’Those wishing to procure or promote a sports mega-event in the twenty-first century will unfailingly promise a beneficial legacy to the host city and its inhabitants. But will there be a legacy? And, if so, who will be its beneficiaries, and who will lose out? These are now vital issues and this book, for which Gavin Poynter and Valerie Viehoff have assembled a formidable team, provides a valuable and multifaceted discussion of them. I strongly commend it.’ Stephen Wagg, Leeds Beckett University, UK, and author of The London Olympics of 2012: Politics, Promises and Legacy ’From Barcelona to Sochi, from London to Rio, sport mega-events became the most recent frontier of city restructuring under the driving force of global finance. This book examines the political economy of sport mega-events and its impacts on cities - and on citizens - exploring the multiple and contradictory meanings of the concept of legacy.’ Raquel Rolnick, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil