The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

In 776 BC the city of Olympia inaugurated the tradition of reuniting all

the city-states within Greece. Olympics were sacred festivals honoring

Zeus and therefore wars had to stop for the duration of the games. A

safe passage was guaranteed to every athlete in their journey home.

The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

The truce imposed by the Olympic Games served the purpose of

reducing the hostilities in the Mediterranean Sea. And that was good

for business.

The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

Greeks had wide acceptance of violence

The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

A prize-winner athlete was considered a national

hero and could return home and live the rest of his

life out of the gifts he received

The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

Sport was a central part

of the Greek education.

We regard Socrates or

Plato as great thinkers

but they were also

considered great

athletes by their

contemporaries

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/platos-body-and-mine.html

The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

In 393 AD the Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned the

Olympic Games. As pagans festivals, they were believed to

contradict the teachings of the Christian Faith

The meaning of

sportOrigins of sport

In 1896 Baron de Coubertin reinstated the Olympic Games

The meaning of

sport

Sport as a

religion

1. the stadium as the Sacred land

2. Social groups stratified in the terrace

3. Sacred calendar

4. Sacred numbers and tokens

5. Superstition

6. Trophies, cups: elevation

7. Offering the victory to God

Origins of sportSport and

Religion

1. the stadium as the Sacred land

2. Social groups stratified in the terrace

3. Sacred calendar

4. Sacred numbers and tokens

5. Superstition

6. Trophies, cups: elevation

7. Offering the victory to God

The meaning of

sport

Origins of Modern

Sport

Some scholars (Brohm, Bourdieu, Dunning) point out that,

contrary to common thinking, sport is not “as old as the world”

19th Century 21st Century

“Sports restore to mankind some of the functions which

machines have taken away from him”

Adorno (circa 1972)

The meaning of

sport

Origins of Modern

Sport

In the UK, public (boarding) schools designed a method to

educate the children of the bourgeoisie

http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Excitement-Leisure-Civilizing-Process/dp/0631146547

The meaning of

sport

Origins of Modern

Sport

Sport was a leisure activity for social control. Insurrection and

sexuality in adolescents were to be uprooted.

The meaning of

sportOrigins of Football

Before the 19th century some games already resembled the game

of football

The meaning of

sportOrigins of Football

In 1848 the Cambridge Rules were redacted. By that time,

each town had its own set of rules for playing football

The meaning of

sportOrigins of Football

In 1863 Ebenezer Morley, an English solicitor, wrote a letter to a

newspaper, The Bell’s Life, proposing a meeting in order to

negotiate a common set of rules

The meaning of

sportOrigins of Football

On 26 October 1863 representatives of a number of football clubs

gathered at the Freemason’s Tavern in Covent Garden, London.

They created the Football Association (FA).

The meaning of

sportOrigins of Football

Many clubs originated in the workplace. Workers from the factories

team up to form football clubs

Arsenal FC (Royal Arsenal)- 1886 Manchester United FC (Lancashire

and Yorkshire Railway)- 1878

The meaning of

sport

Can we draw a

parallel between sport

values and current

society?

1. Success through effort

2. Meritocracy

3. Healthy life

4. Competitiveness

5. Regulated violence

6. Progress

7. Star system, “the best suited ones”

8. The “allowed” emotions

9. Everything can be quantified

Why Sport

Matters

1. Success through effort

2. Meritocracy

3. Healthy life

Enemy Rival

4. Competitiveness

“Sport is the capitalistically distorted form of play”

Allen Guttman (1978)

Would you rather support a winning team or an amusing team?

5. Regulated violence

“The first laws ever to be voluntarily embraced by men from a

variety of cultures and backgrounds are the laws of sports”

Ali Mazrui (1976)

“Sport works as a legitimating tool of the establishment. Sport is

always conciliatory, never rebellious. The legitimating function

comes from its optimistic ideology which believes in an

uninterrupted, ascending and lineal progress”

JM Brohm (1993)

“Sport is one of the strongest factors removing the element of

play from bodily activity. A child which practices a sport is no

longer playing but is taking his place in a world of serious

matters, sanctioned by authority”

JM Brohm (1976)

6. Progress

7. Star system

8. The ‘allowed’ emotions

“Pleasure is, so to speak, nature’s vengeance. In pleasure men

disavow thought and escape civilization”

Horkheimer and Adorno (1972)

9. Everything can be quantified

The meaning of

sport

Why Sport

Matters

Final

questions

Can we talk about the ‘sportivization’ of our society?

“Claims to identify among football fans are often charged with

moral imperatives about “true”, “life-long”, “real”, “genuine”

support. Football fans like to see themselves as active

participants in the drama of elite-level performances. Perhaps

this is one of the reasons why football has, in our time, evolved

into a dominant embodiment of civic pride and identity in

Europe, South America, Africa and large part of Asia”

Thore Roksvold and Roy KrØvel (2012)

Do you think FC Barcelona supporters would claim Barça to be their

‘primary social identity’? Rather than “being Catalan”?

Do you think Green Bay Packers’ supporters would claim “being a

Packer” their ‘primary social identity’? Rather than “being American”?

“The sports spectacle is a key factor for the “fascistization” of the

masses (parades, flags, anthems, salutes…). People get used to

the military and police repressive apparatus, always present in

sports contests”

JM Brohm (1993)

Sport: “A quest for excitement in unexciting societies”

Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning (1970)