---

This book reimagines the pleasures of sports and provides a critical perspective from the Global South. Analysing the spread of sports markets in Sri Lanka along with a range of struggles, the book highlights how the celebration of ´sportive nationalism,´ promoting sports markets in the Global South reinforces patriarchal ethno-nationalist authoritarian sports cultures.

By explaining how the realm of social reproduction involving households and communities is integral for play and sports, the book challenges the market-driven ´sports and development´ agenda while arguing for a ´sports commons.´ By foregrounding issues of justice and care, the book highlights how struggles for recognition, redistribution and representation are central to reimagining sports within an alternative notion of work, play and resistance.

---

1. Introduction.- 2. The Spread of Sports Markets in the Global South.- 3. Sports Workers in Workplaces and Communities.- 4. Sports Revenue from Property Rights and Cities.- 5. The Role of Media in Sports Consumption.- 6. Development and Sports in Sri Lanka.- 7. Authoritarian Sports Cultures and Sports Workers.- 8. Changing Sports Through Resistance.- 9. Conclusions: Sports as Play and the Sports Commons.

---

"S. Janaka Biyanwila is to be congratulated on the extent and breadth of his research. His material on developments in the South and in Sri Lanka, in particular, make a valuable contribution to the growing literature on the divide between the myths and reality of sport as it spreads and intensifies its reach across the globe." (Braham Dabscheck, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, Vol. 29 (04), December, 2018)

---

S. Janaka Biyanwila is a former Olympic athlete, former Sri Lanka national diving champion, and a published author with a PhD in Organisational and Labour Studies from the University of Western Australia.

---