The power of sports to unite the world ... or does it?

THERE’S something beautiful about sports. It has the power to unite people and bring out the best in them.

Acts of kindness, sportsmanship, respect for one another despite differences, humility both in victory and defeat – these have been the hallmarks of great athletes.

No wonder then that we hail them as ambassadors, role models and icons.

Sadly though, there are spoilsports – those who diminish the role of sports as the great unifier.

Take the ongoing French Open tennis competition.

Miyu Kato and her partner Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified during their women’s doubles third-round match after Kato accidentally hit a ball girl in the neck after a point.

Instead of consoling the ball girl, their opponents went straight to the umpire demanding the disqualification. The umpire relented.

Kato, 28, apologised to the ball girl. She acknowledged her unintentional mistake but was punished for it as well. Not only was she disqualified but also had to forfeit all of her ¤21,500 (RM106,885) in prize money and ranking points.

Thankfully, though, she has been allowed to compete in the mixed doubles.

Ball girls or boys have taken accidental hits before, and it often ends with an apology from the player involved. The young kid may even get a present from the errant player. But disqualification seems harsh.

Should all ball boys and girls wear protective gear now?

If only the opponents did not rat her out, if only the umpire had been more compassionate, if only the poor ball girl was replaced, if only Kato had been given a warning ... If only the right decision had been taken, the match would have continued without the unnecessary rants and slurs on social media.

Closer to home, there was another distasteful affair.

Former badminton great Taufik Hidayat felt the Badminton World Federation (BWF) had made a wrong decision to induct Lee Chong Wei into their Hall of Fame along with two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China during the Malaysian Masters last month.

Taufik, an Olympic and world champion, felt he was more deserving.

I have nothing against his claim. After all, he is entitled to his own opinion. In fact, I do believe – like all my journalist friends from Indonesia – that Taufik deserves to be in the Hall of Fame for his contribution to sports, but did he have to undermine his good friend Chong Wei?

He even implied that Chong Wei got in because BWF’s headquarters is in Kuala Lumpur.

One irresponsible comment from a badminton hero was the small spark that needed to start a hate-filled feud between fans from both countries on social media.

Mind you, these were not insensitive jokes like some comedians make. This was a wildfire of hateful rants.

Fortunately, three-time Olympic silver medallist Chong Wei, although disturbed by it all, did not retaliate. His calm gesture cooled down the situation.

Now, another “cold war” is brewing and all eyes are on the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The governing body are contemplating allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at the Paris Olympic Games under a neutral flag. They are already recommending that countries allow them to compete in the Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Some are calling it a mistake, others are calling for an outright boycott. The sore point, of course, is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, backed by Belarus.

Politics has often been part of sports, with even hosting jobs changing hands because of different governments’ political beliefs. Indonesia lost the job of hosting the World U-20 football World Cup – now in its final leg in Argentina – largely because of its anti-Israel stance.

The thing is, IOC, through their Olympic Movement’s Solidarity Fund, have always given every athlete an opportunity to play sports. It has proven to mend broken ties.

How many times have countries divided by political differences marched together in the Olympics?

In ancient Greece, countries had ceasefires during the Olympic Truce – with all fighting stopping seven days before the start of the Olympic Games until the seventh day after the closing of the Games.

Remember when Thailand’s young football team were caught in a cave for nine days in 2018 due to monsoon flood? The whole world came together as one to save them.

After a World Cup qualifier in 2005, Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba spoke to his countrymen through the media, telling them to lay down arms and hold elections.

There was a ceasefire and his nation ended its war with Sudan. That’s sportsmanship.

There are bound to be genuine mistakes, like that of a tennis player. And there may be those like Taufik who bark up the wrong tree.

But we must give sports a chance to unite and even solve conflicts. That’s the power of sports.

> The writer is proud with former squash great Nicol David’s recent achievement of being hailed as Reader’s Digest’s most trusted sports personality. Let’s trust our sportsmen and sportswomen to do more good.