Understanding International Sport Organisations

‘In Understanding International Sport Organisations: Principles, power and possibilities, Lincoln Allison and Alan Tomlinson offer a critical, nuanced, evidence-driven assessment of sporting international non-governmental organisations (or, SINGOs). This bold interrogation of international sport governance unveils a unique brand of messianic clientelism as well as a fragile set of contradictions crackling at the system’s core. The book explodes the myth that SINGOs somehow sidestep politics while exposing these organisations’ systematic dearth of accountability. Understanding International Sport Organisations is resolutely interdisciplinary; engaging history, international relations, politics, sociology, and sport studies. It is a vital contribution that enhances our understanding of the far-reaching, many-tentacled organisations that dominate the modern-day sports landscape.’ — Jules Boykoff, Professor of Political Science, Pacific University, USA

‘Allison and Tomlinson's conceptualisation of SINGOs, and the book as a whole, is an important advance in the study of international sport. The focus on the IOC and FIFA as the two ‘mega-SINGOs’ is warranted but does not exclude other significant non-state actors who influence the sport/diplomacy landscape. The two authors are supremely well-placed to draw on their many years of professional expertise to provide a balanced argument between the historical evolution of these organisations and their contribution to contemporary international relations. As such the book has much to say to scholars of sport, be they historians, sociologists or political scientists.’ – J. Simon Rofe, Senior Lecturer in Diplomatic and International Studies, SOAS University of London, UK