Identifying the conceivable diplomatic outcomes of Sport Diplomacy initiatives

Abstract

Although studies around Sport Diplomacy (SD) are expanding rapidly, there is no specific agreement on the outcomes of SD initiatives. The purpose of this study is to identify the conceivable diplomatic outcomes of SD from the perspective of international public diplomacy and sport experts. Researchers used a fuzzy Delphi method, which is an advanced version of the qualitative Delphi method that employs statistics to determine the distance between the levels of consensus within the expert panel. Thirty online surveys were completed by the experts, who were selected through targeted sampling. The statistical population included public diplomacy and sports scholars, and the researchers identified about 200 individuals who qualified for the sampling population because of their academic studies in the fields of public, cultural, and sport diplomacy. After running two rounds of fuzzy Delphi, the SD outcomes were classified into two categories of explicit/specific outcomes and implicit/general outcomes. The results showed that the outcomes of “cross-cultural communication,” “mutual understanding,” “trust building,” “nation branding,” “country reputation,” “attraction,” and “co-option” were the most possible explicit/specific outcomes of SD initiatives undertaken by countries’ ministries of foreign affairs and related agencies. “Sport industry development,” “sport tourism development,” and “socio-economic development” were the most possible outcomes of the implicit/general efforts of SD initiatives undertaken by the sport federations, private sector, NGOs, and other institutions outside the formal diplomacy system. Co-option-A term derived from Nye's theory of soft power as the ultimate goal/outcome of SD endeavors is manifested in “Peace Building (Conflict Conciliation)” between hostile states/nations and “Peace Development” between friendly states/nations.