An interdisciplinary approach in identifying the legitimate regulator of anti-doping in sport: The case of the Australian Football League

Highlights• Actors are perceived to have authority according to level and type of capital they possess.• In a social field, dominant actors influence social conditions and behaviors.• Perceived authority of actors is not connected with legislative legal authority.• The AFL was perceived as a dominant actor in the EFC doping investigation.• The AFL had greater levels of symbolic capital than the anti-doping regulator, ASADA.