ABSTRACT
Modern sports spread throughout the world from the West as a result of individual enthusiasm, Christian missionary work, sport governing groups, military occupation, and the Olympic Games. These elements make up the main topics of this chapter. Sports were a part of the cultural baggage carried by Westerners abroad in their quest for empire, trade, and influence. Their ideas about sports were transferred both with deliberation and by casual circumstance to others who adapted and emulated the habits of the foreigners. It was not all one-way, and some sports such as polo and judo, after acquiring the attributes of modern Western sports, found their way into the global sports network.
