Mahfoud Amara, Lecturer in Sport Policy and Management, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Olympic Studies and Research, School of Sport, exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University. Dr Amara’s principal research area is comparative sports policy, and he has a specific interest in sport in Arab and Muslim contexts (society, history, culture, religion, economy, political and philosophical thoughts). He has published material on the politics of the Pan-Arab Games, sport in colonial and post-colonial Algeria, sport and media in the Arab world, sport and modernisation debate in the Gulf region; sport development and development through sport in the Arab World. His other research interest is sport, multiculturalism and intercultural dialogue. He recently published a book on “Sport, Politics, and Society in the Arab World”, London: Palgrave and Macmillan.