Résumé
This article analyses the driving forces behind the development of politicaldiscourse and public policy on sport in the Seychelles between 1976 and2014. The data was collected through a detailed study of legislative textsgoverning local sport, coupled with a close reading of the archives of theSeychelles Nation, the main national daily; interviews with key stakeholders(policymakers, managers, foreign specialists on missions abroad) involved insport were also conducted during two field surveys. This analysis reveals howa small but determined network of stakeholders first had to make up for ashortage of sports facilities in the country and set up a centralisedorganisation. The Seychelles government then gradually adopted a rationalapproach to sport governance that focused both on democratisation (sportfor all, health, education, etc.) and on competitive aspects of sport.