Sport and Social Ethics

In Australia, we are used to our sporting codes ‘taking the lead’ in the fight against various social evils, including racism, domestic violence, and discrimination.

Christians have long opposed all of these, with various degrees of success and consistency. But in Australia, sport displaces religion as the shared authority that virtue signals to the community at large what we ought to take a stand against.

Western nations, like Australia and England, brought these values and perspectives to the world cup in Dubai. It was the stated intention of many Western football teams to wear a rainbow armband or take a knee during national anthems.

The response of FIFA, the world governing soccer body, has been fascinating. FIFA is an international body. Football is a global game, enjoying strong support from every corner of the earth, well beyond the West. Many of these non-Western nations are not pro-SSM or as concerned by racism and forced labour as we are.

As matters have played out, FIFA has outlawed rainbow armbands, and Western nations have curtailed their protests. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said, 'I think for what we Europeans have been doing in the last 3000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.

Western protests have dwindled to be little more than tokenism. And the reality and complexity that others do not see morality as Westerners do has become clear.

I find this outcome both delightful and disturbing. Delightful in that the arrogance and self-righteousness of Western sporting authorities are being shown to be feeble and lacking endurance. Disturbing in that there are real social wrongs that ought to be opposed. And if sport has displaced religion as that voice, but sport is not up to the task – where is a prophetic voice that speaks against evil?