The role of sport in the development of international relations from the perspective of political and non-political figures in Jordanian sport

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the role that sport plays in improving international relations from the perspective of Jordanian athletic political and non-political figures, and also to find the differences in the perception of the role of sport in developing international relations among status variables. The researchers used the descriptive approach due to its relevance to the nature of the study. A total of 122 individuals participated in this study: politicians (n = 33), non – politicians (n = 89). The questionnaire was used as a tool to collect the data. It was designed through personal interviews and it surveys five fields: political field, media field, economic field, and the social and cultural field. For data analysis, we used the Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings showed that the role of sports in improving international relations in the five fields listed above was undeniable. There was no statistically significant difference in the total score of the role of sport in improving international relations when it comes to status (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the results showed no statistically significant difference between the members of the controlled sample whether they were politicians or non-politicians (p > 0.05). Jordanian politicians and non-politicians believe that sport is an important tool for improving international relations and could be a starting point for public diplomacy dialogue. The researchers strongly recommend the need to work on activating and supporting sport media as it has a big role in developing international relations, and to work on improving sport performance because of its great impact in showing countries at international level.