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

Abstract

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.