Political significance of sport is usually bound with international rivalry and conflict. However, sport tends to have a role in fostering international dialogue and cooperation as well. The aim of the article is to present the most important examples of this role of international sport. There is a number of examples verifying the hypothesis about consensual role of sport in international politics. Despite political signifi cance, sport is not purely a part of the world of politics. This situation grants sport with an advantage in possibility of establishing international cooperation. Some actions that could seem completely impossible concerning political reality, turned out to be possible in sport. Sports contacts can pave the way for a further, political agreements. For instance a number of specific ‘sports diplomacies’ have taken place, that were used by some countries in order to enhance their capabilities of impacting the international political system.

Celem artykułu jest zbadanie dyplomacji sportowej pomiędzy Iranem a Stanami Zjednoczonymi, która stanowi przykład dyplomacji sportowej ukierunkowanej na zbliżenie nieprzychylnych względem siebie państw. Kraje te nie utrzymują bowiem stosunków dyplomatycznych, a ich wzajemne relacje można scharakteryzować jako wrogie. Pod koniec XX wieku dwa państwa zaczęły nawiązywać kontakty sportowe ukierunkowane na wspieranie zbliżenia.
W artykule podjęta została próba weryfikacji hipotezy, zgodnie z którą dyplomacja sportowa pomiędzy USA i Iranem miała znaczenie jedynie wtórne i nie byłaby możliwa bez woli politycznej. Podjęta zostanie ponadto próba analizy doboru poszczególnych dyscyplin sportowych wykorzystanych w ramach dyplomacji sportowej pomiędzy Iranem a USA, jeśli chodzi o ich pozytywny bądź negatywny wpływ na jej skuteczność.

The goal of the research was to investigate FIFA, one of the most important international sports organisations, from the perspective of its diplomatic subjectivity. It is a case study concerning the process of selection of the World Cup hosts by FIFA, in reference to the engagement of presidents, prime ministers and other representatives of national authorities of states that hosted FIFA World Cup in bidding for the tournament within last the 30 years. The hypothesis that was verified within the research assumed that through selecting World Cup host FIFA obtains diplomatic subjectivity. This refers to research questions concerning the willingness of state leaders to engage in contacts and negotiations with sports officials and reasons for such engagement.

The paper refers to the category of sports diplomacy and aims to investigate the issue of diplomatic subjectivity of international sports organizations, by the example of FIFA and its prerogative to grant membership to national football federations. Such processes on some occasions are connected to political and diplomatic significance, particularly in relation to states without universal international recognition, for whom participation in international sport is an important tool in their struggle for legitimization. The research question that the author attempts to answer is whether membership of national sports organization in the international sports federations can be meaningful from the perspective of the state’s endeavors toward securing international recognition. The hypothesis stated that the prerogative of international sports bodies such as FIFA to recognize national sports federations enhances their diplomatic subjectivity.