We invite you to join us for the Eighteenth International Conference on Sport & Society, the annual meeting of the Sport & Society Research Network, taking place 17–18 June in Niterói, Brazil, and online, hosted by Federal Fluminense University. Held in Brazil in the period leading up to the Women’s World Cup, the conference brings together scholars, practitioners, educators, policymakers, athletes, advocates, and community leaders concerned with the social, cultural, political, and economic dimensions of sport. The annual conference serves as the Network’s central meeting point for interdisciplinary inquiry into how sport both reflects and reshapes wider social relations.

Eighteenth International Conference on Sport & Society, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil, 17-18 June 2027

Special Focus and Themes

Founded in 2010, the Sport & Society Research Network is brought together around a common interest in cultural, political, and economic relationships of sport to society. We seek to build an epistemic community where we can make linkages across disciplinary, geographic, and cultural boundaries. As a Research Network, we are defined by our scope and concerns and motivated to build strategies for action framed by our shared themes and tensions

The special focus of the 2027 conference, “Gender, Race, and Inclusion in Sport,” examines how power, identity, and inequality are produced, contested, and transformed through sporting practices and institutions. Sport has long functioned as a site of both exclusion and possibility—reinforcing hierarchies of gender, race, class, nationality, and ability, while also offering arenas for resistance, visibility, and social change. This focus invites participants to interrogate how inclusion is defined, enacted, and limited within sporting cultures, and how struggles for equity unfold across local, national, and global contexts.

Hosted in Brazil, where sport—particularly football—plays a central role in national identity, popular culture, and global visibility, the conference foregrounds the intersections of race, gender, and inequality that shape sporting life. From women’s and girls’ participation to racialized labor systems, media representation, fan cultures, and governance structures, Brazilian sport provides a powerful lens for examining broader dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. The proximity of the Women’s World Cup further sharpens attention on questions of gender equity, professionalization, access to resources, and global visibility in women’s sport.

We welcome contributions that examine gendered and racialized experiences of athletes, coaches, officials, and fans; the politics of representation and media coverage; access, participation, and exclusion across different sporting contexts; governance, policy, and institutional reform; activism and social movements within sport; and the role of sport in education, health, and community development. Proposals may also explore intersections with sexuality, disability, migration, nationalism, and economic inequality. Alongside the special focus, the Sport & Society Research Network welcomes proposals aligned with its ongoing concerns, including sport and social identity; sport and politics; sport, health and wellbeing; sport, education and youth; and the globalization and commercialization of sport.

Knowledge Experience and Format

The conference is organised as a hybrid knowledge experience, integrating in-person and online participation within a unified scholarly environment. All accepted proposals become Presentation Pages, where presenters upload abstracts, media, and reflections, and where delegates can engage in discussion before, during, and after the event.

In-person sessions at Federal Fluminense University are interwoven with live online presentations and asynchronous contributions within a single integrated program. Regardless of participation mode, all delegates have access to the full schedule, session media, and a growing digital archive. Across formats, the emphasis is on reciprocal, human-scale exchange—conversation, reflection, and collaborative inquiry rather than one-way presentation.

Publication Pathways

Presenters are invited to develop their conference contributions for possible publication in the journals associated with the Sport & Society Research Network, including The International Journal of Sport and Society, or in the Sport & Society Book Imprint, which publishes monographs and edited collections advancing interdisciplinary research on sport and society. Both outlets offer options for traditional and Open Access publication.

Membership and Community

We welcome new and returning members to the Sport & Society Research Network. By purchasing a Presenter Pass, you automatically become—or renew as—a Network Member for the year, with access to the online Knowledge Experience, a shared scholarly space connecting preparation, presentation, reflection, and publication. Members may share work in progress, post updates, browse archives, and participate in peer-facilitated community review.

Membership is also fostered through in-person conferences and events, where participants exchange ideas and build collaborations with host partners and an international community of scholars and practitioners. Membership sustains the Research Network, ensuring continued access to programs, archives, journals, and books, and supporting a community where belonging is defined by contribution and care.

Join Us

We warmly invite you to submit a proposal and to join us—either in Niterói or online—for the Eighteenth International Conference on Sport & Society. Together, we will explore how questions of gender, race, and inclusion shape sporting worlds, and how sport can contribute to more equitable, just, and inclusive social futures.

Scientific Committee

• Dr. Jörg Krieger, Research Network Chair, Aarhus University, Denmark & University of Inland Norway, Norway
• Dr. Phillip Kalantzis-Cope, Chief Social Scientist, Common Ground Research Networks, United States of America
• Prof. Lívia Gonçalves Magalhães, Local Conference Chair, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Dr. Camila Augusto Alves Pereira, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Camila Valente de Souza, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Leda Maria da Costa, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Lucas Nascimento de Mattos, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Marcelo Rezende, Local Conference Committee, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Marcelo Viana Araújo Filho, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Dr. Nathália Fernandes Pessanha, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Dr. Renato Soares Coutinho, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Dr. Rosana da Câmara Teixeira, Local Conference Committee, Federal Fluminense University, Brazil
• Dr. Sergio Settani Giglio, Local Conference Committee, UNICAMP Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil

Submit Proposal

You’ll be asked to select a presentation format—either in-person at the conference venue or online via our integrated CGScholar (KX) platform—but our hybrid model is designed to support both. You may change your choice at any time if your plans or preferences shift.

This Research Network is fully bilingual. You are welcome to present in Spanish or English. Take the appropriate link below:

Submit English Language Proposal 

Proposals are accepted from launch until one month prior to the conference start date. The dates below indicate the opening of both the proposal submission and registration periods.

Proposals will be reviewed within two to four weeks of submission.

• Early Launch to 16 November (26)
• Regular Proposal Deadline 17 November (26) to 16 March (27)
• Late Proposal Deadline  17 March (27) to 17 May (27)

Registration Deadlines

The digital media deadline is one week before the conference.

• Early Registration Deadline Launch to 16 December (26)
• Regular Registration Deadline 17 December (26) to 16 May (27)
• Late Registration Deadline 17 May (27) to 17 June (27)

Learn more: https://sportandsociety.com/2027-conference