How Countries Use Sports To Improve Their Image

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4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

Sportswashing is the practice of laundering one's reputation through sports; whether that be through team ownership, hosting a major tournament, or sponsorship. A country or politician gets involved with the hope that some of the sport's popularity will improve their image.

Sportswashing isn't a new problem. In fact, it's one of the oldest tricks in an autocrat's international relations playbook. Those familiar with European history probably remember Adolf Hitler's reasons for hosting the 1936 Olympic games.

Why is sportswashing effective? And what can the international community do to combat it?

We discuss all this and more.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The White House confirmed senior U.S. diplomats will boycott February's Winter Olympics in Beijing.
0:12.9	American athletes will still participate, but the move is a high-profile protest over China's
0:18.2	human rights record. It's just a year until the football World Cup kicks off in cutter.
0:23.0	Allegations of vote-buying and human rights abuses have marred the run-up to the competition.
0:28.2	Some fans are even threatening a boycott, but Carter says it deserves to host the cup.
0:33.0	FIFA and UEFA have just released a joint statement confirming that Russia are being banned from
0:40.8	football. That means the Russian national team and also all Russian clubs.
0:47.2	From the Winter Olympics in China to the World Cup in Qatar, 2022 has a full calendar year of high
0:53.4	stake sporting events, but the stakes are even higher when you look at the host country's human
0:58.5	rights records. Authoritarian leaders have used the power of sports to improve a country's
1:03.1	public image for a long time. It's a phenomenon called sportswashing. After the break,
1:09.1	we'll look at the impact of sportswashing on a country's reputation, and we'll also discuss how
1:14.2	it's being used as a tool in Russia's war against Ukraine. I'm John Kulin Hill, Infragin White.
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