What is the central claim of conflict theory regarding sport and social inequality?

• A. Sport reproduces and legitimizes inequality; powerholders control resources, and sport becomes a site of class, race, and gender stratification.
• B. Sport eliminates social hierarchies by equal access to resources.
• C. Sport reflects biological differences in ability and talent, not social structure.
• D. Sport promotes universal equality with no stratification.

Answer: (B)

Conflict theory treats sport as a space where broader power dynamics shape who can participate, succeed, and gain influence. It holds that those who control economic resources, political authority, and cultural capital—owners, sponsors, clubs, media, and governing bodies—arrange access to facilities, coaching, funding, and opportunities in ways that reproduce existing social hierarchies. Sport then becomes a arena where class, race, gender, and other inequalities are legitimized through rules, gatekeeping, and differential exposure, rather than being a neutral field of play.

Thus, the idea that sport eliminates hierarchies by providing equal access to resources goes against this view. Instead, conflict theory emphasizes that resource control and power structures within sport maintain and legitimize inequality. Biological explanations or universal equality claims miss how social arrangements and access to opportunities operate in real sports contexts.