IOC, UN and the rhetoric of sport as a tool for peace and development: critical notices

Authors

  • Gabriel Coelho Universidade Federal de Viçosa
  • Doiara Silva dos Santos Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Keywords:

Olympic Movement, international organizations, ethnocentrism, hegemony of power

Abstract

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United Nations Organization (UN) are institutions whose genesis was influenced by the discourse of promoting peace in a world that had been ravaged by wars. In the 21st century, these two organizations have developed political agendas with converging proposals, presenting narratives about peace, development and other emerging social issues. Examples of this convergence of agendas include the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) articulated by the UN, and the Olympic Agendas 2020 and 2020+5, developed by the IOC. Looking at these historical and recent discursive similarities, including the use of sport as a tool for peace and development, the IOC and the UN share certain narratives. However, there is a gap in the Portuguese-language literature when it comes to analyzing the relationship between these two institutions. Therefore, this study aimed to articulate, through data from national and international literature, reflections, and analysis on the historical relationship between the IOC and the UN, from a critical perspective. By analyzing the origins of both institutions, it was possible to see that, since their inception, there has been ethnocentric influence and hegemony of power from the Global North. The IOC was forged by Europeans, as was the philosophy of Olympism. As far as the UN is concerned, this institution had the United States as the main nation active in its formulation and established its perspective of peace and development based on ideals from the Global North. In the second half of the 20th century, the discourse of Sport for Development and Peace became a convenient tool for both institutions, which gradually brought them closer together. In the 21st century, the relationship between the two organizations has become more concrete, with the IOC gaining considerable prestige within the UN.

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Author Biographies

Gabriel Coelho, Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Undergraduate student in Physical Education from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV). He is currently a scholarship holder of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), in the Scientific Initiation modality, where he is carrying out research entitled Agenda 2020+5: Olympic Movement, governance and global agendas. Between 2023 and 2024, he also carried out Scientific Initiation research funded by CNPq, with the title: Trans athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Games: Laurel Hubbard and media narratives about body, health and performance. He is a member of the Laboratory of Olympic and Sociocultural Studies of Sports (LEOS). He was a volunteer in the Institutional Teaching Initiation Scholarship Program (PIBID) in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, he had an international experience in the field of Olympic Studies, presenting a paper in Besançon, France, visiting the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Studies Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is interested in the following subjects: Olympic Studies; Sociology of Sport; Sociocultural Studies of Sport; International Geopolitics and Sport.

Doiara Silva dos Santos, Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Adjunct Professor, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Viçosa. Full degree in Physical Education from the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC), Ilhéus-BA, 2008. Master's Degree in Physical Education, Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), 2011. PhD in Physical Education, University of Western Ontario (UWO), London, Canada, 2015. Professor in the Graduate Program in Education (UFV). Leader of the Olympic and Sociocultural Sports Studies Laboratory (LEOS). Member of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA). She has worked as a permanent teacher at the following educational institutions: Assistant Professor at the State University of Bahia, Department of Education (2013.2 and 2014.1); Assistant Professor at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Faculty of Physical Education, Governador Valadares Campus, Minas Gerais (2014-2016); Professor of Basic, Technical and Technological Education at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Bahia, Itapetinga Campus (2016-2017). She was a substitute teacher at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (2011). She received a scholarship from the Emerging Leaders of America Program (ELAP), Canada, 2010. Member of the Brazilian Olympic Academy, participant in the 18th Postgraduate Seminar of Olympic Studies of the International Olympic Academy, Olympia, Greece (2011). Subjects of interest: Sociology of Sport; Olympic Studies; Sport and the Media; Educational Sport; History of Physical Education and Sport; PIBID.

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Published

2025-11-07

Issue

Vol. 9 (2025)

Section

Original Article

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