Development through sport: Fans and critics

Sport is used as a tool for development, dispute resolution and reconciliation. The use of sport to meet development goals such as education, health and gender equity has grown into a widely recognised form of development assistance, commonly known as ‘Development through Sport’ (DTS). Further, the right to physical activity is a substantive human right. Nonetheless, the DTS movement has both its fans and critics. This article analyses four common concerns; namely, that DTS is racially constructed, lacking in credibility, poorly coordinated and inadequately evaluated. This article agrees that the DTS movement should improve the delivery and implementation of development goals, but suggests that the criticisms are overstated. They are far outweighed by the benefits of DTS, which meet a number of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.