ABSTRACT
International organizations (IOs) such as the United Nations (UN) as well as other international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) work to promote and leverage the potential impact of sports events in development terms. This chapter focuses on understanding these activities of (I)NGOs, as well as agencies within the UN system, that work to leverage the development potential of sports events and/or to call attention to development issues related to events. It examines the intersections between international development, sport for development and peace (SDP), non-governmental actors and sports events of various sizes. The chapter provides a critical deployment of stakeholder theory, informed by a postcolonial approach to international management studies to examine how struggles over power, politics, legitimacy and representation are negotiated when (I)NGOs engage with SDP through sports events such as the Olympics or even community-based sport festivals. It concludes with suggestions for a research agenda focused on (I)NGOs and IOs in relation to sports events and international development.
