Dr. Mahfoud Amara
Sport can provide a platform for expressing and strengthening citizenship, fostering a sense of belonging to both the community and the nation at large. With its ability to mobilize the nation around the flag and the national team, sport showcases unity, as well as ethnic and racial diversity.
By promoting values such as togetherness and resilience, sport can effectively embody and promote a nation’s values and history, considering the close ties between nation-state formation and integration within the international sport system represented by the International Olympic Committee and International Sport Federations.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics stands out as one of the most memorable moments, symbolizing national celebration through the flag bearer and traditional dress. For small nations and islands, this ceremony holds even greater significance than the competition itself.
Community and grassroots sports, encompassing schools, public parks, and youth clubs, provide opportunities to engage residents of different age groups and generations.
While sport is often associated with children and youth, elderly individuals who have contributed to the nation in various sectors also deserve access to community sports.
In societies where diversity is the norm, community bonding through sport should facilitate interactions between different ethnic groups, while respecting and appreciating their respective cultural diversity.
The challenge lies in finding the right balance between fostering a sense of national belonging and being inclusive and sensitive to cultural specificities.
Another dimension of community sport involves fostering connections between different communities and various state institutions, including education, health, economy, and security forces, among others.
The goal here is to build trust among different communities and these institutions, utilizing sport as an opportunity for communication, dialogue, and capacity building to tackle societal problems.
However, it’s important to recognize that sport mirrors society. While victories by national teams or athletes in international competitions can momentarily boost national morale and generate a feel-good factor, they should not overshadow the socio-economic realities of the country or the growing disparities between social classes, as well as between the center (of neo-liberalism) and the periphery (the suburbs and housing estates).
For instance, after the French national football team’s triumph in the 1998 and 2018 FIFA World Cups (and being the runner-up in 2022), some promoted it as a symbol of the French republican model of integration, represented by successful generations of talented French players from diverse backgrounds (interestingly, the term ethnicity is not accepted in the French context, hence there is no ethnic-based census of the population in France).
However, others, influenced by far-right ideologies, interpreted the increasing diversity within the French national team as a threat to the “true” French identity.
The triumph of the national team did not prevent the riots of 2005 and subsequent ones. The success of French individuals of North African descent, primarily in football (exemplified by Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema), has overshadowed other achievements in academia, science, and entrepreneurship, which receive limited recognition in mainstream media.
Even these players, who have been international ambassadors for French football, have had to repeatedly prove their loyalty to their country of citizenship, more so than their country and culture of origin.
While we cannot disregard the power of sport in promoting, strengthening, and celebrating national unity, it is crucial to follow community and grassroots initiatives with strategies that offer inclusive sporting experiences for diverse communities, while also fostering connections with other state institutions.
Furthermore, in the realm of politics and media, it is important to promote a discourse that acknowledges and embraces the cultural and ethnic diversity within the nation.
These combined efforts can further strengthen the sense of trust and social contract between (all) citizens and the nation.
Dr. Mahfoud Amara is an Associate Professor in Sport Social Sciences and Management at Qatar University.
