International sport

Wheelchair basketball teams playing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics

International sport is a sport in which the participants represent different countries. The most well-known international sports event is the Olympic Games. Other examples include the FIFA World Cup and the Paralympic Games.

Modern international sports events can be big business for as well as influencing the political, economical, and other cultural aspects of countries around the world. Especially with politics and sports, sports can affect countries, their identities, and in consequence, the world.

History

The ancient Olympic Games were a series of competitions held between representatives of several city-states and kingdoms from Ancient Greece, which featured mainly athletic but also combat and chariot racing events. During the Olympic games, all struggles between the participating city-states were postponed until the games were finished.^[1] The origin of the Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend.^[2] During the 19th century, the Olympic Games became a popular global event.

Economics

While some economists are skeptical about the economic benefits of hosting the Olympic Games, emphasizing that such "mega-events" often have large costs, hosting (or even bidding for) the Olympics appears to increase the host country's exports, as the host or candidate country sends a signal about trade openness when bidding to host the Games.^[3] Moreover, research suggests that hosting the Summer Olympics has a strong positive effect on the philanthropic contributions of corporations headquartered in the host city, which seems to benefit the local nonprofit sector. This positive effect begins in the years leading up to the Games and might persist for several years afterwards, although not permanently. This finding suggests that hosting the Olympics might create opportunities for cities to influence local corporations in ways that benefit the local nonprofit sector and civil society.^[4] The Games have also had significant negative effects on host communities; for example, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions reports that the Olympics displaced more than two million people over two decades, often disproportionately affecting disadvantaged groups.^[5]

Globalization has continually increased international competition in sports. The FIFA World Cup, for example, is the world's most widely viewed sporting event; an estimated 700 million people watched the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa.^[6]

According to a 2011 A.T. Kearney study of sports teams, leagues and federations, the global sports industry is worth between €350 billion and €450 billion (US$480-$620 billion).^[7] This includes infrastructure construction, sporting goods, licensed products and live sports events.

Olympic Games factor of the globalization of sports

An international retransmission

The Olympics are a major factor in the globalization of sport. The Olympic symbol is the most recognized symbol in the world even before the logo of Coca-Cola. The Olympic Games are broadcast around the world. This represents 4.5 billion of people for the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[8]

Olympic Games globalization

The Olympic Games have also undergone globalization. The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in 1896, only 9 disciplines were present and 241 athletes but only men. The place of women is representative of the position of women in society, and from the first Olympiad 1900 women participated but unofficially. It is in 1920 that the first women were officially part of the Olympic Games.

The number of athletes present at each Olympiad hast been increasing significantly since the first Olympiad:

• In 1886 at the first Olympic games 14 countries were represented by 241 athletes for 43 events;
• 1960 Rome Olympic games have grouped 83 countries for a total of 5338 athletes who competed in 150 different events;
• London 2012, 204 countries were present representing 10,568 athletes for a total of 302 events. However, the gender in number of athletes present is still not achieved in effect on 10568, 5892 were male and 4676 female.^[9] Time will tell if this parity is reached.

References