Football, Politics and Europe

Abstract:

This article examines the place of sports and football in European society and the complex interaction of the sports field and the football sub-field, which has its own codes of behaviour, its own institutional governance, its own ethics, its own judicial culture and its own language.

Charting the history of European football and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the author argues that unless one understands how the football habitus interact with the rest of European society, it is difficult to examine the role of sports and, in particular, football in international relations and diplomacy.