World Wars & World Cups

An accusation that has dogged the Qatar World Cup throughout the tournament is that of ‘sportswashing’. You’ve probably seen it in an article, or heard it in a news report. But what does ‘sportwashing’ actually mean, and where did it come from? While the term itself wasn't coined until 2015, the idea of despotic rulers and authoritarian regimes using large-scale sporting events to help cleanse their global image has been in practice for nearly a century — just look at the ‘Nazi Olympics’ in 1936. But how did Nazi Germany end up hosting those games, and what comes next for Qatar?

In today's episode, James is joined by Professor Martin Polley, the Director of the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, to talk about the history of sportswashing. Together, they discuss the relationship between authoritarian regimes and Premier League football clubs, look at what the Nazis got right about the 1936 Olympics, and ask whether ‘sportwashing’ really does work…

This episode was edited by Joseph Knight and produced by Annie Coloe.

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