Geopolitics and Sports

Marko Begović^1*Simon Chadwick²

• ¹Molde University College, Molde, Norway
• ²Emlyon, China, Shanghai, China

Following the capture of Goma -the DR Congo's biggest eastern city -by M23 rebels, the country's foreign minister (Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner) reportedly wrote to the owners of European football clubs Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain. Each of the clubs is sponsored by the Visit Rwanda tourism campaign, in what some label as 'blood stained' deals. So far this year, it is estimated that 400,000 people have been displaced by the M23, a group widely believed to be under the de facto control of Rwanda's government. Kayikwamba Wagner is reported to have called the shirt sponsorship deals immoral. This is just one instance in what is becoming a growing number of cases where the sport and politics mix, albeit with links to business, countries, demography, cultures, ideologies and so forth. This might be an inconvenient reality for those who claim that sport and politics shouldn't mix. However, the two are inextricably linked, resulting in sports having to operate in often complex, sensitive environments. This necessitates managers, leaders, and decision makers, as well as others with a stake in the industry, needing to have a strong, well-informed sense of the challenges they face. It is in this context that we have compiled a special geopolitics edition of this journal. The interplay between politics and sport has evolved into a complex geopolitical dynamic, reflecting, from the perspective of the sports movement, a selective adherence to the International Olympic Committee's principle of political neutrality outlined in the Olympic Charter. The concept is embedded in the Charter as one of the fundamental principles of Olympism within the constitutional framework aimed at isolating sport from political (or any other outsider) interference. Moreover, the Charter mandates the IOC to take appropriate action to maintain this concept of the Olympic Movement, shaped by the culture of self-governance. Despite this framework aimed at opposing the politicization of sports and safeguarding autonomy, this principle remained increasingly contested through instrumentalization and growing governmentalization of sports for various non-sporting objectives. In parallel to contradicting the mission and purpose, it exposes the fragility of institutional and organizational autonomy of sports movement, as the concept of political neutrality is subjected to geopolitical realities.One the biggest challenges facing sport is the fitness for purpose of its institutions and structures, particularly from a hegemonic perspective. Many of its biggest current governing bodies were the outcome of significant European influence, the likes of FIFA and the IOC having been created by Europeans. Even today, their headquarters remain located in Europe and, for much of their collective history, most of them have been presided over by Europeans. However, over the last fifty years American influence on sport, primarily though not exclusively commercial, has grown. Over the last thirty years, sport has therefore been through a process of industrialisation and commercialisation, driven by a liberal free market ideology. More recently, globalisation, digitalisation and climate change have resulted in the emergence of nations in the Global South as powerful members of the international sport community.foot_0 As a result, this juxtaposition of often competing ideologies has created all manner of challenges, ranging from how to manage sponsorship deals through to how sport should be governed, by whom, and according to what rules. Our intention is that this special edition helps bring some clarity to the way in which those working in sport view these challenges.In a fast-changing world that is having profound implications for sport, the need for a better understanding of geopolitics is growing. Yet in the main, academic research has thus far failed to keep pace with the challenges sport now faces. The breadth and depth of available literature is questionable, whilst the absence of multidisciplinary studies in published articles is stark. Such is the interconnected, networked nature of global sport, that work drawing from several disciplines seems imperative. Moreover, studies undertaken from outside Western hegemony is vital; not only would this help bring diversity of perspective it would also frame issues in ways that are of more relevance to the conceptions and experiences of sport now evident in and emanating from the Global South. In calling for such new approaches to sport research, we equally acknowledge that new methodologies may be required to underpin new research studies that are now beginning to emerge. The academic response has been equally ambiguous with the introduction of the sportswashing concept, disregarding the existence of propaganda through sports (or simply sports propaganda) from the emergence of contemporary sports in the 19th century, the establishment of international sports organizations, and the organization of major sports events. It is not a new phenomenon that states seek global legitimacy or undertake nation branding through sports, however, it means they are just refined in the approach and means to an end. Following WWII, globalization along with the commercialization and professionalization of sports, redefined the importance of medal counts and podium with the monetization of sports and tailoring soft power approach. From bipolar battleground for ideology supremacy between the East and the West including mutual boycotts (1980 and 1984), the geopolitical shifts from unipolarity to multilateralism enabled asymmetric and emerging powers -including China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates -to play a more prominent role in shaping, directing and governing global sports. In parallel, the re-centralization or prioritization of sports as a public policy tool, represents a reflex on the previously discussed dynamics, especially as an attempt to utilize the expansion of multinational corporations (including media conglomerates) and proliferation of international sporting events. Naturally, the frictions and tensions reflect rather a non-sporting constellation that further erodes political neutrality as the bedrock of the Olympism and global sports movement. Particularly in their challenge to steer the process of expanding the stakeholder network in the form of non-state actors, organizers of events, initiatives for new sports or related activities, hybrid actors, and quasi-governmental entities. That said, applied selectively with the degree of discretionary power, the concept of political neutrality lost its primary function as a guardian from political interference. We acknowledge the lack of research interest in discussing the rather transformation of sports governance to transactional logic shaped by ambiguity, selective application of rules, and strategic opportunism. While few authors have been keen to picture these dynamics as the rise of illiberal actors in the form of sportswashing, most of them remained silent in acknowledging the boomerang effect and disconnect between law-on-the-books and law-in-practice, where informal networks and transactional relations shape institutional outcomes. The International Tennis Federation's (ITF) limited reaction to the Lawn Tennis Association's (LTA) and Wimbledon's organizer's decision to ban Russian and Belarussian tennis players in 2022, and FIFA/UEFA's institutional ambiguity on the Israel Football Association (IFA) breach of their own statutory provisions confirms institutional contradictions in undermining one of the key principles and mimicking or coercing to dominant geopolitical narratives.Our conclusion is that whilst sport is currently operating in complex, sensitive conditions, where risk and security are major challenges, this is nevertheless one of the most dynamic, exciting periods in the sector's history. This demands that academic research steps into new territories, creating new perspectives, developing new methodologies, and bringing new insights of a world that is pivoting from Global North to Global South. We feel that this special edition of the journal makes a contribution to a new field of work that links sport with geopolitics and beyond.