Now in a fully revised, extended and updated new edition, this is the only book to offer a comparative overview of the development of elite sport systems around the world.

The book examines sport policies and programmes in 20 developed and developing countries that have achieved international sporting success, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Brazil, Russia, Australia, and South Korea, helping the reader to understand the factors behind that success. For each country, it sets out the historical and political context in which elite sport has developed, before explaining the country-specific structures of elite sport and the investment that each country has made in elite sport development. The book also considers how countries have used the hosting of mega-events as sport policy tools, and how factors such as geo-politics, states’ governance and political ideology, and levels of economic development, all have influence on national sport policy.

Introducing the foundational concepts and principles of elite sport policy and development, and showing how those policies shape global sport, this book is fascinating reading for all students, researchers, policymakers and practitioners working in sport development, sport policy, sport management, event management, public policy, and political science.

Jonathan Grix is a Professor of Sport Politics and Policy and Head of the Sport Policy Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. He has published widely on sport politics, sports policy and the politics of sports mega-events. Jonathan is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Sport Politics and Policy.

Paul Michael Brannagan is a Reader in Sport Management and Policy at Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on the use of mega-events by national governments for achieving political, economic, social and cultural objectives. Paul has published in some of the leading politics and leisure journals, including Leisure Studies, Global Society and International Affairs.

Barrie Houlihan is an Emeritus Professor of Sport Policy at Loughborough University, United Kingdom, and has contributed greatly to the development of the study of sport policy globally. He has published widely on sport policy, sport politics anti-doping, and governance.