ipl-logo

Role Of Sport In Politics

10022 Words41 Pages
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND TO STUDY
The gains of sport is enormous and has influence on all aspect s of human life; of which it makes one healthy, boosts self-confidence, help build leadership skills, contributes to the mutual understanding across race, culture and gender. While some scholars doubt the possibility of sport influence on diplomatic relations between international actors, evidence through events and time suggests that sport is becoming increasingly used by states and international organizations to reach across to their intended audience. Sport diplomacy as put by Horne et al states “sport (and play) involves rules and regulations which are derived in some way from the real world; sport provides politically usable resources; sport can promote nation building and international image making. In fact, modern sport has seldom been free of politics”.1
Sport has been very dominant in state relations both internally and externally. Historically, ancient city states of Greece and Roman Empire for example had used sport to enhance the fitness of their people in times of war and to demonstrate their superiority over other city states, while outside
1 Chien- Yu (eds) Theorizng the Role of Sport in State Politics, in International Journal of Sport and Exercise Science,1 (1),p.g 23 warring times, sport continues to maintain fitness; in later years sporting events were organized for entertainment or for competition.
Although the importance of sport has varied over time, the
Open Document