CONFLICT IN SPORTS
Written by Michal
Conflict in sports is a recurring problem that has been happening for centuries now. More recent examples of this are things such as cheating, racist and toxic comments during gameplay, fixed games, and just plain unfair play. Sports used to be considered a neutral area whenever there was a conflict in the real world. The Olympic Games are the most famous example of an agreement of peace through the world's shared love for the sport.
The Olympic movement
The Olympic Movement’s mission is to successfully build a peaceful and better world by educating the world’s youth through sports played without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play.
Photo: First modern Olympic Games, History.com
The Olympics are traditionally celebrated every 4 years, however, there have been a few exceptions, such as; 1916 in Berlin due to WWI, 1940 in Tokyo and 1944 in London due to WWII, and then the recently delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to the pandemic we’ve all had enough of.
Resist repeating racism
Racism in all sports is the abuse and harassment of officials, players, and fans because of their nationality, ethnicity, or skin color. Fans most commonly target the players of their own teams, however, player-on-player slurs have been reported.
Photo: Racism and Respect in English Football: Time to Fight the Ugly Side of the Game, Author: OLIVER WILSON, Bleacherreport.net
In the past few years, many victims of such disrespect have spoken out and tried to spread awareness, for example, Raheem Sterling has called for racist abuse to be punished with an automatic nine-point deduction for clubs, instead of handing out fines to the individuals directly performing the abuse.
Negative racial comments have been going on for decades and so some major football organizations have taken it upon themselves to try and stop them from repeating. For example, UEFA launched a social responsibility, Respect, program in 2008. Its mission objective is to fight against racism, increasing and improving access for fans with disabilities, promoting health through physical activity, and improving intercultural dialogue between fans.
Recent events:
Jul 11, 2021
The EURO finals took place where England and Italy ended up drawing 1-1 at full time, then continued in penalties where England lost 3 - 2. The missed penalties that cost them the championship were by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka, who are all black.
Photo: Three Black Soccer Players Are Facing Racist Abuse After England's Euro 2020 Defeat, Author: BECKY SULLIVAN, National Public Radio
Therefore immediately after the game, racist comments started popping up all over the internet and the three fine players were harrassed from all angles. Many honest fans from their local clubs defended them. However those comments were never meant to be defended, they were never meant to be thought, written, and posted ONLINE.
Links to other racial issues from recent events:
Slavia Praha vs Rangers F.C. racial drama. Ondrej Kudela gets a 10-match UEFA BAN. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/14/slavia-prague-ondrej-kudela-10-match-uefa-ban-for-racist-behaviour-at-rangers-glen-kamara
An app that could help share awareness from the locker rooms directly from players. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2021/1018/Athletes-want-to-improve-locker-room-culture.-This-app-may-help
SOURCES
Olympics.com “Beyond the Games.” https://olympics.com/ioc/beyond-the-games#:~:text=The%20game%20of%20the%20 Olympic,friendship%2C%20 solidarity%20and%20fair%20play.
en.wikipedia.org, “Respect (UEFA campaign)” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect_(UEFA_campaign)
reuters.com, “FA condemns racist abuse of players after England's Euro 2020 final loss” https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/fa-condemns-racist-abuse-players-following-englands-final-loss-2021-07-12/
IMAGES
Photo: First modern Olympic Games, History.com https://www.history.com/.image/ar_16:9%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cg_face s:center%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTU3ODc3NjU3MDEwODQwOTA1/this-day-in-history-04061896---first-modern-olympic-games.jpg
Photo: Racism and Respect in English Football: Time to Fight the Ugly Side of the Game, Author: OLIVER WILSON, Bleacherreport.net https://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/001/796/646/hi-res-102587047 _crop_north.jpg?1342605755&w=3072&h=2048
Photo: Three Black Soccer Players Are Facing Racist Abuse After England's Euro 2020 Defeat, Author: BECKY SULLIVAN, National Public Radio, https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/07/12/gettyimages-1328313844_slide-91000f79e933798859533229f40f4f5feac15db9-s1100-c15.jpg