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Objective: This study explores the motivations and justifications driving Palestinian sports fans to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup and support specific national teams. The objective is to understand the underlying factors that contribute to their engagement with this global sports event. Methods: The study targeted 732 residents of Nablus Governorate with a primary interest in watching football matches on television. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess Palestinian fandom preferences concerning the FIFA World Cup 2022, covering demographic information and reasons motivating Palestinians to watch the World Cup. Results: The study reveals several significant associations between the variables under investigation. Participants argued that the FIFA World Cup serves as a platform to generate interest in the Palestinian cause and showcase the Arab and Islamic cultures to foreign delegations. Additionally, the event contributes to dispelling misconceptions about these cultures on a global scale. Palestinian football supporters use their engagement with the 2022 FIFA World Cup to express not only their passion and love for football but also their national, cultural, and political identities. Conclusion: The findings underscore the multifaceted nature of sports fandom as a means of communication, contributing to a broader understanding of how global sports events intersect with cultural and political dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representing the nation in sports mega events has become a highly contested issue with the acceleration of the transnational movement of athletes. This research has examined Chinese people's attitudes to the naturalization of football players. The article discusses the findings in the context of the qualifying stages for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup by presenting and analysing data collected from semi-structured interviews and social media extracts. Two main issues were debated by Chinese people concerning the identity of naturalized athletes. One was the ethnicity of the naturalized footballers in relation to nationality, with some people questioning whether they belong to China and can represent China. The other issue concerned the players' skills and ability which influenced considerations of how much they could help China to qualify for the World Cup Finals. In relation to Chinese nationalism, national identity and Chinese sports, this study reveals, through the window provided by the presence of these naturalized footballers, how football, instrumentalism, nationalism and naturalization have been inextricably linked and have interacted with one another within the current context. The article analyses how pragmatic values have negotiated with ethno-cultural nationalism and impacted on the Chinese public's attitudes towards naturalized athletes, their image being presented in variable and dynamic ways by football fan netizens after each qualifying game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the influence of perceived sponsorship leverage on perceived product quality and the image transfer model, under moderation by fan involvement. Design/methodology/approach: A self-report online survey was carried out after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Responses were received from 422 individuals in 21 countries. The leverage scale was validated using exploratory factor analysis. Then, partial least squares–structural equation modeling was employed to examine the validity and reliability of the scales and test the structural model. Finally, multigroup analysis was used to examine how involvement moderates the influence of leverage. Findings: Attitudes toward sponsorship and purchase intention are influenced by the perceived leverage and quality of the product. The multigroup analysis shows that perceived leverage does not influence the attitudes of individuals with low involvement. The influence of perceived leverage on perceived product quality is greater in individuals with high involvement. Research limitations/implications: Sponsors should use collateral marketing strategies to target specific segments of individuals with high and low involvement separately. Showcasing the sponsoring products of brands renowned for their high quality could positively influence the results of sponsorship. Originality/value: This article contributes to the sponsorship literature by exploring how sponsors can capitalize on collateral marketing actions. It also contributes to the theory of image transfer by exploring how perceived product quality can influence the effectiveness of sponsorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports fans tend to associate themselves with a successful team (BIRGing), while disassociating themselves with unsuccessful teams (CORFing). This premise was applied to social media commentary within England's matches against Croatia and Colombia during the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup, uncovering that English fans tended to perform Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRG) when England was leading or victorious and tended to engage in Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORF) when England was trailing or defeated. In Method 1, team identification, national identification with England, and sentiment were significantly higher when England was leading or victorious than when they were trailing or defeated. In Method 2, machine learning generated trending graphs to detect that English fans BIRGed when they scored against Colombia; they also BIRGed more frequently during the match with Croatia, peaking several times when they scored a goal, saved a goal, or took a free kick. However, even though CORFing (i.e., lower team identification, lower national identification, and lower sentiment) occurred when the opposing team scored, English fans