Can Sport do More to Promote Peace?

[The Todd]

People like to say politics and sport shouldn’t mix, but they do, no argument about it. In many cases sport is seen as more important than politics. The most political of things is war. Can sport be used more to cut down on violence and help some countries find their way in the world?

During World War I there were a number of recorded instances where troops left the trenches and had a ‘kickabout ‘with the enemy, before returning to fight the war again.

More recently you have cases where the country of Sri Lanka stops its bitter civil war to watch the nation’s cricket matches, where South Korea and Japan join forces to host a World Cup (an event which saw a Japanese Emperor on Korean soil for the first time in half a century) and India play Pakistan at cricket.

Sport also gives countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq a chance to give their country an image of more than a war torn country. Afghanistan were a whisker away from qualifying for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup and Iraq won the football (soccer) Asian Cup. This raised the spirits of the nation.

It gives countries who hate each other the chance to settle scores without the need for arms, such as the Olympics during the Cold War which pitted the USA against the Eastern Bloc or when Iran beat USA in the 1998 Football World Cup

Sport is not above violence, of course, with the 1972 Munich Olympic Games incident and the recent terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, but can it be given a bigger role in promoting peace?

If North Korea and USA draw each other in the summer’s World Cup it would be a great chance for the two countries to show on a huge stage that they can be civil and have a tough, fair, sporting competition.

Should troubled countries be encouraged to compete in sport, and view that as a way to beat “the enemy”? Can somewhere like Somalia find an identity in any World Sport to promote peace? Should Zimbabwe be allowed to compete at cricket despite having Mugabe as a president?

Or does sport cause more problems than actual solutions between two "feuding" countries (boycotts/allegations of cheating etc)

Should sport not be as infuential as it is and stay aware from such political matters? Does it have a role at all?

 

[SavageTaker]

I guess sports can be used to cut down on the violence we hear about or see many times, but I honestly don’t think it would make much of a difference if sports were used or not. Now, that’s not me saying that it shouldn’t be tried because there is still that possibility that it would work but I just don’t ever see violence and crimes being reduced greatly. There will always be people that are extremists or are just “bad” and want to do terrible crimes to other people. That’s just the way it is and will probably be for a long time, and nothing will probably change that, not even sports.

But like I said, I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be attempted because honestly, what’s the worst that can happen? I guess there could or will be people that will be unhappy about their home team losing and will want to do something about it. That something could be some as little as screaming or something as big as killing the people they lost to or anyone else.

I know it seems very unlikely that someone would murder others just because of a sport, but trust me, there are people that are super obsessive over sports and I’ve seen them get really pissed about their favorite team losing. Now obviously they didn’t commit a crime, the worst they did was having an argument with someone else that didn’t escalate to violence, but I don’t know how the people are on the other side of the world. Who knows, there could be some really obsessive people over there that would be willing to kill people or do some other crime just because of a sport. It could be unlikely, but it’s not impossible.

Overall, I think the usage of sports to reduce violence could work, but it probably wouldn’t have that much of an impact because of the reasons I stated above. But it never hurts to try something, and if it does end up being a failure then we know that it’s not the solution to reducing violence and that it shouldn’t be attempted again or for a long time.

 

[The Todd]

I guess sports can be used to cut down on the violence we hear about or see many times, but I honestly don’t think it would make much of a difference if sports were used or not.

Well it has helped many war torn countries out in the past. Afghanistan nearly reaching the cricket world cup was huge. If they had reached it there is a chance many extremists would have watched the games whilst they were taking place. If so, little gestures like an army cricket team playing locals could help ease tensions. Obviously it's not going to stop the war, but showing this friendly side, and giving the Afghani people a chance to beat the occupying force in a fair way can help.

But like I said, I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be attempted because honestly, what’s the worst that can happen? I guess there could or will be people that will be unhappy about their home team losing and will want to do something about it. That something could be some as little as screaming or something as big as killing the people they lost to or anyone else.

Yeah, people die all around the world due to sporting allegiances and that is a risk, but if people are killing each other anyway it is worth a go. Obviously any sporting competition set up would be go through thorough safety checks.

I know it seems very unlikely that someone would murder others just because of a sport,

No it doesn't. I am well aware of "soccer" hooliganism and know other forms exist around the world.

Who knows, there could be some really obsessive people over there that would be willing to kill people or do some other crime just because of a sport. It could be unlikely, but it’s not impossible.

Of course it's not. But take a country like Somalia that is ravaged with militants and piracy. Their national team at, say, "soccer" improves greatly and reaches their continents championships, many of the country would bond together to cheer the team on, and unite. Bonds like these can improve these countries.