The Power of International Sport

Right at the start of the Germany vs. Ghana Match held in Fortaleza, Brazil 2014.

Earlier this year, Julia Ioffe, a contributing writer at The Atlantic, wrote an opinion piece arguing to ban the Olympics. (The audacity, I know). Ioffe stated “[the Olympics] fuel corruption, make countries spend pointlessly and profligately, inflame nationalist sentiment, act as onanistic stand-ins for geopolitical tensions, and cloak authoritarian leaders in legitimacy.”

Wowww, homegirl has some strong sentiments against International Sport. (Also if you needed to look up the word “onanistic,” you are not alone).

In truth, she’s not wrong. Salt Lake City bought the 2002 Olympics, the 2012 Winter Olympics were held in one of Russia’s warmest cities, Lance Armstrong doped for years, Brazil built a multi-million dollar stadium that will only be used four times and Sepp Blatter is a bad dude. We get it – there is corruption and politics in sports, just like everything else.

However, what was most frustrating in Ioffe’s piece was her question: “What’s in it for us?” She noted that outside of Olympic level athletes who may or may not realize a life long ambition, that we, the mere mortals who cannot do a triple backflip or ski 97 mph, get nothing out of sport. For that, I would like to personally attest the above is a false statement.

First, let me drop a quote from one of the world's greatest leaders: Nelson Mandela. 

"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand."

When I think back to my first Olympics (as a spectator of course), I remember Kerri Strug landing on one foot- let me say that again ONE FOOT- off vault to secure Team USA an Olympic Gold. I was seven years old and remember learning the concepts of sacrifice and determination- two values that can be applied to many more industries outside of sport.

During the 1998 Olympics Michelle Kwan took Silver and it’s possible I was more devastated than she was.  Kwan handled defeat with superior grace and was a genuine representation of the Olympic Spirit. As the founder of the modern day Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, said “The most important part of the Olympic Games is not winning, but taking part.”

On that note, think of the potential athletes have as ambassadors. I would argue that international athletes are better known to the global public than actual delegates at the United Nations. Athletes and mega sporting events bring people together of so many backgrounds. On a pitch, a track, a vault or in a pool, one’s skin color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or voting record does not dictate who wins or loses, but dedication, determination and discipline.

The core values listed above, taught through sport, again, do not apply to just the sport industry.

I know that Ms. Ioffe was v. specific to the Olympics, but I want to fast forward to 2006 to another International Sporting Event: The FIFA World Cup.

Now say what you want about Seppy (ya, I nicknamed him) and players like Neymar who make disgusting amounts of money, but the World Cup has unspeakable power and potential to do good in this world.

They say math is a universal language, but after learning trigonometry in Italian, I have to dispute that claim. Yet football (or soccer to my fellow Americans) is a universal language with multiple dialects that unites fans from all over the world.

Tell me something else that has that level of power. Maybe watching NASA launch its first rocket to the moon?

Let me get back to 2006. I was an exchange student in Milan and my Italian friends took me to the city center to watch the USA vs. Italy match. The entire neighborhood was out- kids, teenagers, adults, and grandparents. This game unified a community. A goal was scored and strangers hugged! Now, Ioffe would argue that inflates nationalism, but what’s wrong with being proud of where you come from?

Zoom ahead to the final where I was in Rome awaiting my flight back to the US. I watched Italy win while surrounded by 300 fellow foreign exchange students from all over the world and we all wanted one thing: for Italy, our host country, to win.

Football, like many other sports, has the power to create and unite diverse communities.  In fact, the concept of community happens to be one of the founding ideas for the Paralympics which, fun fact, actually started as a physical therapy project in England known as the Stoke Mandeville Games. The entire goal was to foster a community that would encourage rehabilitation efforts and camaraderie for injured war veterans.

I mean, how flipping cool is that?

Sport is not just about staying fit or making sure kids are well rounded enough to get into a good college, sport has the power to level the playing field. Admittedly in the past and present sport is used as a political ploy. I say this so that anyone reading (namely my DC friends who wholeheartedly questioned why I wanted to associate my name with FIFA) understands that I know that sport is not all goals, hugs and valuable life lessons.

Throughout history, sport became a political pawn- 1980 USA vs. USSR Hockey Game anyone? I mean, amazing game and great Disney movie, but that was the Cold War on ice. Sport has also been used as a platform for violence – look at Munich 1972, but the takeaway here is the world’s higher ups understand the power and potential for sport. We, the “us”, Ms. Ioffe referred to, just need a little assurance that moving forward sport will be used for good rather than lining the pockets of old white dudes and deprive children in third world countries from education because a nice stadium looks better on TV.

Too harsh?

Anyways, Ioffe seemed to think that no one in FIFA or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was willing to open their eyes and learn from mistakes.

But that’s where she’s really wrong.

Check out The Olympic Agenda 2020, which focuses on reducing bid city spending by mandating a percentage of existing infrastructures and encourages progressive green energy designs.

Still not enough?

The Qatar 2022 World Cup is building stadiums that will hold estimated World Cup fan attendances but can later be disassembled to suffice to local Qatari crowds. Sport will establish protocols for mega events all over the world and drive innovation that can be applied to multiple industries.

Ioffe failed to appreciate or recognize that the world of sport is capable of learning from its mistakes. Look at UEFA, where they’ve instituted something called “Financial Fair Play,” aka FFP. Now, FFP is designed for financial fairness, but that in no way means competitive equality. What it does do however is ensure players are paid.

I know, my mind was blown too when I learned that football clubs could actually get away with NOT paying players. Players are employees, but clubs that spent too much money on one big expensive player, failed to afford the other 10 guys on the pitch.  FFP encourages clubs to be fiscally responsible and ensures athletes can feed their families.

Contrary to Ioffe’s belief that athletes are more or less just people who train a lot for a few moments of glory, being an athlete is a full-time job. Athletes are parents, active members of communities and they also pay taxes (well most of them pay taxes….lookin’ atchu Messi).

Also, I know all of the above plans to improve international sport/mega events are easier said than done, but with the right people, anything is possible. 

Sport is a simple game where the good outweighs the bad, but the media likes to focus on the bad when there is so much more.  I mean before I moved to Brazil to work for the 2014 World Cup, the media basically ensured my parents I would be kidnapped and left to die in a favela. Quite the opposite, I met some of the nicest people in the favelas and they taught me some killer dance moves.

While Ms. Ioffe would like to ban the Olympics, I would like to ensure international mega events are here to stay. To her question “what’s in it for us?” I say watch the look on a little boy’s face when Ronaldo scores a goal. Look at heart of the Yusra Mardini who not only competed in the Olympics, but swam her family to safety out of Syria. Look at my face at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

I could talk about how much I love sport, international events, athletes, P&G "Thanks Mom" commercials, the friends I've made working in sports, the friends I've made playing sports, but in sum the world needs international sporting events. In the end, the match, the game, or the competition is important, but that's just the surface, what is most important is the dramatic and positive effect sports have on global communities. International Sport creates a global stage to teach and remind us there is always something bigger than ourselves; that we are all human. But some of us can run a little faster or jump a little higher.

"Soccer is the second passion for Brazilians, second to the people. Welcome." I think this airport sign says it best.