Books

The Ethics of Sportswashing

with Kyle Fruh and Alfred Archer

Routledge, 2026 or 2027

Sportswashing has recently grown into a vital concept in scholarly and public discussions of sport. In 2022, the Collins dictionary named ‘sportswashing’ one of their ten Words of the Year, reflecting the extent of public discussion of the term in the run-up to the 2022 Men’s Football World Cup in Qatar. The term is used as a criticism of owners of clubs or hosts of competitions and has established a foothold in both journalistic and academic work. But there has been very little academic discussion of what exactly sportswashing is or why it matters. Our book will:

Argue for a clear and workable concept of sportswashing, which explains why sportswashing is distinctive from other issues while showing how it relates to them (e.g. other exercises of soft power).
Defend the concept of sportswashing against critiques that it is a xenophobic concept wielded solely against Arab states. Explore whether the concept should be applied more widely.
Explain why sportswashing is wrong. The arguments of the book will use real-world cases in showing how sportswashing corrupts institutions and sporting values, how it exploits an inescapable vulnerability of caring about sports, and how it renders players, fans, and others complicit.
Offer a constructive picture of how moral responsibility for confronting sportswashing can be taken up by various parties.

Please email me at JakeWojtowi@gmail.com if you are interested in hearing more about this book!

Why It's OK to Be a Sports Fan

with Alfred Archer

Routledge, 2024

"This book offers readers a pitch-side view of the ethics of fandom. Its accessible six chapters are aimed both at true sports fans whose conscience may be occasionally piqued by their pastime, and at those who are more certain of the moral hazards involved in following a team or sport.

Why It’s OK to Be a Sports Fan wrestles with a range of arguments against fandom and counters with its own arguments on why being a fan is very often a good thing. It looks at the ethical issues fans face, from the violent or racist behavior of those in the stands, to players’ infamous misdeeds, to owners debasing their own clubs. In response to these moral risks, the book argues that by being critical fans, followers of a team or individual can reap the benefits of fandom while avoiding many of the ethical pitfalls. The authors show the value in deeply loving a team but also how a condition of this value is recognizing that the love of a fan comes with real limits and responsibilities."

You can buy the book at many bookshops, or directly from Routledge, where it is also available to download open access. It is also available for free on Kindle.

Sport, Ethics, and Philosophy has published a symposium on the book, with commentaries from Adam Kadlac, Joe Slater, Nathaniel Baron-Schmitt, and Nina Windgätter and replies from Alfred and me.

Books

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