The Game is
For All of Us by James Pearson
Webster’s Dictionary defines culture as
the beliefs, customs, and arts of a particular society, group, place, or time.
A major part of culture is the participation in athletic activities. Every
society and culture has had its own unique sports and athletic competitions.
The Arab world is no different. For thousands of years the Arabian Peninsula
has enjoyed traditional sports such as horse and camel racing, falconry, and
hunting with hounds (“Sports and Recreation”). Now with modern Arabia thriving,
its people now enjoy a vast array of modern and traditional sports that take
place in modern facilities. More traditional sports like horseracing still
remain very popular in Saudi Arabia but the most popular modern sport is
soccer. “ Saudis of all ages have taken the game to heart, from children
scrimmaging on playgrounds to international matches battled out in spectacular
modern stadiums”(“Sports and Recreation”). The national team of Saudi Arabia
has appeared in four World Cups and has won the AFC Asian Cup 3 times. Its home stadium is the King Fahd
International Stadium in Riyadh, which holds about 67,000 spectators. Soccer in Saudi Arabia is alive and well and
will continue to thrive in the coming years.
Across the globe people will prep
this summer for one of the biggest sporting events. The World Cup will take
place this summer in Brazil and the world will watch, as the beautiful game
will take place on its biggest stage. Every continent has had the honor of
hosting the World Cup. In 2022 the World Cup will come to Qatar, the first Arab
country to host the tournament, which beat out other nations such as South
Korea, Japan, Australia, and the Untied States. Some controversy has arisen
over the decision to hold the World Cup in Qatar. The first of which is the
climate. The World Cup has always taken place during the summer, which is the
offseason for most major leagues across the world. The problem is that the average summer
temperature in Qatar is around 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which causes immediate
concern for the safety of the players and spectators. The bid chairmen Sheikh
Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Than responded by saying the answer will
heavily rely on the technology of temperature controlled stadiums. There have
been talks of moving the tournament to the winter months but that has been met
with harsh opposition from the international soccer community. With the natural
climate in opposition to the proposed World Cup in Qatar, allegations of
bribery have arisen toward two members of the executive committee in charge of
selecting the location for the 2022 World Cup. Whether these allegations are
true, as a fan of the game, I look forward to seeing the Arab world shine on
the world’s biggest stage when its time comes.
The reason why I chose to write
about sports and soccer more specifically is because I have played soccer ever
since I was young and has been a very important part of my life ever since. To
me, and like many others, soccer is way more than a game. Soccer can transcend
the boundaries that would ultimately separate individuals and bring them
together if only for a short while. In my experiences playing soccer I have
been fortunate to play with people from all over the world and the languages
may be different but the game does not change. That is why soccer is called the
beautiful game; the ball doesn’t see race or religion. For a brief time, there
are just players playing a game and that’s it.
“Across every continent, now more than ever, football is a common
language and a culture shared: joy, passion, knowing what it is to be in a
team; an escape, an inspiration, an affirmation of identity”(Watt 7). Now in modern times, there is more focus on
what makes us different from each other. But there are more things than we
realize that bring us together.
Works Cited
"Sports
And Recreation." Sports And Recreation. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct.
2013.
Watt,
Tom. A Beautiful Game. New York: Abrams, 2009. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment