Football in Southeastern Europe: From Ethnic Homogenization to Reconciliation

On 11 November the Centre for Southeast European Studies (CSEES) organised a workshop dealing with the social, political and cultural roles of sport in Southeast Europe, a follow-up event to the publication of a special issue of the journal Sport in Society entitled ‘Football in Southeastern Europe: From Ethnic Homogenisation to Reconciliation’. Interest in the event resulted in a large audience that engaged in an afternoon-long debate on sport and its interconnection with social issues in post-Yugoslav societies.

The workshop offered an insight into the diversity of methodological/theoretical and topical approaches from a number of different disciplines, whilst also starkly revealing the lack of up-to-date scholarship and research. The participants agreed that other important questions, e.g. gender, the effects of globalisation on SEE sport and post-Yugoslav regional leagues, are yet to be researched - a void that should be tackled sooner rather than later.