Sport has been intertwined with international politics throughout history and has been shown to have a positive impact on international trade patterns between countries. The aim of this thesis is to find out how, if at all, economic cooperation between countries is promoted in the context of major international sporting events. Through a detailed analysis the thesis thus complements the gap in the academic literature on the role of sport in international relations by defining the relationship between sport and economic diplomacy, and further identifies sport as one of the key sources of soft power. Through the coordinated and closely intertwined use of sport and economic diplomacy activities and measures, host countries use major international sporting events to enhance soft power, visibility and prestige in the international community. Sports and economic diplomacy pursue primarily political objectives, within which the objective of promoting economic cooperation must also be understood. The case studies of the Olympic Games in Brazil, the FIFA World Cup in the Russian Federation and the European Basketball Championship in Slovenia confirm that all the studied host countries use sports and economic diplomacy activities to promote economic cooperation. Diplomatic activities were more enhanced in the cases of Brazil and Russia, due to the size and media visibility of the event and because the political objective of the host country's foreign policy was defined more clearly.
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