Sport labour migrant communities from the maghreb in the GCC

Abstract

Qatar and the UAE in particular are emerging as a new destination for sport labor migration, including from the Maghreb and the Maghrebi community in Europe, which is the focus of this chapter. Specifically, the study examines the patterns and motives of sport labor migration in three sectors: professional football, elite sport development, and sport TV broadcasting. Migration flows in sport can be understood as a legacy of colonial history, or a dependency of former colonies upon former colonizers in social, cultural, economic, and sport domains. Sport migration is also a product of globalization characterized by increased interconnectedness between territories due to advancements in the means of transportation and communication. While it is becoming more difficult to migrate to Europe and North America, sport migrants from the Maghreb, like other Arab communities, are attracted to the GCC because it offers both material facilities and the familiarity of Arab and Islamic cultures.