Generally, sports have proven to be immensely effective in the economic development and all round development of many nations. One of the effects being the creation of jobs for more than just the sportsmen and women but also for other people who are directly or indirectly involved in sport business. In 2013, the sports industry in America produced 456,000 jobs at an average of 39,000 USD. On the global scale, sport has proven to be highly profitable and pivotal to economic development. It brings about national unity and cultural integration. In 2014, U.S match against Portugal made U.S history as one of the soccer games most watched with almost 24.7million viewers. The former president of U.S, President Richard Nixon made a historical trip to China to end two decades of unfriendly relations when the Chinese government invited the American ping-pong players to an exhibition in china, proving the practicality of sport as a tool for peace initiative. Sport, especially football has rapidly acquired global cultural, commercial, and also political prominence. China recently has sought to acquire international recognition in sport and participate in global development by linking soft power, national status, and football. As football appears to be the cultural and growing economic form that most effectively crosses all political borders and enthuses so many diverse societies, it must be taken seriously (John Connell, 2017).
America, Canada and Mexico hosting the 2026 world cup would very likely lessen the tension between both America and Mexico and bring about an improvement in socio-economic relations between the 3 countries. Africa as a continent does not seem to have benefited much as a nation from all these developmental initiatives of sport but rather has its talents explored by others particularly Europeans bringing only the concerned athletes personal rewards at least for their exploitation. Question to ask is ‘Do they really mind being exploited given the not very enabling circumstances that prevail in most parts of Africa? South Korea has obviously gained immense international recognition by achieving an excellent performance in a variety of international sport competition and hosting numerous sporting events through the development of sport earning them a spot within the world sport powerhouses. Recently, their approach seems to be taking a new dimension – Development through sport- to become a truly advanced sporting nation. Africa needs to wake up to the realisation of the immense developmental potentials in sport and nurture what it births.
Written by Fiyesi Ademola, a Sports Development Advocate, Youth Mobilizer and Footballer.
fiyesiademola@hotmail.com
