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

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