Sport and the end of apartheid

Abstract

The contribution of sport to the ending of apartheid is examined. It is argued that claims for the effectiveness of sports diplomacy often exceeds the available evidence. However, the association between opposition to apartheid and sport was strong at least from the early 1960s up to the transition to democracy. It is argued that while it is clearly impossible to quantify the contribution made by sports sanctions to the end of apartheid it is possible to provide indicators of significance. The selected indicators of significance are the capacity of the opposition sports organizations to influence the agendas of international sports organizations, international bodies, including the UN and the Commonwealth, and, at domestic level, the capacity to promote a substantial response from the government and the ANC. It is concluded that sport fulfilled an important symbolic function in the anti-apartheid struggle and was able to influence the other policy actors, but generally to a far less significant extent than is usually asserted

Mapping the relationship between international sport and diplomacy

“…Sports-diplomacy exchanges promote international understanding and friendship, as well as dispel stereotypes and prejudices. Not to mention, they are also 'low-risk, low-cost and high profile' (Keech and Houlihan 1999).…”

Transforming the Springboks: Re-imagining the South African Nation through Sport

“…At the same time, rugby and the Springbok also came to be used as a mean s of mobilisation by opponents of the apartheid regime internally and externally, thereby providing a potential basis for an alternative relationship between sport and the South African nation (Booth, 1998;Keech and Houlihan, 1999). Once it became clear that apartheid would officially end, questions began to emerge as to what a post-apartheid South Africa would look like.…”

The Rise of Trail Running in South Africa: Possibilities for Small-Scale Sports Tourism

“…For example, on the one hand, the apartheid government segregated sport along racial lines; while on the other hand, the anti-apartheid movement harnessed sport as a platform for resistance against apartheid. This included imposing sporting sanctions on South Africa (Keech & Houlihan, 1999). Thus, for a long time sport was highly politicized in South Africa.…”