ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between sport and international relations through a case study of the governance and political economy of professional football. Governance provides the central theme because the debate surrounding its nature and practice, paralleling the globalization debate, has been central to the increasing importance of political economy in the development of IR. However, while generally associated with political power and authority, governance has remained an essentially contested concept.2 For political economy, the governance debate has primarily concerned the relationship between sources of political authority and the market. As private actors, most notably trans-national corporations and nongovernmental organizations, have grown in importance, allowing for a more society-centred approach to policy-making and the governance of markets, so the increasing complexity of the relationship between a greater number of public and private actors has challenged the political and institutional capacity of the state to steer the policy choices affecting society and the economy.
