Graduation Semester and Year

2021

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in History

Department

History

First Advisor

David LaFevor

Abstract

In 1948 a collection of ten football (soccer) teams from across Colombia joined together to form the División Mayor (Major League) the culmination of a thirty-year-long process to form a national league. Colombian sports enthusiasts were not motivated by their love of the game, but rather saw football, and sports in general, as a means to modernize their country. Journalists and enthusiasts wrote that the practice of sport, as part of physical education programs or participating in the spectacle of a match were essential to the “modern man” and “modern women.” Colombian nationalists also embraced sport, and a national league, as a cultural means of overcoming regional differences and binding the country together. At the same time, poorer Colombians embraced sport, especially going to the match, as a space where they could socialize and release pent-up emotions. This dissertation tracks the development of Colombian football from a game played by the elites to the national sport which was enjoyed in some way by all levels of Colombian society.

Keywords

Sport, Colombia, Latin America, Football, Soccer

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | History

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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