The public legitimacy of elite athletes’ political activism: German survey evidence

Abstract

Athletes have again started to take a visible stance on various political and social issues, which has stirred fierce controversies. Existing research has a strong US bias, and, to extend the range of research, we conducted a German survey on the perceived legitimacy of athletes’ political activism. The evidence suggests that the US debate cannot simply be transferred to other political and cultural contexts. The German respondents did not generally disapprove of athletes employing sporting venues as political stages. However, they are primarily willing to accept political activism in cases where the claims made are congruent with their political beliefs and with hegemonic political values. The perceived legitimacy of more controversial forms of athletes’ political activism depends on political ideology, political activism and political tolerance. For international sport governing bodies, the results indicate a dilemma: western audiences approve of athletes’ political activism, which is congruent with their own political values, but seem unwilling to accept activism making other claims.