still BIRGed when they were finally defeated by Croatia, likely a function of the stage the game took place (World Cup semifinal), indicating that England had nonetheless succeeded in the World Cup as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined how U.S. soccer fans' multimedia exposure to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and psychological factors affected purchase intention of sponsored products in an integrated model. The model tested the influence of multimedia exposure on attitude toward the sponsored products, important others' voices, and self-control toward the brands, which could affect purchase intention. In addition, the influence of past experience with the sponsored brands on purchase intention was tested in the model. A self-reported online survey was distributed to two university communities in the U.S. after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The analysis of 650 responses reported that multimedia exposure did not directly influence purchase intention of sponsored products, but indirectly affected intention through psychological factors (attitude and subjective norm). U.S. audiences of the 2010 FIFA World Cup tended to be affected by value, excitement, emotional feeling, and others' voice rather than self-controlled determination for purchase intention of sponsored products. The results tested in the integrated model indicate that multimedia exposure to the FIFA World Cup is likely to foster a social facilitation atmosphere which positively influences purchase intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the use of new technologies by the sports-media complex, looking specifically at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals. Combining the world's single largest sports media event with one of the most current, complex forms of Web-based communication, this article explores extent to which football fans embedded in Germany used the Internet to blog their World Cup experiences. Various categories of blog sites were identified, including independent bloggers, bloggers using football-hemed Web sites, and blogs hosted on corporate-sponsored platforms. The study shows that the anticipated "democratizing potential" of blogging was not evident during Germany 2006. Instead, blogging acted as a platform for corporations, which, employing professional journalists, told the fans' World Cup stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While compared with the big four professional sports in the United States, soccer remains a marginalized spectator sport; yet it has gained a sizable following over the past two decades. TV audiences and stadium attendance for domestic club matches are growing and supporters' groups that follow the professional sides have emerged and established themselves. Rather than being introduced to the game as fans of their local clubs, however, many passionate soccer fans in the United States continue to enter soccer fandom via the Men's and Women's National teams. The 1994 FIFA World Cup on home soil as well as the success of the Women's National Team thus play a prominent role in drawing new fans to the game, some of whom begin to follow the sport regularly in the form of domestic club games. For many of these fans, 'club' and 'country' remain complementing objects of soccer fandom rather than competing points of reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following 9/11, the security at sport mega-events (SMEs) has become increasingly central. Yet, this is an area where numerous scholars have called for further academic attention. The FIFA World Cups are commonly seen as the largest SME in the world, and will in 2018, be held in Russia. However, the existing trends of spectator violence and terrorism, in addition to the political situation in Russia, and concerns over a violent, racist, football culture in the host-country, makes the securitization of the 2018 World Cup extraordinary. Here, an analysis of the most prominent security threats ahead of Russia 2018 is provided. Further, it is argued that the extent of these threats - not the mere existence - makes Russia a unique case. Following calls for further academic attention dedicated security and SMEs - Russia should be utilized ‘for all it is worth’ - to gather spectators’ perceptions of SME security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having the arenas construction for the FIFA World Cup Brazil, Clube Náutico Capibaribe's fans meets in the middle of a major change scenario: on one hand, the old stadium, laden with affective meanings; on the other, Arena Pernambuco, product and stage of new consumption patterns linked to football in contemporary society. Following Marc Augé's Anthropology of Supermodernity as theorethical lens, from an approach aligned to the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), we undergone present ethnographic study, in the period of game exchange mands from one stadium to other, in order to understand such stadium symbolic constructions as identity spaces for the blank-red supporters. We observed that Aflitos is a space with strong identity ties with the fans. Arena Pernambuco, however, began only seen as a modern space, but became to have its characteristics and new habits gradually assimilated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper positions itself within the ongoing debate about the impact of media on community generated by Robert Putnam’s research. Accordingly, the increasing availability of sophisticated means of communication has led the progressive substitution of indirect interactions for direct interactions in shared space, thereby eroding an essential basis of community. In contrast, other theoretical perspectives have presented communication technologies as either enhancing community by altering the field of possible social interactions or incapable of replacing direct interactions. This debate is addressed through an ethnography of