ABSTRACT
Introduction The link between terrorism and sport is not a new development (it was most dramatically evident at the Olympics of 1972 and 1996). Yet, recent events seem to indicate that sports and sportspeople have become increasingly targeted by terrorists. Examples have included the gun attack in March 2009 in Lahore on the Sri Lankan cricket team, the suicide-bomb attack on spectators at a volleyball match in Laki Marwat, north-west Pakistan in January 2010, and the gun attack in Cabinda, Angola, on the Togo national football team in the same month. Earlier, in August 2009, the English badminton team withdrew from the World Championships in Hyderabad due to a specific terrorist threat. Given the enormous publicity potential of an attack on the Olympics, the 2012 Games again raises the spectre of the convergence of terrorism and sport. The following will assess the utility of the Olympics and sports events (and, indeed, sportspeople) as terrorist targets. Although the Olympics in general presents a ‘hardened’ target, given the global audience that is focused on the Games, and the fact that some venues, cities and transport systems will inevit ably be less protected than others, it still represents an alluring target. Indeed, any attack on the UK during Games time would arguably be an attack on the Olympics itself. Beyond the Olympics, the following will consider whether or not the recent spate of terrorist attacks on sports represents part of a developing trend. It will ultimately argue that terrorism has had the most impact on sport (mainly cricket) in South Asia, particularly Pakistan and India, both due to direct attacks on sports targets but also due to other terrorist attacks (such as Mumbai) that have impacted on perceptions of security (or lack of ) at sporting venues in these countries. The direct sporting attacks of Lahore and Laki Marwat (and indeed the attack on the Togo football team) were arguably motivated by relatively local agendas and have not since been replicated elsewhere. Nevertheless, given the propensity of Al Qaeda to target high profile and mass-casualty targets, and the indiscriminate nature of its violence permitted by its ideological parameters, it would be dangerous to ignore the potential threat that it represents to major sports events and sportspeople in Western countries and elsewhere.
