Playing Politics: Sport as a Battleground

This past summer the World Cup came to North America for the first time in decades—making this the perfect moment to ask: when did sport become politics? From the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the Blood in the Water match, the ghost team of Chile, the Miracle on Ice, and the controversies of Qatar and Milano-Cortina, this course explores the moments when the stadium became a battleground. We examine corruption, boycotts, sportswashing, and athlete resistance—and ask what it means when the beautiful game gets ugly.