Is Sport Nationalism Justifiable?

Abstract

The article aims to clarify the deep relationships established between sport and nationalism by considering, among other factors, the instrumentalisation of sport by political elites, political apathy of citizens, economic resources for sport, the question of violence or identitarian matters. In order to define if the combination of sport and nationalism is admissible, the paper defines sport nationalism and distinguishes the political use of sport for purposes of domestic and foreign policy. In the first section the analysis focuses on whether a causal link with respect to the contribution to violence can be established and with respect to its use in the internal politics of a state, the paper differentiates between normal political circumstances and political crises in order to properly address the question of whether there are grounds to assert that sport can distract citizens from asserting their genuine interests.