A popular saying goes thus, " Together with stand, divided we fall". Sport has succeeded hugely in making us stand together. There's no doubt that sports like football, cricket, hockey, basketball, etc., help foster unity among the people of various backgrounds, social groups, ethnicity and religion.

Sport is a unique and a very important connective tissue that binds people together.

During sports, the people are usually seen celebrating and cheering the players to victory. They attach their emotions with the games, they share their thoughts, cheer their victory and be sad on their defeat even beyond ethnic, countries, religions boundries.

You'd agree with me that playing game effectively necessitates proper communication and coordination. The coaches have crucial roles to play in organising and bringing personalities and varied attitudes together.

To achieve a common goal, the fans unite under the same roof of supporting the team.

By bringing the fans together, sports unifies them. Friends are made among the huge crowd that turn out to watch matches. The fans share their joy and be entertained.

As we think of unity forums, we think of many as powerful as the stadia we do fill to cheer to cheer our favourite teams and players, and equally think of the fields we do play together for pleasure and exercise.

A lot of countries are in one form of conflict or the other. But during games, they do come together on neighbourhood pitches and in packed stadium, putting their differences aside for the sake of their teams.

The role of sports in eradicating conflict among the people could be traced back to establishment of Olympic games. Olympic games came on board when a Delphi oracle in the 19th BC, advised Iphitos, king of Elis to organise a peaceful sporting events to put an end to the armed conflict that was plaguing Greece at that time. King Iphitos created the Olympic truce after due consultation with his fellow monarchs. This Olympic truce was reintroduced at the modern games in 1994, remaining an ideal of the olympic movement, with a related UN resolution passed every 2 years before each Olympics.

No matter how countries hate each other, when facing each other in sports, they do fill the stadium, share the joy and the spirit of the games do subdue their differencies.

Nelson Mandela of blessed memories recognized the unique power of sports to heal and bring a deeply divided South Africa together.

In his words in the year 2000, Mandela said, "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where there was only despair"

Also in history, the pro tennis doubles team of India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi had a successful partnership over a number of years, even when they've been in conflict.

Credit to weforum.org

All images are from google.com 

Indeed sports unites the world.

Thanks so much for reading!

I am Hanniel!