The Swedish sports movement has gained an increasingly profound role in addressing social issues. One such issue is migrant youths’ social inclusion in underserved areas, and the underlying assumption is that sports clubs fulfill an important function here. However, retaining migrant youths in organized sports in these areas is difficult, and sports clubs often struggle with the resources to satisfy social policies. This paper explored the practices of 12 experienced Swedish sports clubs to illuminate the strategies deployed to recruit and retain migrant youths in underserved areas. Sports clubs were conceptualized as local development-initiatives according to Rothman’s community work classification, and the results were analysed with Bronfenbrenner’s Person-Process-Context-Time framework. The results show that sports clubs are run by compassionate and locally embedded individuals, but that the representatives’ different forms of capital and sensitivity differentiate their success. Three processes are stressed as essential. Clubs need to establish robust relationships with migrant youths’ parents. Secondly, since clubs are contingent on driven, but strained, individuals, it is imperative to recruit and utilize (migrant) youth trainers. Finally, sports clubs must work in tandem with important institutions, such as the school. In summary, sports clubs must adopt creative strategies, and have resilience, time, and support. These findings indicate that enabling migrant youths’ inclusion into sports requires holistic solutions. 

Recently, it has been suggested that critical realism offers a potential lens to understand sport and social change. This paper utilizes a case study with a Swedish martial arts club, renowned for its social inclusion culture and undertaking of a refugee initiative. I analyze this material according to Archer’s (1995) morphogenetic approach. The results show that several issues prevent the refugees’ social inclusion. According to the morphogenetic approach, these issues are due to structural- and cultural conditions, which partially set the stage for how the club responds to diversity. In contemplating incidents that hamper the initiative, informants deliberated how refugees fail to adopt specific ways of training and behaving. The narratives reflect the broader Swedish political climate concerning migrants’ adaptation, where assimilation, rather than integration, is preferred. Thus, the paper contributes towards the (critical) realist-understanding of sport and social inclusion and offers insights into generative mechanisms that underpin exclusionary practices.

This study explores the role of the Swedish Sports Confederation (SSC) in its pursuit of supporting sports in socioeconomically deprived areas, specifically targeting ethnic minorities. This is no easy task, seeing as the SSC does so through ‘steering’ voluntary sport clubs towards social policy goals. Utilising multiple qualitative sources from 35 SSC representatives, this study examines the practices of the SSC according to Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time approach. The results show that the SSC foreground their practices by initiating inter-sectoral collaborations to ensure sustainable funding to clubs and that the ‘principle of closeness’ permeates the practices; every link in the process is locally embedded and builds upon the strength of the clubs. The sport club consultant, acting as the direct link between exo-level directives and the clubs’ micro-setting becomes a key factor whose individual characteristics become a decisive factor. In conclusion, the SSC works in a complex collaborative sphere in which specific individuals become central in reaching the clubs. Importantly, the SSC adopts a bottom-up approach, recognising the strength and resourcefulness of the locals. The results have implications for federations that work under the governance of neoliberal result-oriented regimes – if sport clubs should carry out this work, the federations need to understand how they must accommodate and assist these sport clubs adequately.

The world is, again, witnessing a humanitarian ‘crisis’, as over seven million Ukrainian refugees have fled the border at the time of writing. Culturally sensitive practices are keys in leveraging sport for migrants. Yet, this research has not explored what cultural sensitivity is, regarding Central- and Eastern European (CEE) migrants. This paper assessed culturally contingent components when considering CEE migrants inclusion into European sport. The Delphi method was deployed, and three rounds of data collection were conducted. 19 CEE experts in sport (researchers, NGOs, governmental employees) were recruited to jointly produce a set of consensual directives. The results were analysed with Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time model. The key agreements consisted of four significant themes. Facilitators included shared experiences of (organised) sport, and CEE migrants’ familiarity with other cultures. Barriers included the nature of labour migration on time- and economy to engage in leisure, and stereotypical and misleading perceptions of ‘post-soviet residents’. In conclusion, the results show that a range of similarities may exist between CEE and European (sport) contexts that could be conducive to CEE migrants’ inclusion into European sport, but that practitioners will need to be aware of sensitive Soviet history. 

Research Question: The war in Ukraine has forced approximately eight million people into neighboring European countries. As part of sports clubs’ societal commitment, many have received Ukrainian refugees. However, compared to previous so-called ‘refugee waves’, forced migration from Ukraine is different in terms of demographics, culture, and (sports) traditions. This paper aimed to assess these ‘new’ nuances and their implications for the European sports movement. Research Methods: Data were gathered through 17 semi-structured interviews with Swedish sports club representatives, analyzed with a critical realist-inspired thematic analysis, and interpreted with Bronfenbrenner’s process-person-context-time framework. Results and Findings: The representatives expressed that Ukrainian refugees are more in-tune with organized sports compared to other refugee populations; however, there are also culturally discrepant ideas about sports. Specifically, there seems to be an influx of skilled (youth) refugees, who approach sports in ways incompatible with Swedish conventions about youth sports. While the sporting capital often enables easier inclusion, it also presents challenges in extreme cases. Implications: The findings show that the European sports movement must be attentive to new challenges and opportunities associated with the current humanitarian crisis. Sports representatives need to balance culturally sensitive approaches with ethical considerations regarding youth sports. 

An emergent discourse along with a small, but growing, body of empirical research scrutinises how Ukrainian refugees are being treated differently compared to other refugee populations and how western societies construct 'hierarchies of victims'. For social work, a discipline designated to combat inequity, there is a strong incentive to understand if these hierarchies exist within welfare-providing organisations. This paper explores the Swedish sports movement's reception of Ukrainian refugees vis-a-vis other refugee populations through semi-structured interviews with sports representatives. The theoretical lens used is the perspective on 'promising victimhood', where refugees are framed as more or less worthy of the nation-state's protection and welfare benefit. The results show two themes. Ukrainian refugees are perceived to be culturally- and economically better 'performers'; they share Swedish values and are perceived as willing to contribute to Swedish society, whereas other refugee groups are depicted as lazy and culturally deviant. Second, the perception of Russia as a threat to Europe makes respondents sympathise to a greater extent with Ukrainian refugees. This sympathy is increased when representatives consider Ukrainian refugees' demographic characteristics: most are women and children. The results show that social work needs to be vigilant, and challenge, these ideas to not facilitate inequalities in refugees' reception.