Sport diplomacy: A tool for foreign policy

Abstract

The current master thesis attempts to make a connection between sports, diplomacy and marketing tools to facilitate foreign policy practice, where sport diplomacy could act as the vehicle for the achievement of foreign policy objectives, using marketing tools and techniques.

An explanatory research approach was followed, including both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires) research methods, together with marketing tools such as the SWOT and PESTLE analyses. The use of different research methods and techniques used allowed for triangulation of data, increasing the trustworthiness of the results (Guba, 1981, Shenton, 2004, Thomas & Nelson, 2001).

Forty-eight participants (Mage = 36.52, SD = 7.39 years) responded to two 5-point Lykert-type scale questionnaires, based on the work of Bainvel (2005) and Feizabadi, Delgado, Khabiri, Sajjadi and Alidoust (2015). Furthermore, eleven individual interviews and informal discussions (Mage = 46.27, SD = 12.56 years) were conducted to explore the different possible aspects οf sport diplomacy.

Results indicated that sport could be used both as a political instrument (M = 4.01, SD = 0.71) and diplomatic tool (M = 4.20, SD = 0.77), as well as a social tool (M = 3.63, SD = 0.60) for integration and economic development in a diverse political, cultural and geographical context.

In summary, ten specific recommendations for the development and future direction of sport diplomacy strategies are suggested. Furthermore, the current master thesis gives specific directions for future studies and research in the field of sport diplomacy and foreign policy. Ιt lays the foundation for the future use of sport diplomacy as a tool for the promotion of foreign policy, as sport diplomacy has the ability to communicate with a wider audience, increasing people-to-people contacts, facilitating foreign policy and diplomatic practices in developing international relations, promoting economic, trade, business and investment cooperation, as well as cultural, educational and employment opportunities.