A curious case of failing sports diplomacy in the early cold war: the mediterranean friendship tournament (1949)

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article argues that anti-sportsmanship of Greek audiences, players, and officials towards Turkish national soccer players during the Mediterranean Friendship Tournament of 1949 in Athens not only led to a short-term crisis in the Greek-Turkish relations due to mass anti-Greek protests in Turkey, but it also held these two countries back from enjoying the power of soccer as a diplomatic tool in maintaining and developing their Cold War alliance. The verbal and physical Greek attacks against the Turkish national team provoked a major disturbance in the Turkish public sphere, and Turkish protesters filled the streets all around Turkey. These demonstrations only stopped when the Turkish authorities declared the end of national soccer activity with Greece. In short, the tournament represented a remarkable case with respect to the role of public opinion in the making of foreign policy and in the use of soccer diplomacy.