Introduction to the Special Issue: Perspectives on Sport,Media,and Migration

Abstract

This Communication & Sport special issue explores the complex intersection of sport, media, and migration from multiple interconnected perspectives. As human migration accelerates globally, understanding how sports media facilitates and contests migration narratives is increasingly critical. The issue examines four foundational concepts—media, sport, migration, and culture—to investigate how athlete mobility and national identity are constructed and perceived. As outlined in this introduction, the collected articles are organized into three thematic sections. The first section addresses the transnational identities of elite athletes and their navigation of hybrid cultures across various media platforms. The second section investigates the systemic impacts of athlete naturalization, highlighting state media narratives alongside grassroots fan responses. The third section provides theoretical and historical frameworks for understanding how national belonging can migrate across borders through sporting narratives. Ultimately, this collection of articles demonstrates that sports media acts as a powerful mechanism in shaping cultural boundaries and national identity, emphasizing that sports migration extends far beyond the physical movement of athletes.

Keywords

sports migration media culture identity athlete naturalization

According to the World Migration Report (2026), human migration across international borders continues to rise due to violence, regional conflict, economic instability, political uncertainty, and climate change. In 2024, there were an estimated 304 million international migrants (3.7% of the global population and 150 million more migrants than in 1990; World Migration Report, 2026). Migration within sports contexts reflects broad patterns of globalization, transnational labor flows, and the construction of culture (Maguire & Stead, 1998). National identity constitutes one of the most salient dimensions within migration studies and is regarded as a “distinctive and most important cultural variable” (Choe, 2006, p. 89). Nationalism and national identity are dynamic constructs, conceptualized as symbolic boundaries that delineate cultural distinctions between insiders and outsiders within national communities (Lamont & Molnar, 2002). Although such boundaries are often presumed to manifest in physical and social environments (e.g., sporting competitions), media practices reproduce and reinforce these cultural distinctions. Sports media has, thus, become a central site for meaning-making with a foundational impact on understandings about the self and others (Van Sterkenburg & Spaaij, 2015). At the same time, migration has become increasingly contentious across the globe (Mauro, 2020). In this escalating context, understanding the role of sport and media in both facilitating and contesting migration narratives is more urgent than ever.

The nexus of sport, media, and culture has long been acknowledged as a powerful force (Rowe, 2004). Sport is predominantly consumed as media, yet it remains a significant physical and ideological site for the construction of national identities and narratives, alongside a range of other key identities and knowledge formations (see Meân, 2010). This can make sport-related media highly influential, and the significance of sport identities means audiences can be especially vulnerable to the content and narratives of mediated forms (Scherer, 2007; Wenner, 2013).

Additionally, sport has long been a platform for cultural expression in which national and personal identities intersect and are often contested (Gorokhov, 2015). When competing in major global sporting events, elite athletes can act as symbolic representations of nationhood and gender for citizens (Whannel, 2002). Historically, athletes—particularly elite athletes—have emigrated to other countries for a variety of reasons, from colonial migration patterns to more recent waves of migration fueled by internationalization, economic and labor convergence, and political defiance (Frick, 2009; Latififard et al., 2024a; Maguire, 2011; Sadri et al., 2024).

Previous research has explored how athletes have moved under the sway of globalization—particularly within European football—often without any change in citizenship or nationality (Frick, 2009). Building on this migration research, a subsequent wave of scholars turned to examine how media discourses respond to transnational athlete mobility (Jansen et al., 2018). Researchers have charted the connections among global sporting networks, media coverage, and the socioeconomic drivers that propel migration (Maguire, 2012). Empirical studies reveal that media framing routinely casts athletes as transnational commodities, foregrounding narratives of success, identity, and the commercialization of sport (Cerga, 2024). This perspective highlights the media’s role in shaping public perceptions of athlete migration, often aligning these narratives with global capitalist logics that portray athletes’ moves as opportunities for both personal and national advancement.

