TY - JOUR
T1 - The Theatre of National Identity in Modern Sport
AU - Risser, Rita
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank the organizers of the Gulf Research Meetings, University of Cambridge for supporting this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/7/2
Y1 - 2020/7/2
N2 - The oil-rich nation-states of the Arabian Peninsula are investing large sums in the development of an international sports industry for the region. In an effort to field its own national sports teams for this industry, Qatar, who will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has relied upon the practice of naturalizing foreign athletes. It is not a new practice, but Qatar’s wholesale use of the practice amounts to annexing its national sports teams and seems to miss the point of a national team. Certainly, the practice raises questions about the nature of a distinctively national sports team. As I take up some of these questions, my discussion leads to the larger question of international sport as a conversation on the differentiation of national identities. The practice of annexing national sports teams, therefore, raises questions both about nationalism and internationalism.
AB - The oil-rich nation-states of the Arabian Peninsula are investing large sums in the development of an international sports industry for the region. In an effort to field its own national sports teams for this industry, Qatar, who will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has relied upon the practice of naturalizing foreign athletes. It is not a new practice, but Qatar’s wholesale use of the practice amounts to annexing its national sports teams and seems to miss the point of a national team. Certainly, the practice raises questions about the nature of a distinctively national sports team. As I take up some of these questions, my discussion leads to the larger question of international sport as a conversation on the differentiation of national identities. The practice of annexing national sports teams, therefore, raises questions both about nationalism and internationalism.
KW - Arabian Peninsula
KW - international sport
KW - modernization
KW - nationalism
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U2 - 10.1080/17511321.2020.1749120
DO - 10.1080/17511321.2020.1749120
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083644724
SN - 1751-1321
VL - 14
SP - 377
EP - 390
JO - Sport, Ethics and Philosophy
JF - Sport, Ethics and Philosophy
IS - 3
ER -