fans who gathered at a sports bar to watch the World Cup. Observations revealed that while televised broadcasts served as a primary motivation for attendance and a centrepiece of subsequent interactions, patrons did not watch alone; they watched with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how experiences of viewing sports content in a movie theater differ from typical television viewing conditions in a home. The results of analyses showed that the viewing condition (theater vs. home) influenced audiences’ sense of presence when watching mediated sports, which, combined with the attractiveness of the game, would determine the suspenseful nature of the media experience, as well as the subsequent enjoyment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To explore the role of media consumption as it relates to impressions of one’s nation, data were collected using a nationally generalizable sample of 979 American citizens over 6 different collection points before, during, and after the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Results showed a relationship between 4 nationalized qualities (patriotism, nationalism, smugness, and internationalism) and amount of World Cup media consumption. However, these reported qualities fluctuated very little over time, indicating that nationalized qualities are very hard-wired for most individuals, likely serving more as predictors of sports media consumption than effects of it. Relationships were also found between nationalized qualities and levels of fan identification toward the U.S. Men’s National Team. Conclusions related to applications to social identity theory and several other potential influences are articulated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The FIFA World Cup for men (hereafter referred to as the FIFA World Cup) is possibly the biggest global media event. Winning or losing often gives rise to expressions of collective degrees of national pride or disappointment. But, it is not only the performance of the teams that is of significance in this respect; the devotion of fans to the game and their loyalty to theirownnational team are also an important vehicle of identity and self-affirmation as a nation. Thus, no country can afford to dispense with thetravelling modelof the enthusiastic fan as a representative of national identity. Through an ethnographic study of Ghana’s state-financed fan trip to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, we will show how the actors involved (government, opposition, fans and media) negotiate national identity and representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men’s football has long been marginalized within New Zealand culture, struggling for acceptance as an appropriately masculine and truly national sport. New Zealand’s unexpected qualification for the men’s 2010 FIFA World Cup – for only the second time in the nation’s history – created a space for media and public reimagining of football’s connection to New Zealand identity and its place in the sporting landscape. In this paper, we investigate the dynamic interaction between news media discourses and public perceptions via analysis of 1112 online news articles and photographs, and 1423 online public comments on news and fan websites. We conclude that media discourses that masculinized, ethnicized and nationalized the national men’s team were taken up by the public in complex ways that moved the national team closer to the centre of New Zealand sport, but did little to disrupt public perceptions of the sport as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

International sporting events often lead people to define protagonists and antagonists in the simplest of terms: the in-group is the home-nation team and the out-group is any other nation attempting to thwart the potential success of the home nation. This analysis involves the classification of 7498 comments rendered via the social media platform Twitter during the four 2014 FIFA World Cup matches involving the United States. Contrary to many other international sporting content analyses, results found that the attributions for success and/or failure did not differ between the United States and the opposing teams, yet the US players were more likely to receive commentary pertaining to their appearance and their emotions. Moreover, non-US players and teams were more likely to receive commentary outside of the realm of attribution of success and failure or personality and physicality. Implications of the findings are offered on multiple levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current research examined the effects of soccer match results on spectators' subjective well-being. Across the group stage of the soccer World Cup 2014, German-speaking participants indicated their well-being three times per day through a smartphone-based science app. In line with proposed hypotheses, comparisons of data taken after the three matches of the German national team showed robust effects, revealing that well-being was higher among spectators than non-spectators, with effects increasing as a function of goal difference. Moreover, this gain in well-being was only found in spectators supporting the German soccer team, allowing us to rule out a general emotional contagion effect affecting all spectators. Although soccer results are associated with national identity and pride, their effects on subjective well-being were short-lived and only affected supporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights sport broadcasting as an emergent battlefield of “globalization from above and below” based on analysis of the strained relationship between Al-Jazeera Sport (AJS) and sports fans in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over subscription fees to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup games. The article illustrates how sports globalization weakened national broadcasters’ bidding power and allowed