SPORT AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

SPORT AND NATIONAL IDENTITY

The United Nations Report on the International Year of Sport and Physical Education 2005 highlights the benefits that sport can bring in building national identity, especially at the level of elite sport.

Sport can provide a positive image of the nation to the international community. Studies on specific cases have shown that sport, especially football, can positively contribute to strengthening national pride and forming a cohesive national identity.

For example, a study on the case of football in Liberia shows that football is considered ‘a “neutral” pursuit – a common cultural property unspoiled by war’. During the civil conflict, football tournaments were considered the only occasions that produced a sense of national unity.
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On the other hand, sport can produce nationalist expressions that are detrimental to peace. For example, the 1956 Olympic water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union that took place after the Soviet invasion of Budapest led to violent clashes between the athletes.

In addition, many scholars associate the importing of modern sport into former colonies as an explicit strategy of imperialism and conquest. In this sense, it is necessary to consider both the potential dangers and benefits of sport in forming national identity.