Hybrid governance in South–South cooperation: a multicase study of China’s stadium diplomacy under the Belt and Road Initiative

This research situates China’s stadium diplomacy as a contentious issue within South–South cooperation (SSC) and explores how sports infrastructure projects shape China’s political engagement across the Global South. Drawing on the theory of hybrid institutional complexes (HICs), this study proposes a framework for hybrid governance. Through a cross-regional comparison of the Senegal Wrestling Arena, the Stade d’Oyem in Gabon and the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Cambodia, this study investigates the power negotiation processes involved in the construction of aid-financed stadiums. The findings reveal that recipient countries are not passive recipients but actively shape project outcomes through debt management, political rhetoric and elite capture, demonstrating strategic agency. However, hybrid governance exposes a structural misalignment between elite political logic and social welfare needs, manifested in postevent stadium idleness, high maintenance costs, and a lack of community participation. This study proposes a multicentric governance pathway that advocates for third-party evaluation, multi-actor consultation mechanisms, and the sport for development and peace (SDP) concept to transform SSC from symbolic aid to development empowerment. This research aims to move beyond the binary narratives of soft power and debt traps, offering a more critical and relational theoretical perspective for understanding infrastructure governance in asymmetric international relations.