Sport and Politics

The Internal

Politics of Sport

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Appropriation of Sport by Politics

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

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

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

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)

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

Politics and Sport

Statements by “peripheral” groups attract ferocious criticism

The Catalan advert for the Barcelona Olympics

Conclusions

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

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

Many thanks