This paper considers the managerial process of a sport-for-development event in a geographic area that has rarely been investigated from a Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) academic perspective. Specifically, an examination of the relationships between multinational SDP organizations and a local SDP entity in managing and implementing an event in Bahrain is explored. Reflecting on the broader contextual aspects of the case, participant observation over 4 days and interviews with those involved from all organizations are used to reflect upon and build an understanding of how SDP management and relationships are localized in this regional setting. Initial findings indicate potential for further cooperation and expertise sharing between international organizations, with a particular need for understanding roles and partnership structures as well as being cognizant of local contexts and needs. Significantly, donor-recipient tensions are identified, and the positive impact of partnership-strengthening workshops are considered.

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Sport has often been advocated as a tool to achieve various social development (SD) goals. It has also been used as a way of expanding soft power (SP) influence. Combining both concepts provides an opportunity to understand how SP and SD may interrelate through the use of domestic SP strategies in sport. In this paper, we discuss the identified themes of unity, pride, and collective identity that arise from a regional women’s sporting competition in the Arabian Gulf among the Gulf Cooperation Council members, as factors that strengthened the prominence of athletes’ shared identity and connectedness. Using the perspectives of the authors who were immersed in the sporting competition, we argue that this information is important for sports organisers to use as bases for SP strategies to achieve inwards-focused social goals.