There is a popular saying that football and politics should never mix, but a book by a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) sports history expert shows that the two just cannot seem to avoid each other.
Dr Heather Dichter, an Associate Professor of Sport Management and Sport History at DMU’s International Centre for Sports History and Culture, is editor of the book Soccer Diplomacy: International Relations and Football since 1914.
The cover of the book by Dr Heather Dichter
Its chapters by sports scholars from around the world reveal how relationships between countries can be forged or broken by football. It covers everything from the former East Germany’s relationship with NATO and their ban from some international fixtures to the strange time the Australian national football team organised a tour of Vietnam - in the middle of the Vietnam War.
Today, this fascinating collection of stories, which shows how vital football can be when it comes to international relations, has earned Dr Dichter a place on the longlist for the prestigious Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2021 for Football Book of the Year. You can read about the full list of nominations here
Dr Dichter said: “This book really shows the value and power that sport has and that diplomacy has played its part for over a century now. Soccer is the world’s most popular game and the reality is that, ever since international soccer began, sport and politics have always mixed. They are intertwined. It kicks the claim that sports and politics should never mix right out the window.
“This area is really ripe for examination and I think it is exciting that people who may not think about the history of diplomacy in sport will find a lot to interest them here.
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“One of the elements that came out in the book as a whole was money underlying a lot of what happens in soccer, particularly when you look at how big a global event the World Cup has become. With TV rights, sponsorship and tourism at stake, money absolutely plays its part.”
Dr Dichter’s specialism in sports history is sport mega-events, such as the Summer and Winter Olympics and the football World Cup. She has contributed to many media discussions worldwide about these events and their influence, as well as authored books and presented at international conferences.
Her interest in football, or soccer as it is known in the US, was peaked when Dr Dichter was studying for a master’s degree at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC).
Dr Heather Dichter's book is on the longlist for the prestigious award
She said: “UNC provided a lot of players for the US Women’s National Team and it was thrilling to watch the university team in a stadium packed full of thousands of people.
“I also experienced a World Cup when I was conducting my PhD research in Europe and living in Cologne, Germany. The home of FC Cologne was one of the World Cup venues in 2006, and I had an opportunity to volunteer at the event.
“It was one of the first times a host country had fan zones and they were a huge success. FIFA made it a requirement for host countries to have these fan zones at subsequent world cups.”
Dr Dichter is delighted to see her book make it to the longlist for the Telegraph Sports Book Awards.
She said: “I am incredibly proud of this book and all of the scholars within it. I really enjoyed working with them and have to thank all of them for their contributions.
“We received the page proofs in March 2020 as the world was shutting down and we had scholars from across four continents. I had to ask them to check through copy and make changes as the world was shutting down, but they obliged and it makes me even more thankful, to them all, for what they have done.”
In late July Dr Dichter will find out if Soccer Diplomacy has made the Telegraph Sports Book Awards shortlist.
Dr Dichter’s next book is called Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO which considers how NATO and its member states used sport as a diplomatic arena during the height of the Cold War, and how international sport responded to political interference.
For more information about the book Soccer Diplomacy click here or go to Waterstones' online shop here
For more information about Heather’s new book Bidding for the 1968 Olympic Games click here
Posted on Wednesday 23 June 2021