Sports Diplomacy. Michał Marcin Kobierecki
sports diplomacy. They involve arranging international contacts of athletes, coaches, sports experts, and officials. Their goal is to build a more positive perception of a state among the society of another country. Sports exchanges were also used as a method of sports diplomacy perceived as a tool for shaping interstate relations. In this context, they can be classified both as an example of sports diplomacy directed at shaping international relations and at building an image of a state, since the contacts between the people engaged in such exchange lead to building mutual sympathy, rejecting stereotypes, and presenting values of respective countries. It might lead to doubt concerning the difference between the two types of sports diplomacy. It refers to the determination of the objective and directness of influence. Exchanges typical for shaping an image of a country have an overall goal of enhancing the way a country is perceived outside, what in the future may bring such country more international friends. On the other hand, sports diplomacy as a tool of shaping relations with other states is connected with particular, often more, interim and visible goals such as rapprochement between estranged countries. It must be noted though that the boundary between these two types of sports diplomacy is sometimes blurred and certain cases might have the qualities of both of them, and the assessment to which category particular case fits might have a normative character.
Providing sports development aid, to some extent, is similar to sports exchanges. In general, development aid is regarded as a typical method of public diplomacy. Rhonda Zaharna classified it within the second tier relationship-building initiatives (whereas exchanges were identified within the first tier). They are based on the assumption that aid symbolizes ties between two entities and develops relationships between the personnel of the sponsor and their counterparts among the people from the country that accepts assistance as they are both engaged in the project.92 In this context, it is similar to sports exchanges. Therefore those two methods have been described jointly. Sports development aid includes providing support in the field of sport or through sport. It encompasses providing training, donating equipment, or funding construction of sports venues.
Hosting sports events is one of the most often investigated types of the use of sport in shaping international prestige and the desired image of a state. It is often perceived as an example of employing public diplomacy and soft power.93 According to Joseph Nye, sports events fall within the second concentric circle of public diplomacy alongside everyday communication and building lasting relations with individuals in other countries, which is connected with strategic communication. It includes developing a set of simple themes concerning a particular state.94 Their usefulness stems from the fact that they are an example of a special event.95 It is also emphasized that sports events affect the perception of places in which they are held very strongly compared to other cultural events. The most important sports events in the analyzed context, according to Simon Anholt, are the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, Tour de France, and New York Marathon.96
If sports events and their role in shaping the international image of a state are considered, particular attention is paid to sports mega-events. They last a relatively short time, but their social dimension exceeds their time perspective significantly. At the same time, they offer entertainment and emotions for the mass of spectators.97 They can be distinguished by the fact that they generate tourism, media attention, prestige, and have an economic impact on local communities.98 Their social effects include a contribution to the development of infrastructure of a city or a country, enhancement of local pride, or creation of a subculture of belonging and cohesiveness.99 In the context of this research, the most important is their significance concerning image building. They are believed to provide a rare opportunity to present the image of a state in global media, thus providing international visibility.100 As a result, the initiatives to host sports mega-events are often undertaken by countries that have something to prove in the international arena101 as they allow to present to the world a particular picture. Organizing them and bidding for them often become vital factors of developing local and national strategies.102
The Olympic Games is one of the most important types of sports mega-events. According to Xin Zhong et al. they give a chance to shape a competitive identity that occurs once for a generation.103 Many regard it as one of the best marketing tools available to states and cities for various reasons. A few years before the Olympics companies begin to promote their ties with the event, while a few months before the opening ceremony reporters from around the world begin to publish articles about the states that host them. Further attention is generated by the Olympic flame relay, which starts a few weeks before the event. The opening ceremony is an exposition of the host’s culture watched by at least three billion people. The sports competition is followed by 92.5 percent of adults having access to television.104 These events are sometimes assessed concerning their value because of such intense media coverage, which is meaningful in business but can also speak in favor of their use in shaping states’ international image.
Hosting major sports events according to Jonathan Grix and Paul Brannagan for many states became an important part of their wider diplomatic armory because they generate soft power, which is connected to many states’ strategic shift from hard power to soft power.105 Hosting events such as the Olympics is an extraordinary opportunity to present a state, region, or city and its merits to global public, or to send a particular message. Hosting sports mega-events is, therefore, a clear example of shaping the international image of a state through sport.
Staging sports events has several specific goals, which include the government’s desire to improve relations with other countries, boost morale of the society and state’s image, mainly in the context of presenting the changes the country has undergone.106 Other objectives include the development of states and cities hosting sports events,107 economic benefits such as boosting tourism and tackling unemployment, enhancing national pride, and achieving political objectives.108 Sometimes it is connected with the need to counter negative stereotypes. It was the case with South Africa hosting FIFA World Cup.109 Obviously, in different situations, there are different vital motivations, but undoubtedly, the goal to influence the state’s external perception belongs to the most important motivations from the perspective of governments.
According to Jonathan Grix and Barrie Houlihan positive impact on the nation’s image or brand has recently moved from being a welcome consequence to a significant justification for hosting sports events.110 It is important to note that the image-building sports diplomacy realized through hosting sports events in various situations can be more similar to public diplomacy or nation branding, or it may have features of both of these categories if they are considered separately. It appears though that in contemporary world nation-branding aspects prevail.
The mechanism of shaping the international image of a state through hosting sports events stems mostly from their popularity. This trend is strengthened by the fact that they are available globally owing to the development of international media. Beata Ociepka employed the media event mechanism to explain why sports events may become a part of public diplomacy. They often are a turning point in developing public diplomacy strategies because they create appropriate circumstances and accelerate the whole process. The importance of hosting sports events within shaping the image of a state is also explained in reference to the country of origin effect, according to the assumption that a positive assessment of a country based on the sports event is transmitted to other areas.111 Within sports events, opening and closing ceremonies can be assessed as such media events on their merit, since they enjoy the highest television ratings and general interest.112 People responsible for preparing them must find a balance between expectations of sports organizations responsible for such event concerning unbiased reception of athletes from the whole world, and the need to present the host in the best light.113 In this respect, the artistic part of the ceremony provides an exclusive forum to communicate different contents. For example, a state hosting such event may present its past in a selective and idealized way.114 It is an opportunity to show the world a harmonized picture of national identity and to present alternative national identities and renewed national narrations.115
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