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You can’t keep politics out of sport because sport is politics

Francois Pienaar receives the World Cup trophy from Nelson Mandela. (AFP PHOTO/JEAN-PIERRE MULLER)
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29th September, 2017
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Despite the Australian winter sports about to head into their respective off seasons, the debate surrounding sport’s role in society is fiery as ever.

With the recent anthem protests in the US it has highlighted an increasing division in opinions with the mindset either being they are exercising their right to peaceful protest to accusations of disrespecting their nation and wrongly using sport to promote a political agenda.

From Journalists, experts and message boards both in the US and abroad the catchcry “keep politics out of sport” has frequently arisen.

The reality is that this statement is an impossibility, as the two concepts are one and the same. One can’t exist without the other.

People are okay with the day to day politics of sport and it is everywhere, in fact along with the media we thrive off it, be it the injustice of consistent Friday night games for the Broncos, accusations of favouritism towards clubs (AFL, NRL, A-League), struggles between clubs and players, players and coaches or coaches and clubs.

However when an athlete uses this platform to protest something more meaningful or significant, humanity has a poor track record dealing with such public display of protests. Below are some of the more modern examples

The 1968 Olympic Protest
At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, 22 African American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos after taking out the gold and bronze medals in the 200m performed the black power salute at the medal ceremony in protest to racial inequality in the United States.

The immediate aftermath was to be booed as they left the stadium (sound familiar NFL?).

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IOC President Avery Brundage deemed it to be a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games and he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village.

Following the Olympics Smith and Carlos were largely ostracised by the US sporting establishment and they were subject to criticism, abuse and they and their families received death threats.

Peter Norman the Australian Sprinter who took silver in the race, who was sympathetic to his and supported Smith and Carlos’ protest, was largely ostracised by the Australian sporting community and despite qualifying 13 times over was not picked for the 1972 Summer Olympics.

When Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.

Today this protest is much better received and is seen as a matter of pride not disgust for the Olympic Games being an example of athletes putting principle over personal interest.

Nicky Winmar and Adam Goodes
Closer to home, no one in AFL and very few Australians outside of AFL aren’t familiar with the image of Nicky Winmar’s response to ongoing racial abuse he received from Supporters while playing.

In a match for St Kilda in Round 4 of the 1993 season, Winmar was racially abused by supporters of the opposing team. At the conclusion of the game, Winmar lifted up his jumper and, facing to the crowd, pointed to his skin.

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The photos showing Winmar’s gesture is one of the most recognised photos in Australian sporting history and has been credited as a catalyst for the movement against racism in Australian football, though in recent history this seems to have been forgotten.

Adam Goodes a legend of the game and well respected who was initially applauded for his response to racial abuse he received from a 13-year-old in 2013 and was made Australian of the Year in 2014, used his acceptance speech to state that perhaps more could be done to combat racism and inequality in Australia.

The consequences for this was to endure a campaign of systematic booing from crowds at every game he played. The AFL at the time were unable or unwilling to take any action to support Goodes and experts/identities within the game fearing or embracing the wrath of the mob lined up to criticise Goodes, it all cumulated Goodes not even attending the AFL grand final the year he retired (as is a customary honour for all retiring players).

Adam Goodes takes a stand

(Photo: Andrew White/AFL Media)

The worse part about this saga was the denial by critics that this criticism had nothing to do with his Australia Day speech, but rather a tendency to allegedly milk free kicks. While Nicky Winmar’s stance was a massive step forward in the discussion about racial equality in Australia, the Adam Goodes saga was a step back, like the protests and stances before time will vindicate Goodes and vilify his critics.

NFL Anthem Protests
In 2016 Colin Kaepernick began to Kneel During the US National anthem protest to the treatment of the African American community by law enforcement. This issue is still tearing through the sporting world with neither side looking to compromise and over a hundred NFL players kneeling in protest during last week’s game in response to the current US presidents demands for them to be fired for these protests.

A more direct consequence for Kaepernick is that he no longer has an NFL contract.

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick throws during the first quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

Colin Kaepernick (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

While the above can make for grim reading, there are examples in which sport using its platform to be a positive driver of politics with the best example being the following.

The 1995 Rugby World Cup
When the 1995 Rugby World Cup came around, South Africa under the leadership of Nelson Mandela was still finding its feet after the end of the apartheid era.

Following his election victory as a prisoner for 27 years it could have been a harsh but understandable approach to dismantle every single item or symbol related to the Apartheid era, and although the Springboks had been an entity since the turn of the 20th Century, the protests held during the matches made many in Mandela’s party wanting South African Rugby to remove the Springboks as the South African team.

What happened next was nothing short of remarkable. Not only did Mandela throw his support behind retaining the Springboks as the national side, but the footage of Mandela wearing a Springbok shirt presenting the trophy to the captain Francois Pienaar following them winning the world cup was a gesture widely seen as a major step towards the reconciliation of white and black South Africans.

Nelson Mandela hands the William Webb Ellis Trophy to Francois Pienaar

(AFP PHOTO/JEAN-PIERRE MULLER)

I could go on with other examples of politics injecting itself into sport and vice versa (even now the SSM issue and the complaints of some about stances taken by sporting bodies, even what song is being sung at half time in the NRL final) but the reality is that politics is part of all aspects of people’s lives and sport is no exception.

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The above are examples of when there is perceived inequality and injustice in a democratic society there will always be protests, athletes are part of this society and are living breathing human beings with morals and principles of their own and, should be applauded not pillared for putting their principles over their personal interest and using their platform to draw attention to issues of importance in society.

Rather than follow the playbook of history, when the next athlete uses sport to protest (and there will be) perhaps we should listen to the point they’re trying to make before we decide if they deserve our criticism or not, we might even find ourselves on the right side of history for a change.

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