The international sports connections are an organic part of international relationships. Before speaking about the political ideology in sport, we shall emphasize that the international sports organization is, first of all, the international organization, and the international organization’s influence on their activity and norms of international law.
International Olympic Day was celebrated in many countries of the world on June 23. In 1894 on this day, the international congress on problems of physical training had approved that the first Olympic Games should take place in 1896 in Athens. To organize the Games, the International Olympic Committee was formed.
The Olympic Games help to overcome political, ideological, cultural, and racial distinctions, which differ in universal character. They have the world’s popularity and support. The competition for the right of having the Olympiad, in essence, is a competition by way of the state power, economic potential, scientific and technical opportunities, and cultural appeal, competition in the field of the state image, and a national rating. The one who has won the right to have Olympic Games has actually won respect, trust, and an arrangement from the world community and has received the permit for faster integration into its family.
It is worth mentioning that the Olympic Games, in some cases, were the tool of political propaganda and ideology. As the best example of that is the Olympiad in Berlin in 1936, by means of which Hitler wished to show the world the superiority of Nazi Germany.
Speaking about FIFA and political ideology, it is worth mentioning that football became the factor of world politics. According to Cooper’s version, it is a display of national character. In 2003 the World Bank published the report according to which football becomes a symbol of globalization. That is why it is possible to say that it has a strong political ideology.
In many countries, football is used by the authorities for the achievement of political purposes and additional charging of patriotism. The governments, by means of the favorite game of hundreds of millions, try to raise the status of the country on the international scene.
The international organizations in sports are formed during the long process of international relations development – economic relations, cultural relations, trade relations, and others. That is why there is always the context of political ideology. Before the international sports relations were expressed basically in bilateral contacts of the national sports organizations, which are carried out mostly in the form of competitions. Sports connections of the countries were carried out by means of contractual relations within the limits of agreements on cultural and scientific cooperation, which subscribed by the governments. Gradually the local relations began to get the character of multilateral contacts to the national sports organizations of the several countries.
References
- Levermore R. (2003) Sport and International Relations: An Emerging Relationship (Sport in the Global Society), Frank Cass; 1 edition
- Masterman Guy (2004) Strategic Sports Event Management: An international approach (Hospitality, Leisure, and Tourism), Butterworth-Heinemann
- Riordan Jim (1999) International Politics of Sport in the 20th Century, Spon Press; 1 edition