clubs until the company clubs and city sponsors appeared. Evidence: club finance records and population and industry figures.

Most convincing: the first, because the later arrival of company clubs and the 1932 vote show that the obstacle was the rule more than the market. But it is hard to separate the reasons, so the answer should be hedged.

Care: "shamateurism" meant that payments were already happening, so the law changed an open secret and did not create the practice.