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Amateur and professional Modern sports have complex rules and are highly organized. See also: professional sport and amateur sport Sport can be undertaken on an amateur, professional or semi-professional basis, depending on whether participants are incentivised for participation (usually through payment of a wage or salary). The popularity of spectator sport as a recreation for non-participants has led to sport becoming a major business in its own right, and this has incentivised a high paying professional sport culture, where high performing participants are rewarded with pay far in excess of average wages, which can run into millions of dollars.[21] Some sports, or individual competitions within a sport, retain a policy of allowing only amateur sport. The Olympic Games started with a principle of amateur competition with those who practiced a sport professionally considered to have an unfair advantage over those who practiced it merely as a hobby.[22] Following the 1988 games, the IOC decided to make all professional athletes eligible for the Olympics, with only boxing and wrestling still competed on an "amateur" basis, although this revolves around rules, and not payment. Grassroots sport is a popular phrase which covers the amateur participation in sport at lower levels, normally without pretension towards higher achievement, and is in line with the "sport for all" mentality, where enjoyment is the primary reason for participation.[2][23] Technology Technology plays an important part in modern sport, with it being a necessary part of some sports (such as motorsport), and used in others to improve performance. Sports science is a widespread academic discipline, and can be applied to areas including athlete performance, such as the use of video analysis to fine tune technique, or to equipment, such as improved running shoes or competitive swimwear. Sports engineering emerged as a discipline in 1998 with an increasing focus not just on materials design but also the use of technology in sport. In order to control the impact of technology on fair play, governing bodies frequently have specific rules that are set to control the impact of technical advantage between participants. Politics This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010) Main article: Politics and sports Sports and politics can influence each other greatly. The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps best recognised in retrospect, where an ideology was developing which used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda. Berlin Olympics August 1936 is a classical example of the symbiosis of the politics and sports. Berlin Olympics propaganda value to the Nazi Germany was high. The Berlin Olympics August 1936 smoothed the way to the racist anti-Semitism and the war. Germany wanted to give of itself in the world and nationally a peaceful image while it was very actively preparing the war. The games were used as shield to the aggressive military goals. . The lack of human rights was a dark shadow. The fascist were in power: In February 1933 10,000 work activists were taken in prison. In April 1933 was the first holocaust. The Sachsenhausen concentration camp was opened in 12.7.1936 near the Olympic stadium. In total there were 200,000 persons in prison during its operations.[24] When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sports people, particularly in rugby union, adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst effects.[25] In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were connected with cultural nationalism. Until the mid 20th century a person could have been banned from playing Gaelic football, hurling, or other sports administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) if she/he played or supported football, or other games seen to be of British origin. Until recently the GAA continued to ban the playing of football and rugby union at Gaelic venues. This ban is still enforced, but was modified to allow football and rugby to be played in Croke Park while Lansdowne Road was redeveloped into Aviva Stadium. Until recently, under Rule 21, the GAA also banned members of the British security forces and members of the RUC from playing Gaelic games, but the advent of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 led to the eventual removal of the ban. Nationalism is often evident in the pursuit of sports, or in its reporting: people compete in national teams, or commentators and audiences can adopt a partisan view. On occasion, such tensions can lead to violent confrontation among players or spectators within and beyond the sporting venue, as in the Football War. These trends are seen by many as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sports being carried on for its own sake and for the enjoyment of its participants. A very famous case when sports and politics collided was the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Masked men entered the hotel of the Israeli olympic team and killed many of their men. This was known as the Munich massacre. A study of US elections has shown that the result of sports events can affect the results. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science showed that when the home team wins the game before the election, the incumbent candidates can increase their share of the vote by 1.5 percent. A loss had the opposite effect, and the effect is greater for higher-profile teams or unexpected wins and losses. The study authors concluded that the win made voters feel better about society, boosting votes for the incumbent, while losses made voters feel worse, sending votes to the challenger.[26] |
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