Abstract:
This article provides an international relations perspective of the role of sport as a potential
factor in Kenya's foreign relations in post-colonial Kenya. It notes that while sports events
and sportspersons can serve important political functions, their actual diplomatic values
depended on what the political 'arena' saw fit in utilizing sport as a means of furthering
"higher" diplomatic interests. In other words, sport is only independent in as much as it has
no significant bearing on political affairs. When foreign policy and diplomacy is used as an
instrument to coerce, sport become useful and is co-opted by politics. In contemporary
Kenya, sporting activities in the Olympics and other major world sporting events have
created an image of a big power Nation. The country constantly produces world class
sportsmen and women and this is manifested in the rising number of sportspersons breaking
world records and the scramble by a number of states to grant citizenship to Kenyan athletes
and recruitment into the coaching opportunities that are availed by the sporting world. Sports
have become a major diplomatic and foreign policy tool in advancing inter-state relations and
many a times used to express state's stand on global issues. This article firstly outlines the
nature of sport and lists instances in which Kenya's sporting prowess has manifested itself
since the 1960's; secondly, it relates Kenya's sporting achievements to her foreign relations.
Thirdly, it evaluates the extent to which sport have created famous and wealthy sportsmen
and Women in Kenya and globally. Finally, the article draws conclusions from these sporting
relations that might shed some light on the nature of Kenya's sporting relations generally
