Sport and Politics

1. Sport and Politics

2. The Internal Politics of Sport

3. Sport and Politics • Modern sports are to a large extent a product of the British/English class system • Rugby was part of an upper-class education system designed to produce the elite managers of the British Empire

4. Sport and Politics • Cricket with its five-day matches was the sport par excellence of the aristocracy • The gentlemen/players division was a physical manifestation of this origin • Polo was for those with enough money to afford a horse

5. Sport and Politics • Leisurely sports such as golf were for those with significant amounts of leisure time at their disposal • Even football (the people’s game?) was an alliance between local businessmen and (male) workers

6. Sport and Politics • To this day which sport you play says something about your class origins/ aspirations • Sport has long been an arena for the reproduction of patriarchal values and gender discrimination remains strong

7. Sport and Politics • There is a great deal of research to show that male and female sportspersons are treated differently in the media • Football is the last bastion of homophobia in British society

8. Sport and Politics • It has also long been an arena where notions of racial superiority have been mobilised (and contested) • The St Louis Olympics • The Berlin Olympics • The Mexico Olympics

9. Sport and Politics Sport has always been political with a small “p” as a place where class, gender and race hierarchies are staged, negotiated and contested

10. The Appropriation of Sport by Politics

11. Sport and Politics • The State has always been interested in sport as a way of preventing idleness and disorder • Nineteenth-century movements such as the Turners in Germany or the Sokols in the Czech part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire saw sport as a means of maintaining a war-ready male population

12. Politics and Sport • On a different level, high-level sport is routinely appropriated by official politics • This occurs on a domestic level • Prime Ministers/Members of Royalty attend Cup Finals, Wimbledon Finals etc

13. Politics and Sport • It also occurs routinely on an international level • Hosting an international event is seen as an opportunity to present the “nation” on an international stage • The scale of investment in such events is huge

14. Politics and Sport • Such events invariably take the form of “media events” • Television coverage is a key element of the overall design • This coverage is driven by the “national agenda” (Barcelona Olympics)

15. Politics and Sport • While political statements by athletes (however small scale) are invariably sanctioned, political statements by organisers are tolerated: • Parading the flag at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics

16. Politics and Sport • Statements by “peripheral” groups attract ferocious criticism • The Catalan advert for the Barcelona Olympics

17. Conclusions

18. Politics and Sport • Sport is inherently political due to its origins and ongoing role in the class structure of the country where it is practised • High-level sport is routinely appropriated for high-level state-political ends

19. Politics and Sport • Contestation and subversion are always possible • The criticism and sometimes sanctions (bans from future participation) these actions attract highlight the seriousness of the stakes

20. Many thanks