Obfuscated in the movement of athletes and the accompanying media narratives are the normalizing of neocolonial and historical colonial patterns of migration (Agergaard et al., 2023; Darby, 2013). For example, the prestige and status of European club football is maintained and naturalized by the movement of players from other regions (Cox et al., 2015). These migratory patterns often see the best (emerging) athletes from developing countries recruited to nations with established sporting infrastructures, including robust programs for youth development. Such movement perpetuates existing national and regional inequalities, maintaining the standing and prominence of some nations, while depriving others of the best sporting talent (Latififard et al., 2024a). These homegrown athletes can serve as a foundation for international success and heightened media attention that contributes to domestic progress.

Furthermore, this movement often involves nations that are the subject of highly contested migrant narratives in other contexts. This is notable in Major League Baseball (MLB) which now sees players recruited from many international regions—particularly South and Central American nations targeted by increasingly anti-immigrant rhetoric and immigration law enforcement in the United States. For example, in 2025, among the players born outside the U.S., the MLB included 93 born in Venezuela, 144 born in the Dominican Republic, and 15 in Mexico (Baseball Almanac, 2025). Acknowledging the international landscape of its league and the growing hostility from U.S. government agencies, MLB advised players to “carry their papers with them at all times” to avoid detention from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE; Hoornstra, 2026, para. 5).

Contextualizing the Special Issue: Key Concepts in Sports Migration

Studies on sports migration have emphasized the role of media (particularly social media) in amplifying the challenges that migrant athletes face, including integration, discrimination, and cultural adaptation (Ehnold et al., 2024; Smith et al., 2019; Spaaij et al., 2019; Thorpe & Wheaton, 2021). Researchers have pointed to the ways in which media portrayals can either reinforce or challenge stereotypes associated with an athlete’s national or ethnic background, especially when migration patterns are driven by racial and socioeconomic inequities (Van Sterkenburg, 2020). Furthermore, attention has been given to how sports media shapes the public discourse around migration policies, citizenship, and the mobility of labor. Through this lens, previous research has illuminated how sports media is not only a reflection of broader societal and political dynamics but also an active agent in shaping public attitudes towards migration within sport (see Michelini, 2021).

Ultimately, the central question motivating this special issue is: How do media entities and platforms shape migration-related discourses and understandings within sport across diverse cultural contexts? Although sports media scholarship has traditionally been dominated by Western viewpoints (Rowe, 2004), the research presented in this special issue is grounded in diverse, cross-cultural perspectives that shed new light on the topic. Moreover, the special issue seeks to bridge theory and practice with articles that provide theoretical support for empirical findings. Before delving into the research, it is important to define some of the key concepts central to this interdisciplinary dialogue: sport, migration, and media. While these concepts might seem straightforward, they are complex and carry distinct meanings that can vary based on unique cultural and social frameworks.

Media (and its significant role in shaping public perceptions) serves as a platform for examining the nuances of sports migration through a cultural lens. In the context of this issue, media refers to the diverse platforms through which sport and migration narratives are consumed and communicated (e.g., traditional media outlets, digital platforms, social media). According to Mauro (2020), the media does not act as a neutral disseminator of information; rather, it actively constructs the narratives surrounding migration and sport. Digital platforms are transforming how athletes engage with audiences, allowing for new forms of representation, activism, and cultural exchange (Hutchins & Rowe, 2013). Relatedly, mediatization has emerged as a key framework for examining the complex interplay between media, culture, and society (Hepp, 2013). While growing mediatization has increased the recognition of underserved groups and activism (Birkner & Nölleke, 2016), it has also amplified the centrality and commercialization of sport. As such, it remains a powerful force for the perpetuation of deeply embedded neoliberal understandings and Western formations (Ličen et al., 2022). Nonetheless, this multifaceted phenomenon encompasses the reciprocal influences between media representations and broader society (Burdsey et al., 2023). Mediatization underscores the role of media in shaping social interaction and communicative practices (Hepp & Hasebrink, 2014), as well as its impact on other institutional domains, including politics and religion (Hjarvard, 2013).

Sport, the second concept under consideration, is recognized as a social bonding activity that facilitates social interaction, is accessible and egalitarian, and can transcend linguistic barriers (Michelini, 2021). To delineate the scope of research addressing sports, three categories—elite, amateur, and recreational—have historically been examined (Michelini, 2023). Despite the importance of all three, research found in this special issue is focused primarily on migration-related issues within elite sports, reflecting the increasingly prevalent migratory patterns of elite athletes who change nationalities to compete for countries different than those of their birth (often with better economic opportunities and more advanced facilities; Chepyator-Thomson & Ariyo, 2016; Jansen et al., 2018).

