🕑 17:00h (Brussels); 13:00h (São Paulo); 10:00h (Ciudad de México)
Sport is everywhere in social life, yet for decades it remained marginal in Geography. Early works were mostly descriptive, while only from the 1990s onward did scholars such as John Bale and Gilmar Mascarenhas begin to treat sport as an analytical object. Even today, its full recognition as a legitimate field of geographic inquiry is still emerging.
Research across the Social Sciences now employs categories like space, territory, scale, identity, and place. But too often these are used loosely or metaphorically, without engaging with critical geographic thought. This risks flattening their conceptual richness, even as it shows the potential of geography to illuminate sport’s social dynamics.
This call seeks to advance a critical geography of sport. We invite contributions that use geographic categories rigorously to analyze sport as a spatial, territorial, scalar, and identity-based phenomenon. The aim is to strengthen interdisciplinary dialogue, combining theoretical reflection with empirical research.
Inspired by Milton Santos’ warning against uncritical uses of spatial categories, we do not forbid metaphorical approaches, but seek debate on their potential and limits. By bringing together critical perspectives, we hope to consolidate a stronger geography of sport—capable of addressing commodification, resistance, inequality, gendered exclusions, and new forms of appropriation.
Evaluation process
All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the scientific committee, composed of Jonathan Ferreira (Universidade Estadual Paulista / Université libre de Bruxelles), Jean-Michel De Waele (Université libre de Bruxelles), María Verónica Ibarra García (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), and Luiz Guilherme Burlamaqui (Instituto Federal de Brasília).
Topics of Interest
1. Space, Territory, and Identity
- Core geographic concepts (space, territory, scale, place, identity, region).
- Territory, identity, and belonging in contemporary sports.
- Place, memory, and sporting culture in cities.
- Territorial and symbolic conflicts in sports and their representations.
- Fan cultures, supporter territorialities and the spatial narratives of supporters.
- Sport, nationalism, and diplomacy.
- Gendered and ideological contestations in sports geographies.
2. Urban Transformations and Mega-Events
- Urban transformations linked to stadiums and mega-events.
- Sport clubs and urban planning, gentrification, socio-spatial inequality.
- Sports as agents of urban transformation.
- The transformation of stadiums and urban reconfigurations.
- Urban memories, peripheries, slums, and the spatial politics of stadiums.
- Historical geographies of urbanization and sports club territories.
- Football and sports (in general) clubs as agents in the (re)production of urban space and symbolic landscapes.
3. Political Economy and Global Networks
- Globalization and financialization of sports.
- Multi-club ownership networks.
- The corporatization of clubs.
- Network approaches to global football and sports dynamics and spatial communities.
- Geopolitics of mega-events and international agendas of emerging powers.
- Geographies of elite athlete production and migration.
4. Resistance, Grassroots, and Social Inclusion
- Conflictual spatialities and territorial disputes in sports cultures.
- Geographies of resistance in sports: privatisation of public spaces, social production of territory, grassroots struggles.
- Sport for social development and urban inclusion.
5. Interdisciplinary and Methodological Approaches
- Explicit or implicit uses of geographic categories in sports-related research.
- Critical reflections on spatial categories in the Social Sciences.
- Interdisciplinary dialogues with Anthropology, Sociology, Political Economy, Cultural Studies, Communication.
- Methodological challenges of applying geographic categories to sports research.
Possible questions
- How do sports clubs operate as spatial and territorial agents within urban and regional contexts?
- In what ways does globalization and financialization reshape territorial affiliations and identities?
- How can geographic approaches help us understand fan cultures, stadium experiences, and urban transformations?
- What role do resistance movements and grassroots initiatives play in contesting spatial and territorial exclusions?
- How do gendered dynamics shape spatial practices, exclusions, and resistances within sports?
- What methodological challenges and innovations arise when applying geographical categories to sports studies?
- How do mega-events and corporate transformations of clubs impact urban governance and socio-spatial inequalities?
- How can comparative and interdisciplinary approaches enrich the geography of sports?
Important: These questions are indicative; we also welcome other perspectives that critically engage with geography and sports.
We look forward to receiving submissions that deepen the dialogue between sports and geography and contribute to the growing field of spatially-aware sports studies.
References
Mejía Ayala, W., Ibarra, V., Montero Oropeza, J., & Celis, D. G. (2024). Editorial dossier deportes, ocio y geografía. Perspectiva Geográfica, 29(1), 1–4. https://revistas.uptc.edu.co/index.php/perspectiva/article/view/17720
Bale, J. (2003). Sports Geography. London: Routledge.
Gaffney, C. (2014). Geography of sport. In J. Maguire (Ed.), Social sciences in sport (pp. 109–113). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Mascarenhas, G. (1999). À geografia dos esportes: uma introdução. Scripta Nova: Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales, 3(55). Retrieved from http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn-55.htm
Santos, M., & Davies, A. (2021). For a New Geography. University of Minnesota Press. https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctv22fqc2t
Key Deadlines
- Abstract submission: 10 December 2025 (in English)
- Notification of acceptance: 20 January 2026
- Presentations: March 2–6, 2026 (Monday to Friday)
- Presentations may be delivered in English or Spanish
- Abstracts:250-300 words
- Full papers: To be requested after the presentations (in English)
Each day will include sessions lasting a maximum of two hours, with presentations grouped according to thematic affinities throughout the week.
Abstract submission
Please send abstracts (250-300 words) with a short biographical statement to jonathan.ferreira@ulb.be
