United States still has the biggest influence in sports politics. But
Russia, Japan and countries from the former Eastern Bloc are
catching up fast.
Every second year The Sports Confederation of Denmark ranks countries
according to their influence in sports politics. The latest edition of The Sports
Political Power Index shows some major changes among the countries with the
most influence.
United States still holds the top spot but countries like Russia and Japan are
catching up fast. Despite the political turmoil and the doping scandals, it has
faced in recent years, Russia has advanced five spots to second place (tied with
Italy) in the global ranking since the 2015-edition of the index.
Japan, the host country of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, is also advancing
fast. Like Russia Japan has gained five spots and now holds the number seven
spot.
Power shift from West to East
In Europe the balance of power is moving from Western Europe to Central and
Eastern Europe, as evidenced by the fact that 11 out of the 18 European countries
that have increased their score are former Eastern Bloc countries.
"It’s a very interesting read and it’s obvious that a shift in power is taking place.
Countries from the former Eastern Bloc have in recent years aggressively been
pursuing power in international sports politics. That work is now paying off. The
power is moving from West to East," says Poul Broberg, head of public affairs at
The Sports Confederation of Denmark (The Danish Olympic Committee), and
continues.
"The Sports Political Power Index is a very useful tool is order to analyze the
movements in the sports political landscape and to see who’s calling the shots".
The 2017 publication is the third edition of the Sports Political Power Index. The
publication is based on the registration of the members of the 118 most influential
sports federations and associations (1,673 members in total) and operates with a
weighing scale. As an example, a position as president of the IOC weighs 10 times
as much as a member of a non-Olympic European federation.
At https://www.dif.dk/en/politik/powerindex it’s possible to see the full European
and global ranking and track each countries movement since 2013.
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