The Imperial State of Iran, a Deal-Broker: Enabling the People’s Republic of China’s Asian Games Debut in the 1974 Tehran Asian Games

The former Imperial State of Iran was a critical actor and deal-broker in orchestrating the Asian Games Federation’s admission of the All-China Sports Federation and expulsion of the Republic of China Olympic Committee in 1973 and enabling China’s Asian Games debut in Tehran in September 1974. Notably, it achieved this disruptive and historic outcome largely through offering good offices and adhering to institutionalism. In particular, Iran convinced the IOC to retain its patronage to the AGF and facilitated fruitful negotiations between the People’s Republic of China and the international sport governing bodies to ensure the issuance of event permits. Despite the occasionally provocative statements of Iranian officials against the IOC and IFs while playing the role of communist China’s advocate, Tehran also managed to persuade Beijing to make seemingly small but actually critical comprises while interacting with international governing bodies. These compromises proved essential to China’s eventual rehabilitation in international sport.