Sport in Times of Turmoil: Political Uses of Sport in Global Crises

ABSTRACT

As the COVID-19 virus spread across the globe, sport leagues and mega-events succumbed to the pandemic, shuttering even the most high-profile activities, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As the global crisis deepened and competitions returned in modified formats, sport’s political uses – viewed widely – became increasingly apparent. Considered along a harder-to-softer continuum, six political uses of sport are laid bare in times of crises: resource redeployment to supplement public infrastructure needs; economic stability and stimulus; leveraged status for public good; distraction from human toil; symbol of collective resolve; and the opportunity for state re-invention. However, each of these six uses is contested and tensive. As such, the political uses of sport in a global crisis reveal both positive and negative dimensions of sport and society-at-large. As such, I present a REI-BCI (Resources-Engagement-Identity/Bread-Circus-Image) continuum to highlight the dynamic political uses of sport in times of turmoil.

KEYWORDS:

• Sport politics
• global crisis
• soft power
• sport governance
• COVID-19

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the critical contributions made by three anonymous reviewers and the Global Society editors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The 2020 Olympics did take place one year later in Tokyo, without spectators and against the wishes of the general population (according to polls taken across Japan).

2 Sport in this paper will refer to high profile activities that interest tends to extend beyond the local (and even national) to a wider “transregional” audience. For example, the English Premier League is consumed beyond British citizens. Furthermore, I will use the term in a monolithic sense, recognising different sports have different sociocultural influences and impacts.

3 Appreciation is extended to an anonymous reviewer for pointing to the connections with my analysis and the existing SME legacy literature.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tim L. Elcombe

Tim Elcombe, PhD, is an associate professor and former Department Chair of Kinesiology & Physical Education at Wilfrid Laurier University and a Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs (Waterloo, Canada). Broadly speaking, Dr Elcombe’s scholarship uses a pragmatic normative lens to examine concepts and issues related to sport ethics, cultural and political aspects of sport, sport development and governance, and social impact through sport (and inquiry).