Nationalism and sport

Nationalismandsportare often intertwined, as sports provide a venue for symbolic competition between nations; sports competition often reflects national conflict, and in fact has often been a tool of diplomacy. The involvement of political goals in sport is seen by some as contrary to the fundamentalethos of sportbeing carried on for its own sake, for the enjoyment of its participants, but this involvement has been true throughout thehistory of sport.

Sports diplomacy

Main article:Sports diplomacy

Further information:Canada–United States sports rivalriesandJapan–South Korea sports rivalries

Most sports are contested between national teams, which encourages the use of sporting events for nationalist purposes, whether intentionally or not. The signalling of national solidarity through sport is one of the primary forms ofbanal nationalism.

Several sporting events are a matter of national pride;The Ashesis a matter of national pride between England and Australia. Also incricketanIndia versus Pakistanmatch puts both countries on a virtual standstill as if it were all about national pride during those matches.

TheOlympic Gamesare the premier stage for nationalist competition, and its history reflects the history of political conflict since its inception at the end of the 19th century. The1936 Summer Olympicsheld in Berlin was an illustration, maybe best acknowledged in hindsight, where an ideology was developing which used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda. The boycott by theUnited Statesand politically aligned nations of the1980 Summer Olympicsand theSoviet Unionand politically aligned nations of the1984 Summer Olympicswere part of theCold Warconflict.

Whenapartheidwas the official policy in South Africa, many sportspeople adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst effects. Many African nations boycotted the1976 Summer OlympicsinMontreal,as a result of then New Zealand Prime MinisterRob Muldoonallowing the All Blacks to tour South Africa. The issue would later come to a head during the1981 Springbok Tour.

George Orwell's essay "The Sporting Spirit"examines the effect nationalism plays on sport, where Orwell argues that various sporting events trigger violence between groups for the very reason of competition.

Nationalistic sports

See also:National sport

In thehistory of Ireland,Gaelic sportswere clearly carried on with nationalist overtones: for example, for most of the last century a person could have been banned from playingGaelic football,hurling,or other sport, if the person was seen to have playedAssociation football,cricket,rugbyor any other game which was of British origin.

The nationalistic Italian fascists also createdVolataas their own home-grown alternative to football and rugby. It was intended to be a replacement for the popular games perceived to be of British origin that would be of a more local character, tracing its heritage back to the earlier Italian games ofHarpastumandCalcio Fiorentino.However, unlike its Gaelic equivalents, Volata was short-lived and is no longer played.

Clubs as symbols of rival communities

See also:Association football and politics

Athletic Bilbaoonly field Basque footballers, such asIker Muniain

InScotland,theOld Firmderby inGlasgowfeaturingCeltic,historically linked to the city's Catholic community, andRangers,similarly linked to the city's Protestant community, have also historically seen trends along ethno-political lines.

The policyof Spanish football teamAthletic Bilbaoof picking onlyBasqueplayers is strongly linked toBasque nationalism.This causes disputes betweenAthletic Bilbaoand other Basque teams due to the Bilbao squad being able to use their economic power to purchase players who play for other important Basque teams who have strong youth ranks, such asCA OsasunaandReal Sociedad.In the same vein,FC Barcelonahave since the late 1990s promoted from youth ranks a series of Catalan players such asXaviandCarles Puyol.Indeed, the club is widely seen as the de facto representative ofCatalonia,extending theAutonomous Community's reach to areas it otherwise would not be able to influence. However, their local rivalsRCD Espanyolusually field more Catalan players thanFC Barcelonaand the best Catalan goalscorer inLa LigahistoryRaúl Tamudocame through their youth ranks.

InYugoslavia,NK Dinamo ZagrebandRed Star Belgradewere seen as symbols ofCroatianandSerbian nationalism,respectively. On 13 May 1990, due to therise of nationalismin the wake of thebreakup of the country,aninfamous riotbroke out between the clubs'ultrasduring aleaguegame inZagreb.

InCanada,theMontreal Canadiens,the world's oldest and most successful professional ice hockey team, has always been a symbol forFrancophone QuebeckersinMontreal.The teams has had rivalries in succession with theAnglophone Quebec'sMontreal WanderersandMontreal Maroons,as well as English Canada'sToronto Maple Leafs.As well, from 1975 to 1995 there was a rivalry with theQuebec NordiquesfromQuebec City,which took on political overtones, with Canadiens fans being more likely to beLiberalsandfederalists,and Nordiques fans more likelyPequistsandsovereigntists.

