Do Sports and Politics mix?

The IOC (International Olympic Committee) reportedly has ruled: that Iraqi athletes couldn’t participate in Olympic games. Reports of tribal warfare, sectarian skirmishes and the on-going escalated violence has isolated Iraq from the International community.

Should athletes participating in an International sport be held accountable for their countries sectarian divisions? How does this Shia vs Sunni conflict affect the morale of the larger country? With this International sanction being levied at such a crucial time of foreign policy how might the “International community” respond to Iraq’s snubbing; or is anyone watching and does anyone care?

What about American athletes playing baskeball this summer in China? Should they make a political statement about the genocide, rape, kidnapping, forced migration in Darfur, Sudan? It is a well known fact that China is one of the leading exporters of guns and ammunition to Darfur, Sudan. Is it wrong for us to expect our athletes to take a political stand for kinsmen on another continent they have never met?

 I say yes you have use your voice to create justice and equality for all people that is a Human Right! Although, I won’t hold them accountable if they don’t because not everyone can express the issues “appropriately.” Still, I say a long as the issue is addressed it matters not so much how we came to understand or learn about said issue; it’s not bout blame, rather solutions! We have to be proactive and self-determined!

At the end of the day, do sports and politics mix? How many fans really want their “teams” hero talking about societal ills,  social justice, and social welfare?