ABSTRACT
A widespread rationale for sport-for-development programmes, reinforced by the publication of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), relates to their supposed ability to contribute to the reduction of the incidence of HIV and AIDS. However, Kruse (2006: 8), in one of the first comprehensive reviews of the contribution of sport-for-development to the prevention of HIV and AIDS, stated that:
We have not come across any systematic analysis of how to understand the relationships between sport and development … or … a discussion of the causal linkages between an increased emphasis on sport and a positive impact on HIV and AIDS. What is it with sport that could lead to such impact — what and where are the linkages and can they be documented? Most of the assumptions and statements about positive linkages may be true or partly true, but they are still not well understood and supported by empirical evidence … The strong beliefs seem to be based on an intuitive certainty and experience that there is a positive link between sport and development.
