Vol. XXI, Issue 2 Supplement / 2020 G Y M N A S I U M Scientific Journal of Education, Sports, and Health 23 Original Article The Relationship Between Sport and Politics in the International Arena of the Modern and Contemporary Period Cotîrleţ Paul Claudiu 1 * 1 ”Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacău, Spiru Haret, 8, 600114, România DOI: 10.29081/gsjesh.2020.21.2s.02 Keywords: sports, politics, diplomacy, cooperation Abstract For a long time in the theory of international relations, the role of sport in promoting and developing relations between different states was neglected, which attracted criticism from specialists such as, for example, Trevor Taylor. The need for studies on the role of sports movement in the development of international relations was pointed out by Peter Beck, who pointed out that the theory of international relations has kept an appreciable distance from sport. In this paper I want to fill this information gap based on a series of unprocessed documents, primary sources, found especially in the Balkan region. Sport overcame the barrier of behaviors and social processes that are based on spending free time, succeeding through the involvement of politics to become a "player" in the arena of international relations. 1. Introduction The problem of the relationship between sport as a social and political phenomenon is not only very complex but also quite controversial in the history of international relations, because on the one hand there are voices both among practitioners of sports games, but also among historians and analysts of the phenomenon. largely separate from the political one (Grix, 2016). We find such an opinion in Avery Brundage, former president of the International Olympic Committee, who declared more than half a century ago that “sport has little to do with politics. We are only concerned with sports, not politics and business.” (Grix, 2016, p.1). The history of the peoples of Europe shows that in the twentieth century, they used sporting events, such as the Olympic Games and continental or regional cups, such as the Balkan Games, to promote their own interests, which were "understanding, friendship and peace". The statements made by politicians support this exercise of national interests, rather than unity (Kissoudi, 2009, p.6). * E-mail: cotirlet.paul@ub.ro, tel. 0740607340