A Systematic Review of Research on Sport Migration

Abstract

Research on sport migration spans many disciplines and strands of inquiry, with some studies seeking to analyse the academic outputs. However, these studies sometimes are focused on certain specific contexts or offer only qualitative analysis. This present study aimed to analyse the literature on sport migration. Through a systematic review, we combined data from the articles to propose a classification of the sport migration research field. The results show that research in sport migration have focused on athletes who are mostly men, working in elite sports, and with attention to more globally practiced sports, such as football. Regarding migratory flows, they are often carried out from peripheral countries to central countries. Considering all advances in academic output on sport migration, this line of research needs to broaden, observing other dynamics involved, such as other migratory routes, groups of migrants, and social agents.