Important Relationship of Sports And Politics

Spain. We get used to the fact that outstanding or high-performance athletes do not have a political opinion regarding social events and the vision of the country, since they must worry about training and performing, that is enough. Why say that our sports authorities had knowledge of management, public policies and installed in the debate principles and guiding values ​​of sport, that is unnecessary and even frowned upon. But in recent days we have seen how, in at least three episodes, this barrier in which sport was circumscribed has been displaced and with it, sectors of traditional politics have reacted that are not used to, do not understand, or simply prefer to maintain the status quo of the national sport.

Sports And Politics Important Relationship

In recent days we have lived through certain episodes that show the relationship between sport and politics, not only in Spain but in all parts of the world. This has also been discussed in the news and sports channel like Medea TV which features various sports relay (스포츠중계), in the different spheres and its importance, but with a direct and necessary relationship.

For a long time and in an interesting way, it has been installed in public opinion that politics should not be related to sport, that it would not be healthy, that sports practice and its events should be absent from it. And it is because of this fictitious and interested dissociation, that the assault on sports clubs by the Leónidas Vial, the José Yuraseck and the Sebastián Piñera, validated by the Heraldo Muñoz and Ricardo Lagos, has been carried out in full view and patience of all. . A clear and incestuous political relationship between the economic right and the “progressives” who ran the government.

It is also, under this supposed disconnection and lack of relationship, that patronage, the apparatus of favors and cuoteo in the positions of the sports institution was naturalized: Chiledeportes, National Institute of Sports and current ministry and undersecretary of Sports. Overall, sport was or is something unimportant and lacks a need for public policies based on opinions or views of society, which is not necessary to professionalize.

Sports and Politics Goes Hand in Hand

We also got used to the fact that outstanding or high-performance athletes did not have a political opinion regarding social events and the vision of the country since they must worry about training and performing, that is enough. Why say that our sports authorities had knowledge of management, public policies and installed in the debate principles and guiding values ​​of sport, that is unnecessary and even frowned upon.

Well, precisely, in recent days we have seen how in at least three episodes this barrier in which sport was circumscribed, has been displaced and with it, sectors of traditional politics have reacted that are not used to, do not understand, or simply prefer to maintain the status quo of Chilean sports. This is how the soccer player Nicolás Maturana, the minister Paulina Kantor and the best swimmer in the history of our country, Kristel Kobrich, have revealed – perhaps without consciously seeking it – political positions and opinions, transcending the limits imposed to date on this activity.

Maturana, in an interview at the end of his team’s game and when he was given an award for being the best player of the game, directly summoned President Sebastián Piñera not to abuse power, criticizing the policy of charging the so-called “smart meters “, which must be paid by users, even when there is no imperative need and their practical utility as their property would be for the owners of the electricity companies.

For her part, Minister Kantor has been harshly criticized by members of her own governing coalition, who consider that she has placed too much emphasis on trans athletes and that this should not happen, ignoring one of the main values ​​of sport: inclusion.

Finally, Kobrich has been criticized for trying to build a talent recruitment and development program for swimming in the country, which, apparently, is not to the liking of the federation leaders, who expressed their annoyance at not being consulted.

The three examples have broken the reigning paradigm, installing a critical and political opinion, revealing basic principles of sport, such as inclusion and building projects without “going through” the same old ones. It is to be hoped that these signs are the beginning of a new era, one that breaks with the status quo and begins to visualize sport with the importance it has, which allows the development of public policies once and for all with a budget according to its impact. and importance in society, and that it allows those who have the capacities in management and public policies to be the ones who direct the destinies of the national sport and not continue to be charged.