How do athletes with refugee experience gain access to the German elite sports system? This question is the focus of the new research project "Forced migration and elite sport in Germany: integration conditions from an athlete and sport system perspective", which is being carried out at the Institute of Sport and Exercise Science at Osnabrück University.
The research results of the project are intended to contribute to the development of recommendations for action that enable better integration of athletes who have fled their country involuntarily due to persecution, war or violence. The study, which is funded by the Federal Institute of Sport Science, is being led by PD Dr. Enrico Michelini from Osnabrück University. Cooperation partner is Prof. Dr. Astrid Schubring from the Institute for Sociology and Gender Research at the German Sport University Cologne.
"Sport is often seen as an area of Social Equity - but in reality, career opportunities depend heavily on social conditions, networks and institutional access. For top athletes who have experienced flight, this creates additional hurdles that have hardly been systematically investigated to date," says Enrico Michelini.
The study initially focuses on the sporting careers and networks of athletes with a refugee background from the sports of swimming, water polo, athletics and cricket. In addition, central organizations of elite sport are analyzed. The study is based on biographical mapping and network analyses for the athletes as well as guided interviews and document analyses at association and club level. The data collected will be evaluated using content analysis and interpreted against the background of Pierre Bourdieu's field theory.
Further information for the media:
Dr. Enrico Michelini, Osnabrück University
Institute of Sport and Exercise Science
