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The Baku European Games, the first multi-sport mega-event held at a European level, was a major public relations undertaking by Azerbaijan. The games were framed by a trend involving large-scale sports events promoted by the Ilham Aliyev government, based on the profits of the second oil boom in the twenty-first century. The sports event served to internationally portray Azerbaijan as a rapidly developing country and in this way to increase national consciousness within the society, which was lacking a collective narrative in the post-Soviet era. Nonetheless, the downturn due to the fall of international oil prices negatively affected the impact of the sports mega-event. Moreover, the sports competition symbolized the government's commitment to impose reasons of state and nation-building over social needs and political freedoms in Azerbaijan. This article is based on empirical fieldwork carried out in Baku in the months following the multi-sports event.

El fútbol se erigió en un pilar comunitario en el siglo XX en las sociedades de América del Sur, durante el proceso de construcción nacional caracterizado por las desigualdades sociales. En esta coyuntura, su dimensión patriótica originaria ha sido apropiada distintivamente, tanto por la élite como por la sociedad civil. Este artículo aborda, mediante el análisis histórico del Mundial de Argentina 1978, el Mundialito de Uruguay 1980, y las protestas sucedidas durante la Copa de Confederaciones de 2013 en Brasil, tanto la instrumentalización hegemónica del evento del fútbol por parte de la élite en el poder como el uso contra hegemónico de los ciudadanos. Las conclusiones permiten desterrar así las visiones unidireccionales sobre las movilizaciones deportivas de condición patriótica, y realzar también la evolución transformadora acaecida en el evento del fútbol. Asimismo, el estudio sociológico del deporte emplazado en América del Sur permite vehicular y extrapolar el carácter conflictual de las sociedades actuales. ; Football in South American societies became a community pillar over the twentieth century, against the backdrop of nation building processes characterized by social inequalities. In this context, both elites and civil society made use of football's original patriotic influence in distinctive ways. Thus, through a historical analysis of three sporting events – the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the 1980 'Mundialito' in Uruguay, and the protests that took place during the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil – this article looks at the different ways in which football is used by the ruling governments and the citizens; namely a hegemonic use by the elite and a contra-hegemonic usage by the civil society. In this manner, the conclusions allow to banish the persistent beliefs about the one-sided hegemonic character of the sport phenomenon and highlight the transformative evolution reflected in football events. Similarly, the sociological approach to sport in South America leads to conclude the conflictual nature of contemporary societies.

Football in South American societies became a community pillar over the twentieth century, against the backdrop of nation building processes characterized by social inequalities. In this context, both elites and civil so­ciety made use of football's original patriotic influence in distinctive ways. Thus, through a historical analysis of three sporting events – the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, the 1980 'Mundialito' in Uruguay, and the protests that took place during the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil – this article looks at the different ways in which football is used by the ruling governments and the citi­zens; namely a hegemonic use by the elite and a contra-hegemonic usage by the civil society. In this manner, the con­clusions allow to banish the persistent beliefs about the one-sided hegemonic character of the sport phenomenon and highlight the transformative evolution re­flected in football events. Similarly, the sociological approach to sport in South America leads to conclude the conflict­ual nature of contemporary societies. ; El fútbol se erigió en un pilar comunitario en el siglo XX en las sociedades de América del Sur, durante el proceso de construcción nacional caracterizado por las desigualdades sociales. En esta coyuntura, su dimensión patrió- tica originaria ha sido apropiada distintivamente, tanto por la élite como por la sociedad civil. Este artículo aborda, mediante el análisis histórico del Mundial de Argentina 1978, el Mundialito de Uruguay 1980, y las protestas sucedidas durante la Copa de Confederaciones de 2013 en Brasil, tanto la instrumentalización hegemónica del evento del fútbol por parte de la élite en el poder como el uso contra hegemónico de los ciudadanos. Las conclusiones permiten desterrar así las visiones unidireccionales sobre las movilizaciones deportivas de condición patriótica, y realzar también la evolución transformadora acaecida en el evento del fútbol. Asimismo, el estudio sociológico del deporte emplazado en América del Sur permite vehicular y extrapolar el carácter conflictual de las sociedades actuales.

This book examines the political significance of sport and its importance for nation-state building and political and economic transition across thirteen post-Soviet and post-socialist countries, primarily located in Eastern Europe. Adopting a critical case-study approach, building on historical and comparative frameworks, the book uses sport as a symbolic lens through which to examine the transition of Eastern European countries to the Western capitalist system. Covering a wide geographical area, from Poland to the Caucuses and Turkmenistan, it explores key themes such as nationalism, governance, power relations, political ideology, separatism, commercialisation and economic development, and the symbolic value of mega-events. Sport, Statehood and Transition in Europe is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in sport policy, the politics of sport or political science.