Within this framework, sport can act a unifying force that promotes intercultural engagement (see Michelini, 2021), while, conversely, eroding national identity and stagnating a country’s internal sports infrastructure. Diverse stakeholders in the sports ecosystem (including national and international organizations, athletes, coaches, and spectators) are crucial targets for analysis in this field. Maguire (2011) has highlighted that elite homegrown athletes are often recruited by other countries to bolster their performance in international competitions. Specific cases include Russia (Gorokhov, 2015), South Korea (Shin et al., 2022), and China (Han, 2023), where athletes engage in nationality switching to strengthen another country’s competitiveness in sport.

In the context of amateur sport, participation may serve as a mechanism to support the social integration and acculturation of migrants and refugees into their host societies (Michelini, 2023). Looking at the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine War and the subsequent “Ukrainian refugee crisis,” Michelini (2023) highlighted that prominent athletes utilized “sport to express either dissent or assent; sport facilities have again become emergency shelters for displaced persons; and the first fundraisers were organized by sport organizations” (p. xiv). In regions where sports clubs constitute a central component of the sporting infrastructure (as is the case in many European countries; Breuer et al., 2015), there is considerable potential for intersections between migrant cultures and amateur sport. Both research and policy have focused on sport as a useful tool for the acculturation of young migrants within their new communities (Checa et al., 2022; Li et al., 2015). Further, Morela et al. (2017) highlighted how youth sport can facilitate positive attitudes towards migrant groups from members of the host nation.

The third dimension, migration, refers to the movement of individuals from their habitual place of residence, either within a country or across national borders (Sironi et al., 2019). A migrant is an individual who relocates, either temporarily or permanently, to a new location, often for reasons beyond their control (Sironi et al., 2019). While migration is a broad concept, the phenomena of diaspora, asylum seeking, and refugee status can all be applied to this core definition. Additionally, within sports migration contexts, naturalized athletes are immigrant athletes that obtain citizenship through marriage, residency, or governmental decrees specifically aimed at boosting a national team’s competitiveness (Chen & Yang, 2021; Maguire & Bale, 1994). Prominent examples of naturalized athletes are highlighted in this special issue, including Eileen Gu (born in the U.S. and competes internationally for China in freestyle skiing) and Joel Embiid (born in Cameroon and competes internationally for the U.S. in basketball).

The final dimension examined in this issue is culture, which serves as an overarching framework to contextualize the other three dimensions. The significance of cultural perspectives—defined as the lenses through which athletes, fans, and media interpret the movement of players across borders—is amplified when examining the intersection of ethnic communities, transnationalism, and migration (King, 2012). The study of migration phenomena across different national contexts not only promotes recognition of cultural diversity but also provides novel analytical insights within this field. Additionally, examining cultural viewpoints enhances scholarly understanding of society’s role in shaping migratory patterns. Cross-cultural analyses offer distinct research avenues, particularly within sports media representations, and address a current research imbalance, which is predominantly concentrated on Western and other liberal-democratic contexts (Spaaij et al., 2019).

Researching the Sport and Migration Nexus: Present and Future

As human migration continues to accelerate in significance as a global issue (World Migration Report, 2026), increased attention to unpacking the role of sport as a force that can drive migration, contribute to migration understandings and perceptions, and impact the experiences of migrants and host nations is warranted across various levels of action. While the impetus for migration can be manifold and complex, sport has been an impactful site for wider recognition of the crisis of forced migration (Michelini, 2023; Spaaij, 2019). However, research that examines forced migration in sporting contexts is an important step forward.

