Announcements | Papel Político

CALL FOR PAPERS PAPEL POLÍTICO VOL. 31 (2026).

SPECIAL ISSUE: SPORTS DIPLOMACY IN IBERO-AMERICA

GUEST EDITORS: CARLOS PULLEIRO MÉNDEZ (TONGJI UNIVERSITY) AND FERNANDO GUTIÉRREZ CHICO (UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA)

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 8, 2025

Sports diplomacy has become one of the most dynamic and cross-cutting elements of foreign policy within the field of International Relations. Traditionally, its definition and development have been associated with soft power through the hosting of sporting events, winning titles and medals, and the presence of influential people in the boards of international sports organizations (i.e. IOC or FIFA). However, in today’s geopolitical context of growing instability and fragility following the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the Palestinian genocide perpetrated by Israel, and Donald Trump’s tariff war, sports diplomacy is also proving effective as an instrument of hard power: coercion through boycotts of sporting events, visa denials for athletes, withdrawal of sponsors, or the imposition of “neutral” participation without national symbols.

Historically, both sport, in general, and football, in particular, have played a key role in the construction of national identities, colonial expansion, and postcolonial affirmation. Specially, the IOC and FIFA have been decisive in structuring these relationships. Both have consolidated over time as two of the most powerful international organizations outside the state sphere, capable of facilitating political negotiations, mediating disputes, or imposing sanctions with geopolitical consequences. In recent decades, the IOC, FIFA and their sports mega-events have stood at the centre of debates about corruption, international governance, and human rights, becoming powerful arenas where cities, states, corporations, and other transnational actors negotiate visibility, legitimacy, and influence.

In the American continent, the Olympic Movement is growing. The number of countries organizing, participating in, and winning medals at the Pan American Games has increased. In fact, this dynamic has expanded towards youth thanks to the creation of the Junior Pan American Games in 2021. Concerning football, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be organized, for the first time in history, by three countries: Mexico, the United States, and Canada. This event reflects both the growing complexity of mega-event organization, and the political symbolism of regional cooperation in North America at a time of heightened tensions among the three governments during Donald Trump’s second term. Moreover, the expansion to 48 teams broadens the dynamics of global participation. Looking ahead to the 2030 World Cup, hosting will extend even further, to six countries across three continents (Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay + Spain, Portugal, and Morocco), with the number of participating teams potentially reaching 64. Additionally, Brazil will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The growing visibility of women in an androcentric-based sport represents a scenario to reconfigure and think over the traditional construction of nation via football from a gender perspective.

This upcoming context poses significant challenges for Ibero-America in terms of sovereignty, migration, security, trade, nationalism, broadcasting rights, environmental sustainability, or cultural diplomacy. Sport thus becomes a laboratory for understanding how global and regional governance are exercised and contested.

For these reasons, this special issue of Papel Político invites scholars of Political Science, International Relations, and related disciplines to critically examine sports diplomacy in Ibero-America. The editors welcome theoretical, empirical, and comparative contributions addressing topics such as:

Analyses of sports diplomacy from International Relations theory, Political Science, and related disciplines (Sociology, Anthropology, History, Communication, etc.).
Sport as a tool of soft power in international relations: theoretical debates and case studies.
The development of women’s sport and the application of gender perspectives in sport.
Sport, violence, and security.
The role of states and international organizations in regulating global sport.
Sport and human rights: sustainability, equality, and social justice in sports mega-events.
The influence of the IOC, FIFA, and other international sports federations on global and regional governance.
Sport, development, and nation branding: local, national, and regional strategies.
The role of sport in international cooperation and regional integration.
Conflicts, sanctions, and sports diplomacy: the use of sport in international disputes.
Migration, diasporas, and transnationalism.
Sport, cultural diplomacy, and media narratives.

Submission of articles will be carried out via the journal's email address: papelpolítico@javeriana.edu.co. Additionally, each article must comply with the author guidelines, which are specified on the journal's website and via the following link: https://revistas.javeriana.edu.co/index.php/papelpol/about/submissions

Only those texts that fulfill all the requirements will be taken into consideration.

BIOGRAPHIES OF GUEST EDITORS:

Carlos Pulleiro Méndez (Bilbao, 1987) obtained in 2016 his PhD in International Studies at the Basque Country University. Between 2018 and 2021 he was a research fellow at the School of International Studies of the Sun Yat-sen University (China). In 2019 and 2020 he was a visiting scholar at the Leisure Studies Centre of the University of Deusto. In 2022 he is hired as a lecturer at the Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Degree of the European University Gasteiz (EUNEIZ). Currently he is an associate researcher at the International College of Football of the Tongji University (China). His main research line is sports diplomacy, publishing in prestigious journals such as Third World Quarterly, CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals, Sport in Society, International Sports Policy and Politics, or Communication and Sport. Email: pulleiro.mendez@gmail.com

Fernando Gutiérrez-Chico (León, 1990) holds a PhD in Social Sciences (2020) and a MA in Anthropology of Ibero-America (2016), both at the Universidad de Salamanca. He also holds a BA in Journalism at the Basque Country University (2012). He has lectured and researched at several universities in Spain and Europe. He has conducted research stays in the UK and Argentina. His research line focuses on the social-cultural studies of sport, publishing in prestigious journals such as Sport in Society, Communication and Sport, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, or Sociology of Sport Journal. Email: fgutierrezchico@gmail.com

CALL FOR PAPERS PAPEL POLÍTICO VOL. 31 (2026): SPORTS DIPLOMACY IN IBERO-AMERICA

October 22, 2025

CALL FOR PAPERS PAPEL POLÍTICO VOL. 31 (2026). SPECIAL ISSUE: SPORTS DIPLOMACY IN IBERO-AMERICA

GUEST EDITORS: CARLOS PULLEIRO MÉNDEZ (TONGJI UNIVERSITY) AND FERNANDO GUTIÉRREZ CHICO (UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA)

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 8, 2025

Only those texts that fulfill all the requirements will be taken into consideration.