Sport as a Tool of Power: the Case of the Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Abstract

The concept of soft power is described as a key factor in giving a sense to the sports diplomacy of modern countries particulary in course of Russia starting the war against Ukraine. The arguments are given for the biased character of sport which is always endowed with a marker of nationality, as well as political and social colors, thus bringing the athletes and teams as well as sports infrastructure into a set of diplomatic and political tools. Examples of the use of international competitions, the success of sports teams, and other athletic activities in the preparation and conducting of the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, as well as diplomatic blackmail of Russia towards Europe and the USA on the verge of the 2020s, are given. Based on the analysis of media and foreign scientific sources, a toolkit of sports diplomacy is proposed for further use by modern countries practicing public diplomacy.

Keywords

• soft power
• public diplomacy
• sports diplomacy
• sports-washing
• sports-talk