Sports and Politics

Sports and politics are two fields that intertwine more often than people think. In fact, sports is often used to influence diplomatic, social, and political relations. It is also common for sports to be used to spread awareness on different issues.

The sentiment that “Sports and politics don’t mix” is shared by many people. It is also being debated in light of the National Football League’s national anthem protest which is a good example of the junction of sports and politics.

Supporters say that sports should always be separate from politics because it is designed for entertainment. Most of the time, people turn to sports to tune out exhausting political issues. Mixing sports and politics takes out the fun in sports.

Furthermore, sports should promote social engagement. Incorporating politics in sports defeats this purpose because on the contrary, politics is divisive by nature. It can cause unnecessary conflicts. People should be able to get along as they enjoy sporting events.

Finally, supporters say that bringing politics into sports is utterly inappropriate. Athletes may have their own political opinions or advocacies, but they should not bring them into sports. They should not be forced to do so either. Doing their best for their teams or the countries they represent is the only business that athletes should concern themselves with.

Opponents say that, sometimes, big sporting events do not fail to catch the attention of the public. That’s why they have been used in the modern age to highlight important issues that have nothing to do with sports such as environmental issues, drug abuse awareness, HIV-AIDS awareness, gender equality, racism, and the list goes on. Famous sports personalities and athletes can also use their influence to shed light on different advocacies.

Also, sports has the ability to unite people. A country’s leader can take advantage of sports to unite people when circumstances call for them to set aside their differences for the good of the country. A classic example of this is how Nelson Mandela used sports to unite the people of South Africa.

Finally, sports can also be used to unite countries or ease the tension between countries. For example, sports teams can be sent from one country to another to restore diplomatic relations. A good example of this is the “Ping-pong Diplomacy,” the exchange of ping-pong players between the United States and People's Republic of China in the early 1970s to ease the tension between the two countries.