Sport diplomacy: a central topic at the CESH Congress

24/10/2022

Constantin Pompiliu-Nicolae

The Congress of the European Committee for Sports History was held in Bucharest on 21-23 September 2022. The event was hosted by the University of Physical Education and Sport (UNEFS) of Bucharest, one of the members of the Towards an EU Sport Diplomacy Erasmus+ project. The theme chosen for this year was "Competition and Collaboration in Physical Education and Sport from Antiquity to Modern Times". More than 80 experts from Europe and the United States attended the 25th edition of the congress.

Sports diplomacy was also a central theme of the congress. More than 10 of the papers presented can be placed in this category. The Congress had two special sessions dedicated to sport diplomacy from a historical perspective. The aforementioned papers included older issues such as the 1919 Inter-Allied Games, as a moment of sport diplomacy after World War I, but also recent history, such as sports in the context of the Russian war in Ukraine. The papers dealt with the role of the events and competitions in sports diplomacy, but also looked at actors in sports diplomacy. The next editions of the congress will take place in Cologne (October 2023) and Paris (June 2024).