New from #Geosport From billionaires to bureaucrats: welcome to the Chinese Super League's new reality Written by Tobias Ross and Jonathan Sullivan substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social

Will Morocco's belated AFCON success prove to be a soft power miscalculation? substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

BYD's potential entry into F1 will dictated by Chinese government not media speculation Rumours are circulating that the EV manufacturer will form a new team, though we're probably still some distance away from this substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Comments in... Bahrain GP expected to be cancelled due to Iran war www.agbi.com/business-of-...

The Polish Institute for Sports Diplomacy has just published its latest sport and soft power country ranking Further details here pids.pl/raport/sport... Thanks to the PIDS team for inviting me to be part of the project

Will sport in the Arabian Gulf ever be the same again? Having become embroiled in the US conflict with Iran the likes of Qatar and Saudi Arabia are facing an uncertain future substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Lionel Messi watches on as Donald Trump talks about the "greatest military anyone has seen" Wallpaper legitimacy, sport washing, and the innocence of bystanders substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Aston Villa, Ireland, and the market for memory The Premier League club has just released new merchandise to mark St. Patrick's Day substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Has Casablanca just moved a step closer to hosting the 2030 FIFA men’s World Cup Final? As global geopolitics become even more turbulent, the Moroccan city could be one of the beneficiaries substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Five scenarios for the FIFA World Cup Recent armed conflict in the Gulf alongside drug tzar takedowns in Mexico have left people wondering what this summer's tournament will actually be like substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

As conflict escalates in the Arabian Gulf, it is inevitable that sport will feel the effects Competitions postponed, investment flows uncertain and supply chain chokepoints, with more to come substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

'Chinamaxxing' might be good for soft power, yet the country's sport industry has bigger ambitions Officials in Beijing prefer domestic consumers to buy Chinese sportswear brands rather than those from overseas substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

#Geosport wrote about African tourism sponsorships in European football, specifically DR Congo's response to Rwanda's deals profchadwick.substack.com/p/make-sport... French authorities have reportedly now begun investigations into Monaco's DRC sponsorship deal thegreatlakeseye.com/post?s=DRC%E...

How sport sponsorship extends industrial networks and national spheres of influence Audi's entrance into F1 reveals as much about Qatar as it does about Germany substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

As debate about Eileen Gu continues, it is worth recalling this excellent chapter www.routledge.com/The-Geopolit...

Women's football in Iran and Saudi Arabia - pathways towards peace and development substack.com/home/post/p-... @sufiya.bsky.social @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Late stage capitalism and the future of sport Why hotdogs and cola have become more important than history and tradition substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Snoop, Soft Power and the Olympics: America’s problems obscured, not cured substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

If black lives matter, then why did the IOC instruct Haiti to redesign its apparel? Officially, it’s to maintain political neutrality, even though the event remains laden with other signs, symbols and images that reflect ideology substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

ISL 2026: More Than a Schedule, a Statement of Intent for Indian Football substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

US soft power faces challenges, but the Super Bowl showed that it remains compelling America was represented as a connected cultural space characterised by togetherness substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Dubai playing catch-up in sport as the emirate goes head-to-head with its Gulf rivals The emirate's got big sporting ambitions, which a new strategy is intended to drive substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

AFCON, WAFCON and the politics of hosting football in Africa Nnamdi Madichie, Woxsen University, India substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Boycotting a sport mega event isn't child's play, but could LEGO lead the way? Ahead of the FIFA World Cup, pressure is growing for commercial partners to address consumer concerns substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Superbowl 60: Bad Bunny finds himself in Donald Trump's bad books Rapper's scheduled appearance at the NFL's showcase event isn't to the president's liking, raising questions about what happens to entertainment at the FIFA World Cup substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Football fans and the consequences of 'Geojoking' A recent quip by FIFA's president has led to many people calling him out for his views on England fans substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

If the US plan for Greenland involves creating a network state, how does sport fit into it? Tech bro ambitions would see sport as we know it being fundamentally changed substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

What will activism look like at this summer's World Cup? A complex, sensitive and fractious geopolitical environment is challenging sport's stakeholders to think carefully about their next moves substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Goalless draws and the erosion of soft power Why a lack of goals in Premier League football is becoming a problem for Britain's image abroad substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Breaking taboos - Iranian women's football kicks against tradition substack.com/home/post/p-... My esteemed colleague and good friend @sufiya.bsky.social wrote this for #Geosport last year Looking forward to us resuming our various research projects together very soon...

