The religion of sport

Sport is an important part of a country’s national identity. Sport functions in a similar way to religion, hence it’s often referred to as a sort of quasi religion. It provides people with a system of symbols that attribute meaning to experience. Wann notes that sport can be discussed in terms of natural and humanistic religion, pointing out that ‘spectators worship other human beings, their achievements, and the groups to which they belong’ (2001:200). Where sports are played and watched, stadia and arenas, also resemble ‘cathedrals where followers gather to worship their heroes and pray for their successes’ [Wann, et al., 2001: 200]. Barcelona football club is a great example of a nation that has invested so much in the religion of soccer, which is probably one of the reasons the club has been so successful. The country has taken on its football team as an important symbol of their national identity and cultural and social heritage. Xifra says that there are: ‘thousands of supporters who are not only passionate about Barca but who also see Barca as a symbol to which they attribute transcendental meanings and truths’ (2008: 193).

I’m from South Africa. And in South Africa, sport has always had the power to unify. In a diverse country like Safa land, unification is something that is often difficult to achieve. The happiest, most patriotic moments in our history (excluding Mandela’s release from prison and his subsequent presidency) have been sports-related. Winning the 1995 and 2007 rugby world cups and hosting the 2010 soccer world cup stand out as events with enormous cultural, social, economic and political significance. I experienced the magic of the 2010 soccer world cup the same year that I was due to move to Australia. The experience, the way our country came together in an unprecedented way, the support and the spirit, made it so much harder to leave my country of birth. I had never been prouder to be a South African.  ‘Seen in this light, ethnic or national symbols and rituals are vital for the members of a given human group to be able to affirm their awareness of belonging and self-identification in a way that is clear to others’ (Wann et al., 2001). I could see how the world cup became a way for South Africa to express itself as a successful African country. Preston Davis reflects on what a game like soccer can and cannot do, concluding that ‘World Cup soccer, like religion, possesses a beauty that humanises’ (2010). He goes on to say that sport ‘mysteriously wields us together and separates us all at once.’ (Davis, 2010)

While sport as a whole provides this unifying experience, it still reinforces inherent racial divides. While the South African Apartheid government indoctrinated the entire country with their flawed and violent ideals, they ensured that emphasis was placed on traditionally white sports, like rugby. Sport may unify, but in countries with problems of inherent racism, it unifies the same people – whites with whites, blacks with blacks. The Afrikaans government decided that rugby would be an Afrikaans sport, while others were reserved for non-whites and English whites. South Africa has been a democracy for 16 years, yet the rugby team is still predominantly white and the soccer team 95% black. While sport is positioned as a national symbol for South Africa, it is a symbol that perpetuates a lot of the racism that will, unfortunately, forever live on. 

Sport cannot take away from the tragedy associated with Apartheid, but it can provide transcendence from it. Alexandra Fuller’s profile on South Africa is insightful. She says that Apartheid is still there, always, wherever you go:  ‘scratch the surface of any community, and one way or another there it is, the A-word.’ I think she’s right. She asks whether the game (soccer) can make South Africa’s messy history just history – something of the past. I don’t believe it can, but I am fully aware of the immense, positive impact sport has on a country like South Africa. My favourite memories of my country involve the patriotism and spirit that sport brings with it. In this light, sport is an important ritual for members of society.

References

Davis, P. Soccer and the sublime in the shadow of Apartheid. 2010. Religion Dispatches Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/2784/soccer_and_the_sublime_in_the_shadow_of_apartheid

Fuller, A. South Africa. 2010. National Geographic. Retrieved from:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/south-africa/fuller-text

Wann, D. L., Melznick, M. J., Russell, G. W., & Pease, D. G. 2001. Sport fans: The psychology and social impact of spectators .New York: Routledge

Xifra, J. 2008.Soccer, civil religion, and public relations: Devotional–promotional

communication and Barcelona Football Club. Public Relations Review 34. 192–198