GULF CAPITAL IN THE EUROPEAN FOOTBALL INDUSTRY: AN ASSESSMENT THROUGH POLITICAL MARXISM, HISTORICAL-GEOGRAPHICAL MATERIALISM, AND THE HEGEMONY

Year 2025, Volume: 16 Issue: 2, 661 - 689, 29.12.2025

Doğan Arar , Yasin Avcı

https://doi.org/10.54688/ayd.1741855

Abstract

This study examines the orientation of Gulf capital to the European football industry from Marxist perspective. In the 21st century, European football has become not only a sporting tool for the Gulf countries, but also strategic and ideological tool that provides access to new areas of capital accumulation. Countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, on the one hand, direct their capital to different sectors in order to reduce their dependence on oil and natural gas revenues in the long term; on the other hand, they use football as a tool in the production of legitimacy and hegemony in order to transform their negative image in the eyes of the international community. In this context, it is possible to examine the purchase of leading European football clubs by Gulf capital and the establishment of sponsorship relations with these clubs on the basis of Marxism, which enables the consideration of infrastructure and superstructure elements together. For this reason, the theoretical framework of the study is structured on the basis of three different but complementary approaches within Marxism. These are Political Marxism represented by Ellen Meiksins Wood, the historical-geographical materialist approach of David Harvey and the hegemony of Antonio Gramsci. While Wood’s approach brings the historical specificity of capitalism and the political character of state-capital relations to the forefront, Harvey’s analyses reveal how capital accumulation is sustained through spatial strategies. Gramsci’s formulation of hegemony based on consent explains the ideological legitimation dimension of this process. Within the scope of the study, this theoretical framework is concretized through the examples of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United.

Keywords

Gulf Capital , Football Industry , Political Marxism , Historical-Geographical Materialism , Hegemony

AVRUPA FUTBOL ENDÜSTRİSİNDE KÖRFEZ SERMAYESİ: POLİTİK MARKSİZM, TARİHSEL-COĞRAFİ MATERYALİZM VE HEGEMONYA

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, Körfez sermayesinin Avrupa futbol endüstrisine yönelimi Marksist perspektiften incelenmiştir. 21. yüzyılda Avrupa futbolu, Körfez ülkeleri açısından yalnızca sportif değil, aynı zamanda sermaye birikiminin yeni alanlara erişimini sağlayan stratejik ve ideolojik araç hâline gelmiştir. Birleşik Arap Emirlikleri, Katar ve Suudi Arabistan gibi ülkeler, bir yandan petrol ve doğalgaz gelirlerine olan bağımlılıklarını uzun vadede azaltma arayışıyla sermayelerini farklı sektörlere yönlendirirken; diğer yandan uluslararası toplum nezdindeki olumsuz imajlarını dönüştürmek amacıyla futbolu meşruiyet ve hegemonya üretiminde bir araç olarak kullanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, Avrupa’nın önde gelen futbol kulüplerinin Körfez sermayesi tarafından satın alınmasını ve bu kulüplerle sponsorluk ilişkilerinin kurulmasını alt-yapı ve üst-yapı unsurlarını birlikte ele almayı mümkün kılan Marksizm temelinde incelemek mümkündür. Bu sebeple çalışmanın teorik çerçevesi Marksizm içinde farklı ama birbirini tamamlayan üç yaklaşım temelinde yapılandırılmıştır. Bunlar Ellen Meiksins Wood’un temsil ettiği Politik Marksizm, David Harvey’in tarihsel-coğrafi materyalist yaklaşımı ve Antonio Gramsci’nin hegemonyasıdır. Wood’un yaklaşımı, kapitalizmin tarihsel özgüllüğünü ve devlet-sermaye ilişkilerinin siyasal karakterini ön plana çıkarırken; Harvey’in çözümlemeleri, sermaye birikiminin mekânsal stratejilerle nasıl sürdürüldüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Gramsci’nin rıza temelindeki hegemonya formülasyonu ise bu sürecin ideolojik meşrulaştırma boyutunu açıklamaktadır. Çalışma kapsamında bu teorik çerçeve; Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain ve Newcastle United örnekleri üzerinden somutlanmıştır.

Keywords

Körfez Sermayesi , Futbol Endüstrisi , Politik Marksizm , Tarihsel-Coğrafi Materyalizm , Hegemonya.

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