Mega-events and racialized governmentality: Reading the racial media subtext of Canada at the 2022 men's FIFA World Cup

This study examines racialized governmentality through an analysis of media representations and athletes' discourses of Canada's participation in the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup. The analysis of “racialized” discourses and categories in Canadian media reveals how sport can be both a site of resistance and reinforcement of racial hierarchies and identities. The Canadian context offers an opportunity to explore these dynamics, showing how the event has been used to generate ephemeral celebrations of multiculturalism while reinforcing ideas of Canadian success through a selective acceptance of diversity, re-conveyed within a nationalist discourse. This study highlights the complexity of the links between sporting mega-events and racialized governmentality and invites a critical rethinking of representations of diversity and national identity.