The enshittification of sport For many people, things aren't how they used to be substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

21st Century Geopolitical Economy: Elite Sport’s Complex New World How the games we play are being shaped by geographic, political and economic factors substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Power and geopolitical economy will be the real winners of this summer's FIFA men's World Cup Don't expect boycotts or a mass walkout, instead the realities of 21st century sport will be laid bare substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Why Mexico, Dubai and Italy are the countries to watch in sport in 2026 www.cityam.com/why-mexico-d... @cityam.bsky.social

AFCON begins in Morocco as the Arab Cup ends in Qatar - countries with parallel sporting ambitions albeit facing different challenges As government in Doha addresses legacy issues, officials in Rabat are seeking to position Morocco as a gateway to Africa substack.com/home/post/p-...

Comments in... Comments in... CAN 2025 : au-delà du sport, les vrais enjeux pour le Maroc lematin.ma/nation/can-2...

Comments in... “Depuis 2022, l’image du Maroc a changé partout dans le monde” www.maroc-hebdo.com/article/simo... With AFCON 25 hosting & FIFA 2030 ahead, Morocco is in the spotlight Football isn't just a vanity project, serious economic, political & socio-cultural ambitions underpin it

How a national vision and strategic tie-ups are transforming sport Mercedes' new partnership with the WTA is just the latest in a series of deals involving Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the German car maker substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Faced with pressure from stakeholders, Arsenal is ending its deal with Visit Rwanda But is this a case of market-driven morality which ignores wider issues? substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Robbie Williams, the court jester of geopolitics, reminds us once again about football's big challenges Donald Trump and others watched on as FIFA's favourite pop star performed at the 2026 men's World Cup draw substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Earthquakes, techno authoritarianism and border disputes - welcome to AFCON 2025 The African Cup of Nations is back, this time more geopolitically charged than ever substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Earthquakes, techno authoritarianism and border disputes - welcome to AFCON 2025 The African Cup of Nations is back, this time more geopolitically charged than ever substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

New programme, for which I'll be serving as one of the directors HELEGS Law, Economics & Geopolitics of Professional Sports Recruiting, via www.helegs.com/en/?referrer... Modules include: The Finance of Football; The Geopolitical Economy of Sport; Agents and/or Sportwomen/Sportmen Lawyers

How cultural assemblage has become central to sport's new authenticity Stadium developments are no longer just places to watch sport, they are nowadays entertainment destinations that draw on the past as they look to the future substack.com/home/post/p-...

Now published... Global fan activism in sports: digital collective action and the case of #EmptyOldTrafford www.emerald.com/ijoa/article...

How cultural assemblage has become central to sport's new authenticity Stadium developments are no longer just places to watch sport, they are nowadays entertainment destinations that draw on the past as they look to the future substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

How cultural assemblage has become central to sport's new authenticity Stadium developments are no longer just places to watch sport, they are nowadays entertainment destinations that draw on the past as they look to the future substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport

Comments in: No 2026 World Cup spot but China is experiencing a grassroots soccer revival www.msn.com/en-us/sports... See also: A new Chinese football boom is quietly unfolding, ten years after an era of chaos and excess substack.com/home/post/p-...

Gulf sports have the money, but not the sponsors Middle East properties may simply fail to deliver the value that global brands expect www.agbi.com/opinion/busi...

From football to Ferrari, Italian sport is undermining the country's soft power Stuck in the past and without a plan for the future, Italy and its sport face some big challenges substack.com/home/post/p-... @paulwiddop.bsky.social #Geosport