corporations to turn the World Cup from a free to high-fee event, leaving angry citizens from the MENA region to fend for themselves. A survey of online media illustrates how these angry citizens shared tactics to resist these fees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Once the 2014 FIFA World Cup is over, this article aims to review, in a brief and simple format, the legal changes that had to be introduced in the Brazilian legal system to organize a sport event of this nature. As it will be further analyzed, these changes go beyond mere technical adjustments aimed at the construction of stadiums or ordinary infrastructure and include even the creation of specific crimes and the introduction of important privileges and tax exemptions in favour of FIFA and its sponsors. These modifications have been widely discussed in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sporting spaces draws together distinct social assortments. Football (in various forms), for example, generates specific types of spectators and spectator behaviours.1Cognizant of this work, our paper examines the 2010 World Blind Football Championships (WBFC) and its spectatorship. We conducted semi-structured interviews, orientated around perceptions of disability/disability sport, with 285 spectators. The thrust of our paper is that the event affords spectators opportunities to better understand, appreciate and engage with the experiences of athletes with a disability. We argue that the unique context of blind football competitions (characterized here as an unthreatening, convivial, often familial-like, and somewhat parochial space) resulted in positive spectator experiences. We conclude that within the framework of bridging social capital, this unique sporting space afforded the creation of relationships between the athletes (and the sport) and the spectators, two groups previously separated by social distance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1999, women’s soccer proved that it can attract an audience in the USA. It was not able to take advantage of the momentum created by the World Cup, though, and was quickly forgotten. But times have changed: since then, the development of the Internet has given new hopes for women’s athletics to break through in the sports industry. The goal of this study is to determine some characteristics of the women’s soccer Twitter audience.Characteristicswas divided in four concepts: motivation, involvement, Twitter usage and demographics. Findings reveal that most people follow women’s soccer for hedonic motives. Social motives were not as significant as hedonics or the sense of self-identification when it comes to deciding whether to follow women’s soccer or the United States Women’s National Team, but they seemed to influence involvement in the sport, or at least US Soccer merchandise ownership, much more than any other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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The study examined how cognitive, affective, behavioural functions and patriotism influence viewing intentions to follow games of the men's US national team and games of the FIFA World Cup in general played during the 2010 World Cup. A questionnaire that included items in three dimensions of the attitude formation theory: 'sport knowledge', 'sport identification', 'frequency of viewing' and 'patriotism' was administered to 467 sport sciences students in the USA. Results revealed that sport identification was the strongest predictor followed by patriotism and sport knowledge when examining intention to watch the World Cup games. For intention to watch games of the US national team, results showed patriotism was the most important predictor followed by sport identification and sport knowledge. ANOVA results indicated there were gender differences. In both cases, male respondents showed significantly higher mean scores than female respondents. Practical implications and methodological limitations were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Emotional stress is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular events, the underlying pathophysiology remains unclear. Methods: To evaluate how emotional stress effects hemodynamics, thirteen healthy German soccer fans (mean 37.6years, 24–56years) were studied during live TV coverage of the finals with German national team participation (GP) and the respective finals without German participation (noGP). Peripheral blood pressure, heart rate, central blood pressure, augmentation pressure and index, cardiac output and peripheral resistance were measured. Results: In the 1st hour before the match all parameters were not significantly different between the groups. In the GP group peripheral systolic pressure (1st halftime noGP 118±1(s.e.m) versus GP 126±2mmHg, p<0.05, 2nd 117±1 vs. 125±2mmHg, p<0.05), mean blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate (1st 73±2 vs. 86±3bpm, p<0.05, 2nd 75±2 vs. 87±2bpm, p<0.05), cardiac output (1st 4,4±0,1 versus 4,8±0,1L/min, p<0.05, 2nd 4,6±0,1 versus 4,7±0,11L/min, p>0.05) and peripheral resistance were significantly increased compared to the noGP group during the matches. Systolic central aortic pressure (noGP: 101±2 versus GP 107±2mmHg, p<0.05) and central pulse pressure (noGP: 31.3±1.3mmHg vs. GP: 38.5±2.7mmHg, p<0,05) remained elevated during the second hour after the match. Conclusions: We observed persistent changes in central hemodynamics 2h after emotional stress. Despite normalization of peripheral values after the end of the finals, we observed prolonged elevation of central systolic blood and pulse pressure. