What kinds of formats of Sport Diplomacy do we know?

The contemporary European context has enhanced the need to develop and promote a European Union (EU) sport diplomacy aimed at using sport, as a soft power tool to strengthen both for internal relations within the European Union and external relations with non-EU actors.

TES-D refers to Sport Diplomacy as a soft-power tool used in three dimensions:

1. National Brand Appeal: fostering national branding appeal and global reputation: examples are the United Kingdom, which has a long tradition of attempting to shape international perceptions through sport;
2. Enhancing Diplomatic Relations: normalizing or strengthening existing diplomatic relations, referencing the off used, but not always understood ping-pong diplomacy in the 1970s, when table tennis championship was used to test prospects of new diplomatic relationship between the USA and China;
3. Promoting Peace and Development: promoting peace, inclusiveness, and development, working with the framework provided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as done for instance by the Australian government, which delivers sports for development programmes in the Pacific and Asia to reduce inequalities experienced by women, girls and those with disabilities (https://www.teamup.gov.au/about/sport-development).

---

The very concept of “sport diplomacy” is often subject to debate as its definition remains blurry. In this tool we explore sport diplomacy critically and analytically, as well as its surrounding concepts (e.g., public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy). Please explore below a literature review and reports on relevant case studies of sport diplomacy at the national and regional levels.

Professor Carmen Pérez González, from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, is sharing with us finding of three TES-D documents:

• Sport Diplomacy: A Literature Review of Scholarly and Policy Sources
• Case Studies of Non-EU Sport Diplomacy: United Kingdom, United States, Australia, China & Qatar
• Case Studies of Sport Diplomacy Amongst International Organisation of the EU

---

---