The Global Politics of Sports

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This class will discuss how sports and politics are intertwined: Governments worldwide heavily invest in elite sports success to win the “Gold War” at the Olympic Games. Major countries such as China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States want to showcase their power to the world. In small states such as Norway and Qatar, the aim is to punch above their weight in global affairs. Countries are keen to host mega sporting events such as the soccer World Cup to gain soft power in international politics and promote social cohesion and national identity domestically. International sports governing bodies have not only the power to choose mega-sporting event hosts and request countries to change laws; for example, FIFA forced Brazil before the 2016 World Cup to lift its ban on alcohol consumption in stadiums, also known as the “Budweiser Bill”. These bodies also decide who can represent a nation by issuing rules on nationality changes. Furthermore, national sports governing bodies can support gender equality as the Irish Football Association has done in 2021 by introducing equal pay for male and female international players. In the past, athletes were expected to “shut up and dribble,” and political statements such as the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics by African American athletes were punished. However, encouraged by former American football quarterback Colin Kaepernick, more athletes have recently spoken out on civil rights without being sanctioned (although Kaepernick paid the price for his activism by not being hired anymore by any NFL team). For instance, soccer fans brought politics to the stadium by waving Palestinian flags in European club competition matches against Israeli teams to protest human rights violations in the Jewish state.