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the increased risk of cardiovascular events in emotional stress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article explores the online Arabic communication between partisan Algerians, Egyptians and Arabs of other nations during the recent soccer qualification matches for the 2010 World Cup. It assesses the role of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the online furore that developed in connection with those matches. It focuses mainly on the way YouTube (vlogging) and blogging are used, and explores the premise that most interpretations of ‘flaming’ (aggressive interactions online) do not take into sufficient account cultural factors that may influence the perspective of the sender, the recipient and the third party. This article also looks at the effects of ‘soccer nationalism’ and some of the political issues stirred up by the online debate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Objectives: To explore English and Spanish fans’ emotional responses to team success and failure and resulting changes in social interaction and spending during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Design: A between-group and within-group longitudinal design. Method: Data on emotion, team identification, social interaction and spending were collected from 59 English fans (47 men, 12 women), and 32 Spanish fans (19 men, 13 women), before, during and after the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Results: Both English and Spanish fans displayed significant changes in emotional state after the success or failure of their respective teams during the Soccer World Cup. The positive emotional state associated with winning the tournament in the Spanish fans persisted for over four days, and the negative emotional state associated with the early exit from the tournament by the English fans did not. Four days after the tournament the Spanish Fans had a more positive emotional state than the English fans. The changes in emotional state were not associated with greater identification with the team assessed through the use of team identifying pronouns; nor were changes in behavior associated with changes in emotional state. After the tournament the Spanish fans reported spending more time socializing than English fans and also spending more money than usual compared with baseline. Conclusion: These data provide evidence that group membership influences emotion and that the positive emotional experience associated with group success persist longer than the negative emotional experience associated with group failure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sponsorship evolved from a small-scale activity to a major industry world-wide both in terms of money spent and adoption levels by companies. In South Africa, millions of rands are spent on sponsorship every year and on sport sponsorship in particular. The purpose of the study was to determine spectators' perceptions of official sponsors towards the FIFA 2010 World CupTM and their purchase intentions of the sponsors' products or brands. The target population of the study was restricted to spectators, fans and followers of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup™ in South Gauteng. A convenience sample of 462 respondents was surveyed. Five factors were extracted using exploratory factor analysis, namely, favourability and interest, personal liking of the event, attitude towards sponsors, status of event and perceived sincerity. The correlations indicated high level of association between spectators' perceptions of the official sponsors and their propensity to purchase sponsors' products or brands. The regression results confirm future purchase intentions of the sponsors' product or brands can be predicted by favourability and interest, perceived sincerity of the sponsor and attitude towards the sponsor suggesting that these are the key factors in generating a favourable response from sponsorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hearing loss, most specifically noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) due to exposure to vuvuzela noise, received extended media coverage before and during the 2010 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) soccer world cup tournament. This study aimed to evaluate the impact that this media coverage had on raising awareness about NIHL due to exposure to vuvuzela noise at soccer matches among South African soccer spectators. A descriptive survey study, using a 24-item, self-administered questionnaire was used for this study. One hundred and forty seven (147) soccer spectators were surveyed before (N1=73) and after (N2=74) the tournament. Systematic sampling strategy was used to select the participants. Participants completed the questionnaire before the start of matches. Sixteen percent of the participants surveyed reported having had some media exposure about NIHL due to exposure to vuvuzela noise during soccer matches before the tournament in comparison to 26% of the participants after the tournament. This increase in the level of awareness was not statistically significant. Further, most participants were still not aware of the risk of NIHL to them from exposure to excessive noise during matches and did not consider hearing loss from noise exposure during soccer matches a serious concern both before and after the tournament. The results of this study therefore seem to suggest that vuvuzela media coverage during the 2010 FIFA soccer world cup tournament did not significantly raise the level of awareness about NIHL due to exposure to excessive noise during matches among the spectators surveyed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hosting a mega sport event has the potential to raise the profile of a destination. Being an experience good, the demand increases after the first consumption, if the destination delivers on the desired experience. In preparation for a mega-event it is thus necessary to ascertain the perception of the host country and challenges it needs to overcome from a sport tourist perspective, prior to the event. South Africa (SA) is to host the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 2010 World Cup, and this study seeks to elicit the perceptions of