Quansah debuts, O’Reilly dazzles and Kane delivers as England complete qualifying in style
Sportswashing ‘still highly effective’ despite more awareness
General view of the fans inside the stadium during the FIFA World Cup third place play-off match at Saint Petersburg Stadium, July 14, 2018
AS THE European football championships continue in Germany, new research has revealed that “sportswashing” — the practice of using sporting events or teams to improve a country's reputation — is still highly effective, despite increased awareness of the issue among fans.
Dr Vitaly Kazakov of the School of Environment, Education and Development at the University of Manchester is currently undertaking a research project in Iceland, the nation with the same population as Stoke-on-Trent which surprised everyone by beating England and reaching the semi-finals at Euro 2016.
He has conducted in-depth interviews with a range of football stakeholders there including fans, sport and international affairs journalists, sports club administrators and academics.
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