ABSTRACT

Since the early 2000s international governmental organizations (IGOs) have become a primary vehicle through which Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) programs and policies are both developed and implemented. Given the range of institutional actors and diverse policy agendas of IGOs, the ways in which sport is employed in the development context is diverse. This chapter focuses on the three most prominent IGOs utilizing SDP: the UN, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The chapter provides an overview of each of these organizations’ history in promoting sport as a tool of development, before offering insights into how the UN, the IOC and FIFA each view their role in the international sphere. The chapter concludes by offering critical rejoinders to the SDP vision outlined by each of these three IGOs, and presenting some future areas of research in the field.