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IMPACT
Global Politics, Dictators, and Sport: A Match Made in Heaven? Do governing bodies and influential figures within the sports world have a responsibility to speak out on matters of politics? Daniel Evans contends yes, they do, and raises concerns about numerous human rights violations being overlooked by the sporting industry as we speak. Does sport have a role in global politics? The answer is certainly yes. FIFA, UEFA, the Olympic committee, the Formula One group and the International Tennis Federation have all played their part in legitimising autocratic and human rights abusing regimes. In the case of FIFA, this role is played out through laughably blatant corruption. Complicity also comes in the form of wilful ignorance, the peddling of propaganda and hiding behind platitudes. Sport has a great power to bring people together, but this power can be easily corrupted. Hitler, Mussolini and Franco all recognised this. Putin, Mohammed bin Salman and Xi Jinping certainly understand it now.
