Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the conditions of modernity as well as modernisation processes in the Omani context. It also investigates how discourses on modernisation are shaped and legitimised in Omani society. In addition, it traces how modern sport evolved in Oman and became part of the modernisation project of the Omani Renaissance. This study employs a qualitative approach that implements a biographical perspective. Given the nature of the study and the data collection method, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is employed as a data analysis method. A purposive approach to sampling was adopted (as is traditional in the biographical research perspective). Twelve male and five female respondents, who occupy senior positions as administrative staff, coaches, physical education teachers, and athletes, were selected to provide insights into biographical/ policy/ organisational experiences of the modernisation of the Omani sport sector since 1970. The legitimacy of that modernisation process is in part attributed to its association with the powerful appeal of the Omani Renaissance, which itself is a reflection of the popularity and thus the amount of power that is vested in the Sultan. There is no particular cultural influence evident in the progress of Omani sport from the 1970s other than the dominant Western influence on the governance of sport, which is evident in for example the Western influence on the Olympic movement, FIFA, and other ‘global’ sports bodies. However, it can be assumed that Omani sports development was affected mainly by some Arabian and European experiences, depending on the nature of the sport.