a similar target market namely spectators to the FIFA Confederations Cup, SA 2009, about SA's ability to do so, and compares the findings with a variety of related studies. Almost all respondents were of the opinion that SA had the ability, that the matches were well organized, but that the services provided by the private sector was better than those provided by the public sector such as transport. For them it was a very emotional experience in that it generated excitement and a sense of belonging, thus enabled them to celebrate a subculture sport spectators uniquely share. However, SA must get the basics right in terms of world-class facilities and services if it wants to reduce the legacy of Afro-pessimism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article intends to combine contemporary debates about nations and nationalism with a sociological perspective on collective emotions in its attempt to gain a better understanding of the process of constructing national identity. It will further present interdisciplinary evidence that collective emotions evoked in rituals instigate a number of group-related sociocognitive processes that reinforce enduring feelings of belonging and an emotional priming of collective representations. I will suggest that states of “collective effervescence” (Durkheim) do not only tie individuals to a community, but also provide a strong frame for the creation of symbols and the embodiment of shared meanings defining a community. The second part of the article analyzes examples taken from the football media coverage of the FIFA World Cups 2006 and 1974 (both were held in Germany) in order to provide a comparative case study exemplifying the proposed theoretical approach. The sample illuminates some interesting changes that invite further hypotheses about corresponding changes of national identity in a larger context. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the connection between art and sport in Africa, particularly representations of soccer in art, which is the theme of this issue of the journal. The significance of the decision to hold the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa is discusses as are the artworks that were part of the exhibition "The Power of Soccer" at the Gertrude Posel Gallery at the University of Witwatersrand. The South African national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, is discussed. Other topics include carvings of soccer players, soccer balls, and soccer fans.

The article presents information on a study which determined whether the team success of South Korea in the 2002 World Cup had a long-term impact on the spectatorship interest of World Cup soccer in Korea. A review of the related literature is presented. Information on the research methodology is given. An analysis of the research is detailed.

The launch of a new national soccer competition in 2005 has re-ignited another round of football wars in Australia. This essay examines two types of football wars in Australia, focusing primarily upon conflict among fans in the city of Melbourne. The first contestation is between AFL (Australian rules) and soccer, which has been triggered by the re-branding of soccer as 'football', a new soccer league, and Australia reaching the 2006 World Cup. This is fundamentally a conflict over which code has the right to speak for the Australian nation, between a code seen as indigenous and one considered the 'world game'. The second football war is between Melbourne soccer fans of an old and new club, who are in conflict over who should be considered more 'real' and more supportive of soccer in Melbourne. The methodology is a mixture of media discourse analysis and an ethnography of online supporters' forums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present research was to test the applicability of the Dualistic Model of Passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) to being a sport (football) fan. Three studies provided support for this dualistic conceptualization of passion. Study 1 showed that harmonious passion was positively associated with adaptive behaviours (e.g. celebrate the team's victory), whereas obsessive passion was positively associated with maladaptive behaviours (e.g. risking losing one's job to go to a game). Study 2 used a short Passion Scale and showed that harmonious passion was positively related to the positive affective life of fans during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, psychological health (self-esteem and life satisfaction), and public displays of adaptive behaviours (e.g. celebrate the team's victory into the streets), whereas obsessive passion was predictive of maladaptive affective life (e.g. hating opposing teams' fans) and behaviours (e.g. mocking opposing teams' fans). Finally, Study 3 examined the role of obsessive passion as a predictor of partner's conflict that in turn undermined partner's relationship satisfaction. Overall, the present results provided support for the Dualistic Model of Passion. The conceptual and applied implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern era, affluent western economies are increasingly marked by the development and use of cultural products (Ransome, 2005). Festivals and events are central aspects of a global cultural economy where material products and services merely facilitate the quest for experiences (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). This article investigates the phenomenon of the travelling sports fan through a case study of the Munich Fan Park experience at the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. It highlights how nation states, cities and individuals are engaged in circuits of cultural consumption whereby ephemeral, 'hyper-experiences' are sought, technologically captured and virally circulated for their promised cultural cache and status value. Methodologically, the paper draws upon, and integrates, Foucauldian theory with