Global Sport in the Age of Authoritarian Power

Global Sport in the Age of Authoritarian Power analyzes how authoritarian and hybrid regimes strategically use global sport to gain domestic legitimacy, international influence and geopolitical advantage, while transforming governance structures, market dynamics and the cultural experience of sport worldwide.

This volume presents a structured and theoretically grounded analysis of authoritarian engagement with global sport, going beyond popular lenses like sportswashing. The book identifies distinct engagement mechanisms, including hosting, ownership, sponsorship and governance influence, and sets out diverse empirical case studies from the Gulf, China and other emerging powers. By integrating political economy, governance and cultural perspectives, the book elucidates both the motivations behind authoritarian investment in sport and the operational strategies and consequences for global sport systems, institutions and stakeholders.

The book is for scholars, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in sport management, international relations and political economy, as well as practitioners, policy analysts and stakeholders concerned with the governance and geopolitics of global sport.