Poliitical & Cultural Influences on International Sport Participation (DP IB Geography)

International Agreements

• Governments are encouraging people to increase their sporting activity for several reasons including 

  • Health benefits

  • Politicians are often keen to be linked to success in sporting activities because they create a ‘feel good factor’

  • To boost their economies

• It is difficult to identify clear economic benefits from hosting international sporting events 

  • The London 2012 Olympic Games were estimated to bring £13.3 billion to the UK economy

• Some sports participation is short-term term such as an increase in lawn tennis around the time of Wimbledon

• Qatar is a country that is trying to increase sports participation:

  • In 2010 awarded the 2022 Fifa World Cup

  • In 2011 Qatar sponsored Barcelona football club for 5 years which was worth $150 million

  • Became a major shareholder of Paris St Germain 

  • Tour de France secured sponsorship from Qatar Airlines

• Unfortunately, sports continue to be tainted by match-fixing and drug scandals

• Match fixing has been identified in over 20 countries in Europe

• The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) says football and tennis accounted for over half of suspicious sporting incidents in the third quarter of 2023

  • In football 16 players were charged for alleged match-fixing in 13 games, including eight in the top flight in Brazil

International agreements

• Participation in international sports is used by countries to demonstrate a country’s successes

• Sport may also be used as a tool for diplomacy

• Cooperation between countries can be increased through sporting events

• International sporting events increase freedom of movement between countries 

Inclusion & Changing Gender Roles

• Inclusion in sports is used to refer to the involvement in sports of people who were not traditionally involved in those sports for example women’s football 

  • In England, women’s football was popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s 

  • In 1921, it was banned by the Football Association (FA) on pitches that were part of the FA

  • The ban was not lifted until 1971

• The current global labour force participation rate for women is just under 47%

• In many countries such as the USA, nearly all women work

• Single professional women have more disposable income to be able to participate in more leisure activities

• Single women also are more likely to actively participate in sport compared to married women

• Religion may also impact the participation of different genders in sport

  • The religion of Islam promotes good health and well-being for both men and women

  • Muslim women may face difficulties because they cannot participate in mixed-gender sports

  • In a 2022 UK survey, 97% of Muslim women in England wanted to increase their current sports participation

  • Over 80% of respondents said they would attend women-only sessions if available

• In Saudi Arabia, women’s participation in sports is changing:

  • The weekly activity of female Saudi citizens increased from 8 percent in 2015 to 19 percent in 2019

  • From 2018 families were allowed to enter stadiums

  • In 2019, 21 female athletes competed in the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019

  • Women now compete in the World Bowling Women’s Championship

  • More than 2,400 female athletes were registered in federations by the end of 2019

• Other barriers to sports for women include:

  • Dress code

  • Parental approval

  • Childcare

  • Lack of role models

  • Time

• Although there have been some improvements there is still a gap between the pay for men and that received by women in sport 

  • The average man’s salary in the Premier League in England is £3,000,000

  • The average woman’s salary in the Super League in England is £47,000

Importance of the Paralympics

• The Paralympic Games is an international competition for athletes who have disabilities

• The games take place immediately after the Olympics

• The first official Paralympics took place in 1960 

  • It developed from an event held for British World War Two veterans

• Since 1988, the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been held in the same city and at the same venues

• Originally the Paralympic Games were just for wheelchair users but in 1976 expanded to include other disabilities

• In 2016 there were over 4,300 participants representing 159 nations

• Athletes from HICs are more likely to participate as a result of the cost associated with competing