Sports and Politics can no longer be separated

 Sports and Politics can no longer be separated

 

In the book How Soccer explains the world, written by Franklin Foer, we can recognize connections between our globalized world, politics, and international sports. It is a subject which is today very present in our society and our media. One of the most current events was the disappearance of the Chinese Tennis player Peng Shuai followed by a questionable and orchestrated emergence. The Women's Tennis Association reacted and canceled all tennis tournaments in China for next year. It is the right decision because the incident shows that one cannot separate sports and politics anymore.  

 

Disputes and intermingling between politics and sports are evident in many recent events. Sports becomes more and more political. Of course, politics has also shaped the sport in the past. One event that immediately comes to mind is the USA boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The USA reacted with this spectacular symbolic policy to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. However, the events are accumulating most recently. As examples, we can look at the discussions about Qatar's controversial World Cup or the conflicting Olympic Games in China, both taking place in 2022. Another example from soccer is the public discussions following the world-class German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer wearing a rainbow-color bandage in the soccer match against Hungary as solidarity against the bad treatment of the LTBQ+ community in Hungary this summer. 

Another recent and shocking event was the disappearance of the Chinese professional tennis player Peng Shuai. In early November, Peng Shuai, the former world number one in doubles, had posted allegations of sexual assault by a top Chinese politician on the Weibo social network. The entry was deleted soon after, and she was not seen for three weeks. Since then, representatives from sports and politics and human rights activists have expressed concern for the tennis player's well-being. Because of the growing international pressure, China published video clips that should prove that Peng Shuai is doing well. However, the videos show various inconsistencies in the editing, and Peng does not even talk herself. How she is doing, we don't know. As a reaction, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced canceling all tournaments in China, including Hong Kong. It is a step that seems only logical. One cannot let China go unpunished. However, it is a remarkable step. The WTA makes one-third of its revenue in China, and it still has a lot of potential because China is an uprising tennis nation. Furthermore, it is essential to know that the WTA does not have the same financial resources as the ATP, the Association of professional male tennis players. Still, the WTA puts ethics above profit. Other organizations, for example, the FIFA or the International Olympic Committee (IOC), act differently. Despite the alarming human rights situation, Qatar's World cup still takes place. Furthermore, the Olympic Games still take place in Beijing in February. These organizations and many others should take the WTA as a role model for their activities in China. 

 

The separation between sports and politics can no longer be maintained. The economic interdependencies are too significant. Furthermore, one can observe how countries, such as China with Peng Shuai, abuse their athletes for political purposes. Organizations must show their true colors and respond to such events with restrictive measures, like the WTA. Sport has tremendous power in today’s world. One has to use that. As a passionate tennis player and tennis fan, I'm happy and proud of the reaction of the WTA. Only in this way do organizations remain credible and popular with the fans. 

 

Nicolas Grünig, December 6