Opinion

The importance of sports

October 24, 2018
The importance of sports

Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

Walking is perhaps is the most important and oldest sport in history; a sport practiced by human beings ever since they set foot on earth after Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise. Satan seduced them into eating the fruit of the forbidden tree in defiance of the order of God. Consequently, they were driven out of Paradise. The Holy Qur’an said: “We said, “Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.”

People used camels, horses, mules and donkeys as means of transportation. However, walking continued to remain the most important means of transportation through the ages. About 100 years ago, people started practicing other sports and using other means of transport, but walking remained the major sport practiced by everyone. Apart from a sport, people used walking as a means for moving from one place to another, especially those unable to afford modern means of transport. Walking is regarded as the best form of exercise to achieve physical fitness for people in all age groups and even for those who cannot practice other forms of sport for one reason or another.

Perhaps football was one of the first popular sports in the world. However, this was not the case in the Indian subcontinent that consists of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where cricket is today the main sport and football is in second place. There are no sports other than football for which people in large numbers spend big amounts of money to watch matches taking place all around the world, especially the World Cup, which takes place every four years. Countries compete with each other for the opportunity to host the World Cup and other international tournaments by spending huge sums of money, amounting to billions of dollars. These countries build hotels, stadiums and construct roads and highways, in addition to training young men and women on providing the best quality of hospitality to improve the image of the country as in the case of Russia when it hosted the 2018 World Cup, which was acclaimed by all as a great success.

It is usual that there is no heavy traffic on our roads at the time of big football matches and this shows the love of people for this popular sport. Therefore, some people wish that such football matches would continue on a daily basis so that they can be relieved of traffic congestion.

Football is a hot topic of discussion and debate, especially during evening gatherings of people. Their attachment to football manifests itself in their sharp discussions, favoritism toward their beloved teams and players, their keenness to understand the regulations governing the game in addition to their critical review of the actions of players and referees.

Sometimes, you may find a man who is illiterate but is quite familiar with the rules of football while watching the matches and praising and criticizing the performance of players and referees. He can predict the victory of one team and the defeat of another, and pinpoint the mistakes of the players, the opportunities they missed and the reasons that made one team win and other lose.

In the World Cup held in Russia recently, four Arab teams qualified and I do not think that anyone expected any Arab team to win the Cup. But no one expected that all of them would finish in the first round. Their performance was volatile. For example, it was unfortunate that our national team played the first game with Russia, the host country that enjoys massive ground support. The performance of our team was not satisfactory in that match. However, the team’s performance was much better in the second match even though it could not score a win in that match as well. However, in the third match, the Kingdom scored a victory and thus became the only Arab team that came out with three points and did not return empty handed.

Sports in our country, particularly football, have achieved success in the past, but unfortunately there has been a decline in performance in recent years. Perhaps, officials should examine the reasons that have led to this decline and should properly address them.

It is also necessary to hunt for talented players in all cities and villages and provide them with adequate facilities that will enable them to develop their abilities and talents.

Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com


October 24, 2018
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