Sportswashing: A Moral Dilemma
- Karen McGinnis
- Sep 12, 2022
- 7 min read
Sportswashing
Sportswashing is currently a negative term. It intimates a practice of reputation cleansing and a type of attention distraction. It is often used by regimes that have something to remediate or hide. Many are involved in controversial behaviors and want to use sports to improve their image and reputations. Their hope is that by having a highly visible association with a positive activity, they too will be viewed positively.
The behaviors or associations that are most often being remediated are concerning human rights abuses, governmental corruption or environmental destruction, political or personal scandals and the existence of associated crime or vice.
Historically, sportswashing took its cue from the term “whitewashing”. A coat of white paint was literally applied to a weathered or damaged surface to freshen it and cover damaged areas in hopes that they would become less noticeable.
A recent modification to “whitewashing” is “greenwashing.” In this reference, a corporation that is involved in some sort of environmentally destructive practice, pushes its product by focusing on terms and outcomes that are environmentally positive. Again, the goal is reputation improvement and distraction.
The terms that emerge in advertising and packaging are “all natural”, "healthy”, and “nutritious.” These popular promotional buzzwords are for products that might contain large amounts of sugar, preservatives, artificial flavors, chemicals, environmental hazards, or be highly processed and low in beneficial characteristics either in their growing or in their end product.
Whitewashing and greenwashing seem to distract from negative characteristics and improve perceived benefit. Boosting of beneficial aspects are front loaded in the promotion of these products, and negative connections are minimized.
Sportswashing has been used by political regimes and authoritarian governments throughout history. One of the early examples of this is when the Roman Empire used “bread and sport” to distract common people from the excesses of the elites. The Coliseum stands as a monument to this sort of effort.
In the modern era, many examples of sportswashing exist:
· 1936: The Olympic Games served as a loudspeaker for the Nazi regime from which to promote their theories of racial superiority and distract from human rights abuses.
· 1978: The World Cup in Argentina sportswashed the newly installed dictatorship that had been installed through a military coup and that perpetuated anti-democratic policies and practiced atrocities.
· 2018: Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup Soccer Championships and used the event as a medium for propaganda
· 2021: Saudi Arabia spent 1.5 billion dollars to sportswash their human rights excesses while millions starved.
· 2022: The Men’s FIFA World Cup Soccer Championships were held in Qatar despite the country’s record of racial genocide, LGBTQ abuses, elimination of women’s rights and the death of migrant workers in their country.
· 2022: The LIV Golf Tournament at Past President Trump’s Bedminster Golf Club raised questions about Saudi Arabia’s role in murder, human rights violations, participation in international terrorism in 9-11, and promoting sports for money corruption schemes.
In addition to these well recognized political issues, sportswashing raises monumental moral issues. Sports has traditionally been the bastion of many cultural values:
Fair play: “Be a good sport.”
Teamwork: “Learn to work together for the greater good.”
Honor in winning and losing: “It’s how you play the game.”
National identity: “They represent the best of us!”
Elevation of talent and hard work: “Practice makes perfect.”
Character: “Players are seen as role models for us all.”
Sportswashing can undermine these traditional values. When countries or regimes invest huge sums of money with the goal of influencing perceived public opinion, winning begins to become a priority. Winners are perceived as “strong” and “right” and then, through the “halo effect” of winning, a sponsoring country or regime seeks to share that reputation. Winning then becomes the focus of play.
The ”pay for play” in which the best players are offered astronomical amounts to play in order to create a winning team has the effect of corrupting the idea of team play.
The disparity between the price offered to key players and the real life of a fan is huge. The challenge of the Roman Empire to mollify the masses reached this level of disparity. It exceeded it to the point where death of animals and humans was incorporated for entertainment’s sake. That went beyond money or a luxury lifestyle. When the difference in pay to a sought-after player and the income of a loyal fan is so great, motivation becomes an issue for the player and the fan. Fan loyalty is now sought by the creation of a winning team roster and the subsequent incidence of a highly publicized win.