At the elite level, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) policy allowing elite athletes with refugee status to compete under the Olympic flag is particularly significant (Latififard et al., 2024b). The policy debuted at the 2016 Olympic Games and led to 12 athletes (10 Olympians, two Paralympians) competing as refugees under the Olympic banner (Olympics.com, n. d.). By 2024, increasing numbers of global refugees meant the number of athletes competing under the Olympic flag had grown to 45 (37 Olympians and eight Paralympians). This policy has also been implemented by a number of other international sports competitions, offering further recognition of the growing refugee crisis and its implications. Research into the impacts of such policies continues to be essential. However, it is also worth noting that two important criteria for competing as an athlete with refugee status exist. First, the athlete’s elite status must be evidenced. Second, the host nation’s Olympic Committee must nominate the athlete (Olympics.com). These criteria reflect the origin of the policy, which was to allow athletes excluded from their home nation and not yet processed as citizens by their host nation to compete as Olympians. Conversely, this raises concerns regarding youth development going forward given the limited access to youth sport opportunities in many migrant and refugee communities.

This connects to another important area of research, the use of sport for development, integration, community-building, and well-being of migrant populations (Ehnold et al., 2024; Smith et al., 2019; Spaaij et al., 2019). Research continues to evidence the positive impact of sport opportunities in migrant communities, particularly given the potential trauma members of these communities may have experienced. The Olympic Refugee Foundation Think Tank (2022) and a report for the Global Integration of Refugees Through Sport (Global IRTS; Whyte et al., 2024) highlight a substantive reduction in negative psychological symptoms (such as depression and anxiety) among refugees in sport programs. Similarly, the opportunity to support sport as a fan, including watching elite athletes who have immigrated to your home nation, is also considered an important potential benefit. Sport fandom is an experience that can provide opportunities for inclusion and belonging (Wann et al., 2017), and that sense of belonging can carry over to migrant athletes who can be embraced by the host nation locally, nationally, and in the media.

Finally, contemporary research should consider the role of sport in driving migration beyond the elective movement of elite athletes seeking better opportunities. Many of these unforeseen circumstances are problematic. For example, major international sporting events often drive human migration via the workforce required to build the infrastructure and to service the event (Al Thani, 2021; Babar & Vora, 2022). Labor migration for these events can often be exploitative, including the trafficking of people (e.g., construction workers, sex workers). Moreover, while the environmental impact of major sports events (and the travel to them) is still being unpacked, the role of sport in fueling climate migration or being part of the solution remain important issues worthy of exploration.

Special Issue Articles and Themes

Found within this special issue are articles that explore the complex dynamics of athlete mobility, identity construction, public reception, and media dialogues surrounding migration in the sporting landscape. The collection is organized into three thematic sections that all shed light on differing aspects of historical and contemporary sports migration. The first section focuses on the modern intricacies of transnational identity for individual athletes, highlighting how different media ecosystems and digital platforms construct and contest national belonging. “Ungrateful Immigrant Vs. American Dream: Critical Discourse Analysis of U.S. Popular Press on the Nationality Choices of Eileen Gu and Chloe Kim” examines U.S. media dialogues surrounding the divergent nationality choices of Asian American athletes Eileen Gu and Chloe Kim. Using critical discourse analysis, the authors demonstrate how Kim was celebrated as an embodiment of the American dream, while Gu (a U.S.-born athlete who represents China in international competitions) was portrayed as an ungrateful traitor alienated in both China and the U.S. The research reveals that despite these contrasting narratives, both athletes were the subject of racialized stereotypes (e.g., model minority, perpetual foreigner) that emphasize the conditional nature of Asian American belonging.

In another article examining Winter Olympian Eileen Gu, “Hybrid Identity in Motion: Eileen Gu’s Cross-Platform Visual Self-Presentation on Weibo and Instagram” investigates how Gu actively manages her hybrid identity through cross-platform self-presentation on two social media platforms. Utilizing computational and human content analysis, the study determined that Gu’s Instagram account highlighted her personal lifestyle and utilized more sexual appeal, while her Weibo posts emphasized athletics and national symbols to align with collective pride. The findings illustrate how naturalized athletes strategically use visual content to navigate divergent cultural expectations and mobilize cross-cultural support with online audiences.

The third article, “Basketball Without Borders: Comparative Media Analysis of Joel Embiid’s Choice to Represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games” explores 7x NBA all-star Joel Embiid’s decision to represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympics despite holding citizenship in Cameroon and France. The study demonstrates how Olympic media frame athletes with multiple citizenships across differing country contexts. The authors analyzed how media in all three countries framed his naturalization and national identity, noting a shared acknowledgment of his status as a native Cameroonian but differing emphases on his competitive motivations (e.g., Cameroonian media highlighted a talent drain from Africa, French media suggested he chose the easiest path to the gold medal).

