Thomas’ background #

Thomas Ross Griffin’s background is in culture studies and postcolonial literature. He uses the many critical frameworks found in these overlapping fields of study to analyse the relationship between sport, geopolitics, and culture in the Gulf in his research. Ross has published on a variety of issues within this context, including work on Qatar national sporting identity, gender in Qatar sport, and more recently, the country’s soft power ambitions as demonstrated by the purchase of Paris Saint-Germain football club and the 2022 World Cup. He is currently the Middle East editor for The International Journal of the History of Sport.

Interest in virtual sports #

Ross is also a keen cyclist and it is through his passion for the sport that he was introduced to virtual sports in 2020. His main interests in eSports lie in further exploring the ontology of virtual sports and he has written a chapter on this subject in The Geopolitical Economy of Esports, a Routledge edited collection that will be published in early 2026. The chapter examines virtual cycling’s relationship with the original outdoor version of the sport and, building on the work of scholars such as Jim Parry and Marit Bentvelzen et al., he argues that virtual cycling is best understood as an eSport that is also a bicycle sport in its own right. However, given that there exists barely a handful of articles on this topic, virtually all of which focus on Zwift, Ross wants to work further in this field to incorporate other virtual cycling platforms and modes. This is to determine whether virtual cycling should be read as a sport in the traditional sense or whether each respective platform presents a bespoke form of virtual cycling.

Ross is also interested in broadening the discussion of the geopolitics of virtual sports and eSports. More clearly stated, this refers to analysing how nation-states appropriate eSports in terms of their digital landscapes and related ecosystems to further their own soft and hard power goals. This project includes future work on the concept of eSportswashing and its relationship with eSports as countries such as Saudi Arabia and China become larger presences within the eSports community. Adapted from traditional sports discourse, eSportswashing is appearing more and more frequently in reportage and studies of eSports, but as a consequence, is also becoming more simplified in its usage. Given the distinct differences between eSports and traditional sports industries, a more concrete and thought-out understanding of the concept and its practice is required.

Ross is open to collaboration requests from scholars or journalists looking to work in any of these areas.