Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Politics is a ubiquitous national mainstay around the world. So is soccer, which is celebrated across the globe every four years. Combine the two popular human “pass times,” and the results make for a combustible atmosphere. In the history of most sports, it is difficult to separate politics and competition of physical fitness and exertion. The latter is charged with passion that often than not spills into any number of differences be they national, racial, ethnic, religious or those of social standing. At the international arena for example, the Olympics have attracted ideological or national differences leading to boycotts or outright clashes in stadia. The interaction and intersection of sports and politics while well documented especially in developed countries has not aroused the same kind of interest in Africa. Yet, the game and its ardent fans can tell us a lot about the politics and socio-economic configuration of society. Since the early beginnings of soccer in Kenya, the sport has exhibited the racial and ethnic make-up of Kenyan society. The paper seeks to illustrate this phenomenon by examining the history of the sport during the late colonial period (between 1935 and 1960) when the three main racial groups had their own soccer teams and leagues; ethnic rivalry played out in the post-independence soccer league; the politics of management of the Kenyan national team; and the use of soccer imagery in national politics today.