Football and International Relations Under Francoism, 1937-1945

This book shines a light on the specific role football played in relation to the international relations of the Franco regime in mid-twentieth-century Spain.

In the 35 years of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, sport, specifically football as the main mass sport, was often used as a tool at the service of the political and diplomatic interests of the regime, and this volume analyses how Franco’s government, mainly through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, used football as part of its foreign policy strategy to promote the international image of the dictatorship. Prestige international tours and friendly matches, the European successes of Real Madrid CF and of the national team and the organisation of sporting events such as the 1964 European Nations Cup were used as instruments to strengthen the country’s geopolitical interests. This book responds to an important bibliographical gap that exists in relation to both research on Franco’s regime and the study of the role that sport played under Franco and in comparison with other totalitarian regimes such as fascism and Nazism.

Football and International Relations under Francoism, 1937-1975 is an ideal resource for academics in sports history, football history and international relations studies, as well as those with an interest in Spanish history and the study of totalitarianism in Europe.

Juan Antonio Simón is Lecturer in Sports History at Polytechnic University of Madrid-INEF, where his research focuses on the history of sport in Spain, the links between football and international relations, and the history of mega sports events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.