The League of democracies against authoritarian sportswashing and sport dirtying

This article examines the theoretical intersection between the proposed League of Democracies and two contemporary dynamics in international relations: sportswashing and the emerging analytical perspective of sportsdirtying. While the League of Democracies was initially envisioned as a response to structural failures within the United Nations, this article argues that it can also serve as a normative and strategic framework for countering the expanding influence of authoritarian regimes in global sport. Authoritarian states frequently use mega-events, club ownership, and sports governance to project legitimacy – a process widely known as sportswashing. However, the concept of sportsdirtying highlights a different analytical angle: depending on public reactions, civil society activism, and media scrutiny, these same sporting interventions can intensify global criticism, expose domestic repression, and damage the international reputation of authoritarian regimes. Within this framework, the article contends that sport provides a uniquely low-risk yet high-visibility arena for democratic cooperation. By introducing democracy-based criteria for hosting rights, governance participation, and sponsorship in international sport, democratic states can demonstrate moral leadership, thereby constraining authoritarian influence and reinforcing liberal norms. Drawing on political theory, international law, and democracy indices such as the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the article demonstrates that value-driven coordination in sport can strengthen democratic legitimacy, challenge authoritarian narratives, and transform sport into a key arena for building a renewed global alliance of liberal democracies.