InIndonesia,one of the most successful clubs in Indonesian footballPersipura Jayapurais considered to representPapuanidentity and it could be said to be one of the symbols of the campaign and struggle for Papuan independence.In several matches, the flag of theRepublic of West Papua,which is considered separatist by theIndonesian government,was flown several times.In fact, one of the players,Edward Junior Wilson,who comes from Liberia, was involved in a fight with theIndonesian policebecause he thought he was flying the West Papua flag. This happened in the deciding match2016 Indonesia Soccer Championship AatMandala Stadium,Jayapuraon 18 December 2016. At that time, Persipura, who managed to become champion after beatingPSM Makassar4–2, celebrated their victory after the match. Edward also raised the national flag of Liberia, However, because it was raining at the time, the police mistook the flag he was flying and there was a flag-pulling action with him. After the incident, the police revealed the misunderstanding that had occurred. This incident also sparked a riot between fans and police at the stadium.For someAcehnese,Persiraja Banda Acehis also considered to represent their Acehnese identity and theFree Aceh Movement.In other cases,Persib Bandungis considered to represent the identity ofSundaneseandWest Java,especially thePrianganarea and by some people it has been considered as their Sundanese culture.By critical people, Persib is analogous to a symbol of resistance to Indonesian centrism which focuses onJakarta(this is also related to itsrivalrywithPersija Jakarta).Persib is also considered "the national team of Bandung people", in fact the level of attendance at the stadium for Persib is higher than for theIndonesia national teamwhen they play inBandung.Low audience attendance for the Indonesian national team in Bandung this is also the background by sweeping actions and abuse carried out by rival supporters,The JakmaniaagainstBobotoh(the name for Persib supporters) when the Indonesian national team played in Jakarta, one of them was the attack on the capo of the Indonesian national team, who was also aBobotohon 28 October 2018 atGelora Bung Karno Main Stadiumby 30–50The Jakmaniamembers.In 2022, a video showed the removal of a banner supporting the Indonesian national team atSidolig Stadiumin Bandung. In the video, the man who carried out the takedown said to the video viewer inSundaneseandEnglish"Eweuh timnas, this is Persib!"(" There is no national team, this is Persib! "). This incident occurred during Indonesian national team training at the stadium.

See also

• Antisemitism in the Olympic Games

• Association football and politics
• Boycotts of Israel in sports
• Legitimating ideology
• Nationalism § Sport
• Racism in sport
• Rugby union and apartheid
• Status attainment
• Us versus them
• Winner and loser culture

Further reading

• Abbassi, Driss. "Le sport dans l'empire français: un instrument de domination?."Outre-mers96.364 (2009): 5-15.online
• Amin, Nasser.'Football And Flags'.CounterCurrents.September 22, 2006.
• Arnold, R. (2020). "Nationalism and Sport: A Review of the Field."Nationalities Papers.
• Bairner, Alan.Sport, nationalism, and globalization: European and North American perspectives(2001).
• Fernández L’Hoeste, H. et al.Sports and Nationalism in Latin/o America(2015).
• Gems, Gerald R.Sport and the American Occupation of the Philippines: Bats, Balls, and Bayonets(Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) 203 pp.
• Jarvie, Grant. "Internationalism and Sport in the Making of Nations."Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power10.4 (2003): 537-551.doi:10.1080/714947399
• Jarvie, Grant.Sport, culture and society: an introduction(Routledge, 2013).
• King, Anthony (2006), "Nationalism and sport", in Delanty, Gerard; Kumar, Krishan (eds.),The SAGE Handbook of Nations and Nationalism,pp. 249–259,doi:10.4135/9781848608061.n22,ISBN978-1-4129-0101-7
• McDevitt, P.May the Best Man Win: Sport, Masculinity, and Nationalism in Great Britain and the Empire, 1880-1935(2008).
• Ok, Gwang.Transformation of Modern Korean Sport: Imperialism, Nationalism, Globalization(2007).
• Perkin, Harold."Teaching the nations how to play: sport and society in the British empire and Commonwealth."International Journal of the History of Sport6#2 (1989): 145-155.doi:10.1080/09523368908713685

External links

• Nationalism, Competition, and Diplomacy: Asia at the 2012 London Olympics,Interview with Victor Cha (July 24, 2012).
• Nagy, Peter Tibor'To the history of sport politics and physical education in Hungary between the world wars 1920-1944',John Wesley College, Budapest.
• The Sporting Spirit,George Orwell (December 14, 1945).