One of the enduring controversies found in the literature on the role that sport plays in social development is whether this assumed relationship is weak or robust. Despite evidence both for and against the ‘sport-enhances-social-development’ model, a rapidly expanding cluster of case studies and a growing literature in a number of disciplines, there remain entire countries which have not been systematically explored and where almost no sociological research is available in English. Cambodia is one such case. Based upon qualitative methods (specifically interviews and observation) and as part of an ongoing study, this article reports on an incipient sport initiative (the Siem Reap Hotel Football League) in northern Cambodia. Emphasizing that sport is ‘contested terrain’ and may simultaneously improve and exacerbate existing social relations in any setting, our data show that any promise sport offers communities in either a micro or macro sense should be viewed through the lens of caution and circumspection.
