Joel Rookwood is Director of the Sport and Exercise Management programme at University College Dublin, Ireland. He is Co-chair of the Football Collective, a global network of applied football researchers and practitioners. Joel has worked extensively in sport-for-development, leading educational, peacebuilding initiatives across six continents. His research interests include international development, sports mega-events, international relations, the football industry, and sports governance. His latest books include Football, Development and Peace: Local Projects in Global Contexts (Routledge, 2026), Sport, Peace and Development: Critical Global Challenges (2025), Sports Fanaticism on Social Media Platforms: Security Implications and Counter-Policy (2025), and The Sport Mega Events of the 2020s: Governance, Impacts and Controversies (Routledge, 2024).