Internationale Sportveranstaltungen – Tummelplatz für den Nationalismus oder Mittel für die Regionenbildung in Asien?Isa Ducke

ASIEN – Nr. 90 (2004) pp. 23–37

International sports events undoubtedly have numerous political functions, such as raising the national prestige of competing countries, or promoting the host country as a travel or business destination. On a national level, these factors are obvious, but can sports events also contribute to the formation of a supranational regional identity?

This paper discusses three international sports events in 2002 — the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, and the Asian Games — and their impact on regional consciousness in East Asia. It concludes that in most cases the effects on a national level are far greater than those on a regional level. While sports events are unlikely to kick-start the development of a regional consciousness, they can however strengthen existing trends toward regionalisation. To this end, institutionalised regional events will be more useful than one-off events.