ABSTRACT
Boycotts and related forms of political pressure have been a recurring element in the analyses of sport in international relations and international relations in sport. This paper does three things. First, it revisits the anti-apartheid sports campaign to consider its form and character. This will inform a wider discussion of boycotts, embargoes and sanctions as political tactics and explore what it is about the characteristics of international sport that makes sports sanctions distinctive. Finally, a nascent theory of sports boycotts will be assessed through the campaign targeting the 2013 UEFA U-21 tournament to explore the extent to which we need to review or revise our analyses of bilateral sports boycotts in particular and cultural boycotts more generally.
