Product Description: A wealth of research in recent decades has seen the economic approach to human behavior extended over many areas previously considered to belong to sociology, political science, law, and other fields. Research has also shown that economics can provide insight into many aspects of sports, including soccer...read more

Founded in 1904 by representatives of the sporting organisations of six European nations then expanding into the Americas, Asia and Africa FIFA has developed to become one of the most high profile and lucrative businesses in the global consumer and cultural industry.  Recent years however have been characterised by a series of crises leaving the organisation open to critique and exposure, and creating a soap operatic narrative of increasing interest to the global media. In this critical new account of one of the world’s most important sporting institutions, Professor Alan Tomlinson investigates the history of FIFA and the underlying political dynamics characterising its growth. The book explores the influence of the men who have led FIFA, the emergence of the World Cup as FIFA’s exclusive product, FIFA’s relationships with other federations and associations, the crises that have shaped its recent history, and the issues and challenges that are likely to shape its future. Particular focus is given to selected moments in the post- Havelange administration and the way in which FIFA, its current president Joseph Blatter and some key close colleagues have responded to and survived successive scandals. The book provides a foundation for understanding the growth and development of what is widely accepted as the world’s most popular sport; sheds light on the shifting politics of nationalism in the post-colonial period; and reveals the opportunistic forms of personal aggrandizement shaping an increasingly media-influenced and globalizing world in which international sport was both a harbinger and an early reflection of these trends and forces. Fascinating and provocative, this is essential reading for anybody with an interest in soccer, sport and society, sports governance, or global organisations.

Product Description: Consuming Football in Late Modern Life explores the phenomenon of football (soccer) fandom as consumption in the age of late modernity. By centralising fandom within the sociology of consumption, the book examines how this phenomenon equates to a fluid series of consumption activities that are practiced in the course of everyday life...read more

Product Description: Book by Samuels, John

Product Description: In 1930 the great Conservative statesman Arthur James Balfour lay dying at Fishers Hill, the Surrey home of his brother, Gerald Balfour. Among those who visited him was the medium 'Mrs Willett' - Winfred Coombe-Tennant - whose powerful vision of a young woman watching lovingly over the ailing politician she subsequently recorded...read more

Sweatshops and economic distortion mean that in 2004, Vietnam exported more Nike goods than coffee, while accountants Deloitte Touche estimated the European football market is worth around 10 billion. This book covers the related everyday objects in a fresh light.

'Examines, from an economic perspective, how the different traditions of soccer and baseball have shaped the possibilities for their commercial organization and exploitation, and considers how each sport might learn from the other's experiences to develop meaningful reforms'--Provided by publisher.

Product Description: A collection of essays that examine the positive and negative aspects of association football. This book concentrates on matters relating to the unfolding relationship between sport and identity formation, football finance and organization...read more

Looks at the changes in world soccer over the past decade and discusses a variety of social and economic issues of interest to fans, players, and administrators. (view table of contents)