‘Best run club in the world': Manchester City fans and the legitimation of sportswashing?

IF 2.5 3区教育学 Q2 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM International Review for the Sociology of Sport Pub Date : 2023-11-07 DOI:10.1177/10126902231210784

Colm Kearns, Gary Sinclair, Jack Black, Mark Doidge, Thomas Fletcher, Daniel Kilvington, Katie Liston, Theo Lynn, Guto Leoni Santos

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Abstract

The term sportswashing has been discussed and analysed within academic circles, as well as the mainstream media. However, the majority of existing research has focused on one-off event-based sportswashing strategies (such as autocratic states hosting major international sports events) rather than longer term investment-based strategies (such as state actors purchasing sports clubs and teams). Furthermore, little has been written about the impact of this latter strategy on the existing fanbase of the purchased team and on their relationship with sportswashing and the discourses surrounding it. This paper addresses this lacuna through analysis of a popular Manchester City online fan forum, which illustrates the manner in which this community of dedicated City fans have legitimated the actions of the club's ownership regime, the Abu Dhabi United Group – a private equity group operated by Abu Dhabi royalty and UAE politicians. The discursive strategies of the City fans are discussed, in addition to the wider significance of these strategies on the issue of sportswashing and its coverage by the media.

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“世界上最好的俱乐部”:曼城球迷和体育丑闻的合法性?

在学术界和主流媒体中，对“体育洗脑”一词进行了讨论和分析。然而，现有的大多数研究都集中在一次性的基于事件的体育投资策略(如举办大型国际体育赛事的专制国家)，而不是基于长期投资的战略(如国家行为体购买体育俱乐部和球队)。此外，关于后一种策略对被收购球队现有球迷基础的影响，以及他们与体育宣传的关系和围绕它的话语的影响，很少有人写过。本文通过对一个受欢迎的曼城在线球迷论坛的分析来解决这一空白，该论坛说明了这个由忠诚的曼城球迷组成的社区如何使俱乐部所有权制度——阿布扎比联合集团(Abu Dhabi United Group)——一家由阿布扎比皇室和阿联酋政客运营的私募股权集团——的行为合法化。本文讨论了曼城球迷的话语策略，以及这些策略在体育运动及其媒体报道问题上的更广泛意义。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Review for the Sociology of Sport Multiple-

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

13.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The International Review for the Sociology of Sport is a peer reviewed academic journal that is indexed on ISI. Eight issues are now published each year. The main purpose of the IRSS is to disseminate research and scholarship on sport throughout the international academic community. The journal publishes research articles of varying lengths, from standard length research papers to shorter reports and commentary, as well as book and media reviews. The International Review for the Sociology of Sport is not restricted to any theoretical or methodological perspective and brings together contributions from anthropology, cultural studies, geography, gender studies, media studies, history, political economy, semiotics, sociology, as well as interdisciplinary research.