The special issue’s second section continues the discussion on naturalization and shifts to the systemic effects of migration, connecting top-down state media narratives of naturalized athletes with the online rhetoric of local fans and the emotional attributions of global audiences. “Narratives of Naturalization of Foreign-Born Football Players in Vietnamese Mainstream Media: The Critical Case Study on Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes” examines how Vietnamese mainstream media frame naturalized foreign-born football players, focusing on the naturalization of Brazilian striker Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes. Utilizing framing and critical discourse analysis, the authors traced media narratives that shifted from emphasizing patriotism and sacrifice to highlighting measurable athletic performance and talent. The research highlights how Vietnamese media celebrate naturalized players for their contributions, but mark them as “conditional insiders,” where their belonging remains contingent on ongoing displays of cultural loyalty and athletic success.

In another study examining athlete naturalization, “A Tragic Hero in a Borrowed Jersey: The Grassroots Rhetoric and Contested Identity of Guihua (Naturalized) Athletes in Chinese Football” analyzes Chinese fan discourse surrounding guihua football players (i.e., a Sinocentric concept of cultural “return” to Chinese civilization). Through fantasy theme analysis of fan comments of naturalized players, the authors argue that fans subvert top-down state assimilation narratives by evaluating these players based on their emotional commitment and on-field sacrifice rather than their legal status. Consequently, fans construct a “heroic tragedy” narrative, shifting the criteria for national belonging in Chinese sports away from cultural conformity and toward shared dedication to collective goals.

Additionally, “How do Fans Respond to Athlete Migration in Social Media? The Cases of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo” investigates fan emotions and attributions in YouTube comments regarding the high-profile club migrations of football players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Through topic modeling and sentiment analysis, the researchers found that fans made external attributions (e.g., family, team issues) for Messi’s transfer to mitigate negative emotions, while making internal, financially-driven attributions for Ronaldo’s move (e.g., more money). These differing attributions significantly influenced fan engagement, showing that emotional responses to athlete migration on online platforms can be heavily dictated by the perceived intent behind the departure.

Finally, the special issue’s third section provides theoretical and historical frameworks for understanding how national belonging can migrate across borders through sports media and narratives. “Reversing the Flow: Morocco’s Harnessing of Diasporic Talent and the Recent Success of the Atlas Lions in International Football” explores the phenomenon of “reverse flow” migration, analyzing how Morocco successfully utilized diasporic talent trained in the Global North to represent its national football team. Examining media framing during the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2024 Olympics, the authors highlight the positive impact of athletes returning to their ancestral roots to compete in international sporting competitions for their home countries. The study revealed how “reverse flow” movement of elite players challenges historic sporting inequalities, disrupts established global football hierarchies, and enhances international sports profiles.¹

The special issue’s final article, “Symbolic Migration: Howard Wing and the Media Politics of National Belonging, 1936 and 1948” introduces the concept of “symbolic migration” by examining Howard Wing, a Dutch-born cyclist who represented China at the 1936 and 1948 Olympics without ever visiting the country. The study compared Chinese and Dutch media coverage to demonstrate how national belonging and eligibility to represent a country were publicly reallocated without physical relocation. The author provides a mechanism-oriented framework for understanding nationality changes and athlete identity disputes that broadens traditional sport migration theories.

Ultimately, this special issue demonstrates that the intersection of sport, media, and migration extends far beyond the physical movement of athletes across geographical borders. Media narratives, whether driven by state-sponsored ideologies, digital platform algorithms, or grassroots fan cultures, serve as powerful mechanisms that actively shape the boundaries of national belonging, cultural identity, and citizenship. As multinational athletes continue to navigate complex migration narratives and overlapping allegiances, they become highly visible symbols of broader geopolitical and social debates. This special issue underscores sports migration as a mediated process that continually redefines the limits of community, loyalty, and representation in the global sporting arena.

Footnotes

ORCID iDs

Sean R. Sadri

Mahdi Latififard

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Note

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