Compensation of players alone is not in itself a moral issue. Hard work and skill should be rewarded. The manipulation of the fan base is at the root of the moral issue. Rather than a fan being attracted to support a team for regional or cultural reasons, the hype of player promotion, event promotion and the health of the bottom line, looms large. Who benefits from that money. The fans? The highly paid player? Occasional charities? It is a business and the team then becomes the commodity and the fans become the consumers. The sport and the attached loyalty have been subverted by money. Consider the connection between contract salaries and bottom-line returns. The levels of complexity here are too intertwined and deep to be plumbed in this short article. Consider who is being used? The player? The fan? The culture?
Many have noted that the Olympics used to be a stage upon which athletes tested their skill and dedication to their sport against others of their peer group. It has morphed into a huge commercial and political performance. Sportswashing is tightly woven into that process. Fan loyalties and nationalism are used to elevate the standing of sponsoring nations, regimes and personalities. It becomes a competition between nations, and sportsmanship is secondary after winning at all costs. Is this creating international peace and understanding?
Within a family, rabid loyalty to a team can create a disconnect. Different members of a family choose different teams, then due to cognitive dissonance, are psychologically forced to defend that team against all opposition, regardless of the teams conduct or ideology. While some members see it as a positive action to purchase high-cost tickets, others within the family see the money being better spent on more lasting investments or survival. Family units may suffer. On a larger scale, community cohesiveness, cultural identity, and moral goals may erode, and values change. Who is reaping the benefit from this fandom?
Sports is such a huge part of our culture. How can a typical fan begin to determine when their favorite sport or team is being used to sportswash.
1) The supporting country, regime, owner or sponsor is involved in questionable behaviors outside the sport itself.
2) The hype for the event completely distracts from any association that might be unsavory. Only beautiful pictures of the sponsoring country are shown. No mention, no justification, no apology, just a complete lack of knowledge of anything questionable is in place.
3) The sport itself is used to create a “halo” around a country, regime, personality. “If they are so good that they support (insert sport) they must be good themselves!”
4) Fans and profitability become the end game. Fair play, hard work, team effort, winning and losing, all are treated indifferently in the promotion of the event.
5) Hype and spin are constant and pervasive. A sure sign that the focus is on the bottom line.
6) Political considerations take center stage over any positive, sport related issues or values.
If one or more of these considerations is present, the event may be a vehicle for sportswashing.
How is it even possible to resist sportswashing when our current political and economic environment is so supportive? Most sports lovers are not interested in giving up sports all together just to avoid sportswashing. This would still be one way to avoid participating in sportswashing. Being indirectly supportive of a team that is backed by a dubious sponsor is called being complicit in the behaviors of that dubious sponsor.
Some call this “leave it” behavior “voting with your wallet.” It does hit the promoting or sponsoring country where it hurts. If fans are not supporting sportswashing events, the events are less likely to continue occurring and a large statement has been made.
An alternative to withdrawing from sports participation is to implement change. Change the manner of participation. This may be easier to accomplish than the cold turkey approach. It does require strength of character and there are risks.
Clearly, seeing the moral issues around sportswashing and calling them out publicly for what they are requires courage. In the current climate of being PC (politically correct) , calling a spade a spade is not always a popular position. It could open one up to scrutiny and abuse by neighbors!
Another way to resist sporstwashing is to bring attention back to the moral issues that the sponsoring country, regime, or personality is seeking to distract from. A human rights abuser is a human rights abuser. No amount of money can change that reality. It is what it is. It should not be normalized, minimized or ignored. Being the change one wants to see in the world starts with a single voice crying in the wilderness. (Please excuse the Biblical reference!) It is a voice that could be raised by a multitude at a later time.
Mutual resistance is in that multitude of voices. Representative groups band together to create a resistance to the effects of sportswashing. When one resists as part of a group, resistance to the seduction of spin, and halo’s, inclusion in large scale complicity is not possible. Moral wrong remains wrong. It is not sportswashed.
Moments of “soft power” which utilize the masses can lead to change. The manipulation of sport to promote the few, through resistance, can restore the moral balance among the many. When every fan is a thinking fan, sportswashing will wither and cease to be a means of offsetting humans rights abuses, international terrorism, genocide, and the other abuses that exist against mankind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further research and other ideas about sportswashing:
Societies: Responsible Leadership in Sport: An Ethical Dilemma (concept paper)
Search for Sportswashing on all search engines.
Comments