Symposium- EKD: The Debate surrounding Sports and Politics

Frankfurt a.M. (epd). Representatives of science, sport and churches discussed the relationship between sport and politics at the 5th Sport Ethics Conference of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The Aachen sports and cultural scientist Sven Güldenpfennig emphasized the autonomy of sport from politics. Sport should not be used as an instrument, he pleaded on Tuesday at the Evangelical Academy in Frankfurt am Main. Therefore, the scientist turned against the boycott of sporting events for political reasons. The campaign against Qatar as the host country of the 2022 World Cup was “unfair”.

Observing human rights cannot be a prerequisite for holding sporting events, said Güldenpfenig. Otherwise no international competitions could take place at all. Responsibility for politics lies with international diplomacy. The exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions is also a mistake. In sport, the principle applies to grant free access and not to discriminate. He also has no peace policy message, he can only present the model of non-violent competition. When sport bows to political interests, it sacrifices its “core of meaning” on the altar of a political attitude, the scientist summed up.

The Sports Commissioner of the EKD Council, the Rhenish President Thorsten Latzel, contradicted this position. From the Olympic Games in ancient Greece to the boycott of Olympic Games by nations in more recent times, the sport has always been political, he said. The question is whether sport promotes an open, civil society or whether politicians can do whatever they want. The decision for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup must therefore be questioned. Where human rights are massively violated, the instrumentalization of sport by politics must be opposed, said the President of the Evangelical Press Service (epd). The international sports federations do not currently represent the purposelessness of sport.