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Sports are awesome but not all is good in the world of sports, and today we here at the best betting software will talk a little about the darkness involving sports and politics.
Everything was (or is) a political tool. Those who think that the smallest type of entertainment does not carry any political bias or that it cannot serve as an instrument for this are mistaken. Sportswashing refers to the use of sports, particularly major international sporting events, as a tool to improve the image and reputation of a country or entity, often with the aim of distracting from or normalizing human rights abuses, corruption, or other negative aspects of the country or entity.
A Dark History
This was the case with the cinema in the 1930s, during the rampant rise of Hitlerism, on the threshold of World War II in Europe - when this industry was not only the world's main form of entertainment, but also of communication. People went to see a movie at least twice a week, making a movie theater a social meeting place as much as bars and restaurants.
Based on this culture, Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's right-hand man and Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi Party, decided that this was the best way to propagate the Nazi ideology. And it was no different with sports, either. Governments all over the world use sportswashing to camouflage a nation's flaws and problems.
Nazi Germany officially began the practice in 1936 by hosting the Olympics in Berlin. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the summer games to Berlin in 1931, before the fall of the Weimar government, and problems arose as soon as Hitler's government emerged.
Unions and groups opposed to the Nazis, from France to the United States, did not accept that the Olympics would become a piece of Nazi propaganda, but they could not prevent it. The German government even invited key stakeholders to sweep in discriminatory policies, but of course, with them controlling every aspect so that nothing was discovered.
In 1934, American athlete Avery Brundage was invited by the Germans to look into the internal policies of the event. Although he was received with the highest level of state hospitality, he was barred from meeting with any Jewish athletes.
Brundage's visit was marketed in a way that conveyed the idea that Nazism would welcome anyone, despite its ideology, but this was all pure window dressing. Starting with Brundage's personal anti-Semitic background, as well as his membership, at the time, in a Chicago sports club that banned Jews. Everything was carefully planned to give the impression that the Berlin Olympics could be held in an impartial manner.
Modern Times
During the 1978 World Cup hosted by Argentina, sport was used to try to camouflage the moment when the military government pursued an overwhelming policy of destroying dissent through arbitrary arrests, torture, and disappearance of people who spoke out against the government. There are even several stories that Argentine officials visited Peruvian players before Argentina's extraordinary match against defeated Peru, resulting in a 6-0 score.
In 2014, during the Sochi Olympics, groups widely released reports exposing the Chinese treatment of Muslims, as well as forced labor camps, mass sterilization of women, and arbitrary executions.
In the case of Qatar's 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, the practice attempted to hide and change its image on the international front regarding the country's terrible human rights record, murderous homophobia, racial prejudice, and other social problems.
Mega-events such as the Olympics, Winter Games, and the World Cup have a long history of sportswashing in countries, especially those with authoritarian governments that have used sports to promote an image of social and economic stability, normalcy, and order. According to the events' guidelines, this practice is considered acceptable because it is politics in its purest form - but as long as nothing undermines the integrity of the events.
Unfortunately, so far there hasn't been a ruler who hasn't ignored criticism by appealing to the unifying nature of sport, while trying at all costs to promote an image of reliability, respectability, and internationalism that sport supposedly embodies as a transformative power - and which are generally unrealistic values.
We hope you liked this little piece about the weird, and sometimes sad, world of sports, and if you did, stay tuned because bettingsoftware.com will be back soon with more great content for you!
Everything was (or is) a political tool. Those who think that the smallest type of entertainment does not carry any political bias or that it cannot serve as an instrument for this are mistaken. Sportswashing refers to the use of sports, particularly major international sporting events, as a tool to improve the image and reputation of a country or entity, often with the aim of distracting from or normalizing human rights abuses, corruption, or other negative aspects of the country or entity.
A Dark History
This was the case with the cinema in the 1930s, during the rampant rise of Hitlerism, on the threshold of World War II in Europe - when this industry was not only the world's main form of entertainment, but also of communication. People went to see a movie at least twice a week, making a movie theater a social meeting place as much as bars and restaurants.
Based on this culture, Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler's right-hand man and Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi Party, decided that this was the best way to propagate the Nazi ideology. And it was no different with sports, either. Governments all over the world use sportswashing to camouflage a nation's flaws and problems.
Nazi Germany officially began the practice in 1936 by hosting the Olympics in Berlin. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the summer games to Berlin in 1931, before the fall of the Weimar government, and problems arose as soon as Hitler's government emerged.
Unions and groups opposed to the Nazis, from France to the United States, did not accept that the Olympics would become a piece of Nazi propaganda, but they could not prevent it. The German government even invited key stakeholders to sweep in discriminatory policies, but of course, with them controlling every aspect so that nothing was discovered.
In 1934, American athlete Avery Brundage was invited by the Germans to look into the internal policies of the event. Although he was received with the highest level of state hospitality, he was barred from meeting with any Jewish athletes.
Brundage's visit was marketed in a way that conveyed the idea that Nazism would welcome anyone, despite its ideology, but this was all pure window dressing. Starting with Brundage's personal anti-Semitic background, as well as his membership, at the time, in a Chicago sports club that banned Jews. Everything was carefully planned to give the impression that the Berlin Olympics could be held in an impartial manner.
Modern Times
During the 1978 World Cup hosted by Argentina, sport was used to try to camouflage the moment when the military government pursued an overwhelming policy of destroying dissent through arbitrary arrests, torture, and disappearance of people who spoke out against the government. There are even several stories that Argentine officials visited Peruvian players before Argentina's extraordinary match against defeated Peru, resulting in a 6-0 score.
In 2014, during the Sochi Olympics, groups widely released reports exposing the Chinese treatment of Muslims, as well as forced labor camps, mass sterilization of women, and arbitrary executions.
In the case of Qatar's 2022 World Cup in the Middle East, the practice attempted to hide and change its image on the international front regarding the country's terrible human rights record, murderous homophobia, racial prejudice, and other social problems.
Mega-events such as the Olympics, Winter Games, and the World Cup have a long history of sportswashing in countries, especially those with authoritarian governments that have used sports to promote an image of social and economic stability, normalcy, and order. According to the events' guidelines, this practice is considered acceptable because it is politics in its purest form - but as long as nothing undermines the integrity of the events.
Unfortunately, so far there hasn't been a ruler who hasn't ignored criticism by appealing to the unifying nature of sport, while trying at all costs to promote an image of reliability, respectability, and internationalism that sport supposedly embodies as a transformative power - and which are generally unrealistic values.
We hope you liked this little piece about the weird, and sometimes sad, world of sports, and if you did, stay tuned because bettingsoftware.com will be back soon with more great content for you!
