Sports and society. contrasts: body, protest and dignity

Abstract

After characterizing professional sport as a social sphere full of contrasts, which are the same contrasts of society itself, in this essay I display the existent asymmetry of power and resources in the sports world, specially the one among executives, sponsors, politicians and athletes. To accomplish this I take two main routes. The first one highlights the way in which the body of athletes is subject to the rules, interests and judgements of a small number of people who constitute the sports elite. The second one approaches the polemic issue of political protest in sport and the different attitudes around it, exposing the many existing contradictions and the unequal power among different actors. Thus, it is concluded that if sport is a field where abuses, opressions and exploitation take place, it should also be a field where contestation, resistance and dignity emerge.