International sports are competitions between two or more countries in any sport. They may be organised and run by the national governing body of a sport or an international organisation, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which organises the Olympics. Each country participating in the Olympic Games or other events sponsored by the IOC is represented by a national Olympic committee, known as the ‘national federation’. The IOC sets and enforces Olympic rules.

For example, in the 1896 Games at Athens the first international match of association football (or soccer) took place. This helped to formalise football’s international reach, and in 1904 the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) was formed to regulate football’s worldwide activities. As globalisation and the availability of cheap travel increased, so did the number of international sporting events.

Yet, despite its promise to unite the world through sport, international sport is often subject to corruption, racism, and power imbalances. A recent study, for instance, found that African athletes face greater health risks when competing at high levels in international athletics, and are more likely to suffer from fatal cardiovascular problems. In other cases, sports federations actively ignore human rights abuses. In the case of basketball in Mali, for example, the national federation tried to cover up sexual abuse of young female players and obstructed a police investigation. Join 20,000+ informed readers worldwide who trust Social Europe for smart, progressive analysis of politics, economy, and society — free.