observational and interview data collected during the Germany 2006 world football extravaganza. In focusing upon Brazil and Australian supporters, an analysis of the sports fan experience is uncovered as fans are tracked, observed and digitally captured along with 'vox pop' recordings inside and outside the formalised Fan Park space. The authors argue that in their organisation, the Fan Parks manufacture and accentuate intense dramatalogical experiences (Roche, 2000) within a predominantly disciplined set of spatial practices. Fan Parks provide a platform upon which hedonistic or ludic subjectivities are assumed, accepted and wilfully enacted. These spatially demarcated locations legitimate the subject position and performativity of the 'fan' (Blackshaw & Crabbe, 2004). However, through technological mediation, fan subjectivities can also be de-territorialised, breaking free from the guiding principles of disciplinary practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fans of the five-time soccer world champions Brazil are always welcome in the host country of the World Cup, because they are seen as a very exotic and lively party group. This essay intends to describe the Brazilian crowd and evaluate their impact on the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The main questions are: Who are the Brazilian fans? How do they behave? What do they think about the World Cup? Two main groups of Brazilian fans were analysed: the rich, all-inclusive travellers with ticket guarantee; and the self-organized, independent fans without ticket guarantee. The major problems for the second group was the ticket question, lack of information about the Fan and Visitor Programme in Brazil, and more information in different languages. However, in general, Brazilian fans were very satisfied, especially with the Fan and Visitor Programme, the stadiums and public transport facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a systematic and chronological account of the development of football fandom in Germany focussing upon the social and cultural changes both the sport and the spectators have gone through. After a short analysis of the working class origins of German fan culture, the paper deals with several significant post-World War II developments, in particular the impact and significance of winning the first World Cup title 1954 and the changing and increasingly complex relationship between clubs, players and supporters in the aftermath of the late professionalisation and commercialisation. Particular attention will be paid to the colourful and conspicuous, activities and sub-cultural styles of contemporary young fans. Overall, football in Germany has been largely inclusive rather than exclusive since clubs have successfully avoided alienating fans through pay-TV, absurdly inflated ticket prices and kick-off times tailored to suit media interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The football World Cup is the greatest multicultural sporting extravaganza of modern times. The notion of post‐fandom tries to capture the ways in which fans now participate in and engage in self‐aware and reflexive strategies to obtain their desired outcomes from attendance at or viewing such major events. This illustrated photo‐essay on the World Cup looks at the experiences and behavior of fans in three countries, Scotland, Germany and Australia, during the tournament with a view to extending our understanding of the relationships between fans and others temporarily interested in the World Cup and the promoters of such mega‐events. It argues that the participants brought a wide range of expectations to the tournament and engaged in highly flexible and innovative approaches to ensure that they gained the maximum benefit, individually and collectively, from the experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup has been a major talking point both locally and internationally, and many concerns have been raised over South Africa's ability to host such a major event. These concerns essentially relate to infrastructural capacity and security. It goes without saying that South Africa is obliged to provide high level security for participating teams and management as well as for the thousands of spectators who are expected to flood South Africa for the duration of the event. This article takes a look at other high level events that have been hosted in South Africa so as to get an idea of what is required and examines planned security arrangements for the 2010 World Cup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social implications of the uniforms and uniformities of fans during sports spectacles, focusing on their relationship to nationalist and collective attitudes. The author argues that uniforms play a role in shaping an individual's self-identity, and describes uniformity as a structuring principle of standardization. The behavior of Japanese and Korean fans at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan is highlighted, and spectacular and non-spectacular elements of sports mega-events are noted. Other topics include the performative nature of fans' behavior, riots at the 2002 World Cup, and replica jerseys.

The ‘story’ of this research is told by two ‘voices’. On the one hand the traditional ‘author evacuated’, third person narrative provides much of the context, background and academic discussion. On the other hand, an ‘author involved’ first person narrative describes the conception, planning and carrying‐out of the research. The author‐involved voice is used where the perceptions and presence of the author are important to the story. The story is of the increasing popularity of the pub as a sports spectator venue, and of the importance of communal experience in that popularity. The experience of watching the 2002 World Cup in the pub is described and conclusions drawn about the nature of the sports spectator experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]