The Hegemony of Soft Power: Sportswashing in the Multipolar Transition
In the context of the transition toward a multipolar world order, the phenomenon of sportswashing has transcended its traditional definition as a mere public relations ploy or image makeover for controversial regimes. Today, it has evolved into a sophisticated strategic doctrine of economic and diplomatic soft power (Nye, 2004), aimed at the gradual acquisition of decision-making assets and governance within global sports.
Historically, the major regimes of the 20th century used sporting events—such as the 1936 Berlin Olympics or the 1978 World Cup in Argentina—as a temporary showcase to project an image of efficiency, internal peace, and legitimacy to the outside world. The contemporary scenario follows a radically different logic, one that is no longer episodic but structural. The massive and systematic investments made by the Persian Gulf monarchies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates) and other emerging powers of the Global South in European soccer, the Formula 1 circuit, professional golf, and international boxing are not merely intended to distract global public opinion from internal issues related to civil rights. Rather, they represent a deliberate strategy of economic diversification and geopolitical positioning (Chadwick, 2022).
From an analytical perspective, this strategy produces two major effects on the international stage:
- The redefinition of spheres of institutional influence: By financing and sponsoring entire international federations—which are often plagued by structural liquidity crises—these state actors influence their decision-making processes. Shifting the venue of major international events means stripping the Euro-Atlantic West of its historical monopoly on the organization and values of sports, thereby shifting the diplomatic center of gravity toward new hubs of geopolitical power.
- The creation of asymmetric interdependence: When Europe’s most prestigious soccer clubs or the world’s most popular sports leagues are financially dependent on the sovereign wealth funds of illiberal nations, the ability of Western democracies to impose sanctions or voice criticism is severely weakened. Sport thus becomes a diplomatic shield: the economic utility of sporting interaction neutralizes political dissent.
Contemporary sportswashing demonstrates that sport is not a passive bystander to the crisis of the world order, but rather a fundamental operational tool within it. Those who control the rules of the game, television rights, and the allocation of championships acquire the power to redefine the standards of international consensus.
From this perspective, the playing field ceases to be a space of emancipation and de-Coubertin-style universalism, transforming instead into a sophisticated infrastructure of geopolitical influence, where the most important victory is not decided on the podium but within the boards of directors of global federations.
Sport as a Barometer of Crisis and a Pedagogical Model for the Future
The analysis conducted thus far demands that we definitively move beyond an idyllic and abstract approach to the competitive dimension. Sport is not a happy island immune to the toxins of geopolitics, nor does it possess the miraculous power to generate international peace by its very nature. On the contrary, the 21st century presents us with a reality in which the institution of sport functions as a highly sensitive, advanced barometer of the crisis in the multipolar world order: when international federations fragment, when protocols of courtesy are disregarded on the podiums, and when ethical-political filters replace the universalism of passports, it means that the channels of official diplomacy have already entered a phase of dangerous deadlock.
However, recognizing the reality of power dynamics does not mean resigning oneself to the nullification of sport’s civic function. If sport is a mirror of global disintegration, it equally retains the potential for global recomposition, provided it is freed from the logic of propaganda and restored to its ethical and pedagogical roots. By its very nature, sport has the power to generate social stability through its economic impact and to foster respect for opponents through voluntary submission to a common set of rules.
For these reasons, political institutions at every level of government are urged to provide strategic moral and economic support for competitive events—viewed not merely as entertainment spectacles, but as irreplaceable opportunities for dialogue and mutual understanding. The promotion of competitions that bring together athletes from conflicting groups must continue to serve as a rigorous educational model for younger generations, so that the instinct for competition is channeled exclusively into athletic arenas rather than onto battlefields or into those places of gathering and recreation that recent events have tragically transformed into scenes of conflict and violence.
From this medium- and long-term perspective, the defense of peaceful coexistence requires structural action at the local level. This highlights the strategic need to establish sports centers and infrastructure in the suburbs of European cities, where social hardship and the identity crisis faced by third- or fourth-generation youth risk becoming fertile ground for radicalization or deviance. Offering a regulated arena for interaction in these contexts means transforming sports into a mechanism for positive neuro-activation and concrete cultural integration.
In conclusion, while the “cathedral of sports” is today violated by the logic of hybrid warfare, it remains the last global stage where otherness is necessary for self-definition: without an opponent, there is no competition. Preserving this space means defending the last outpost of a shared humanity. Every time an international team takes the field in our stadiums in an atmosphere of respect and safety, an act of civil resistance against the barbarism of conflict is carried out. It is from these arenas—and from the rigor of their rules—that the international community must draw the strength to reaffirm the value of the path of peace and tolerance, proclaiming, in the face of every rift that seeks to divide us, a single, definitive watchword: the primacy of law and peaceful coexistence. [2 – end. The first part was published HERE]
Sources and Further Reading
Boniface, Pascal, (2014), Géopolitique du sport, Paris: Armand Colin; Ibid., Géopolitique du sport (ed.) Armand Colin, Canadian Journal of Political Science, March 2016, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 189–190, Paris, [doi:1017/S000842391600024X]
Chadwick, Simon. (2022). From Sportswashing to Geopolitical Economy: Measuring the Impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds in Global Sport. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 211–230.
Chadwick, Simon, Widdop, Paul, and Goldman, Michael M. (eds.), *The Geopolitical Economy of Sport: Power, Politics, Money, and the State*, Routledge, June 2023, [ISBN 978-1032390611].
International Olympic Committee (IOC), Principles relating to the implementation of the participation of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) with a Russian or Belarusian passport, Lausanne, 2023, IOC Official Documents, [https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-no-longer-recommends-restrictions-on-belarusian-athletes-participation].
Costa, Rafael, and Moriconi, Marcelo, A Reassessment of the Current Political Uses of Sport: Beyond Public Diplomacy and Sportswashing, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, August 16, 2024, Vol. 6, [https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1316732].
Giniu, Jean-Baptiste (2018). Sport and Geopolitics: International Relations on the Field. Paris: Éditions L’Harmattan.
Aubin, Lukas, and Guégan, Jean-Baptiste, The Geopolitics of Sport, La Découverte, July 2024, Paris, [ISBN 978-2348068997]
Luigi, The Presumed Neutrality of Transnational Sports Law, Diritto dello Sport, Bologna University Press, 2021, Vol. 2, No. 2, (ISSN 2785-1141) [https://doi.org/10.30682/ disp0202a].
Nye, Joseph S. Jr., Soft Power and American Foreign Policy, PSQ Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 119, No. 2, 2004, pp. 255–270, [https://doi.org/10.2307/20202345].
Journal of Sports Law, (2024), Sports Contracts in Eastern Europe and the IOC’s Neutrality Filters: Public Law Aspects of Sport, CONI, Issue 1/2024, Rome [https://www.rivistadirittosportivo.it/Tool/NewsletterArchive/2024].
Rocha, Rafael, and McCullough, Brian P., From Image to Impact: An Exploratory Review of Sportswashing and Greenwashing in Sport, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, January 5, 2026, ), Vol. 1, No. 22, pp. 14–15, [https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2025.2599144].
Wack, Morgan, Magistro, Beatrice, and Aslett, Kevin, Silence in the Stands: Assessing the Impact of Russian State-Linked “Sportswashing” on Online Fan Behavior Following the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, Social Science Quarterly, 2025, Vol. 106, No. 1, pp. 1–10, [SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4777573] or [http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4777573]
