Policy and background

Community Cohesion programmes are being devised in relation to sport and many other areas - there is no single way of bringing communities together and it is important to find ways of bridging divides in all parts of daily life. Sport has been identified as an area of ‘safe ground' and is often where youngsters, in particular, are prepared to meet. Sports like football are a ‘universal language' common to all cultures where the discipline, rules and norms are readily understood. Sport also has the power to inspire both teams and individuals and to create a sense of achievement which can be built upon week by week and year by year.

Sport can create many opportunities for bringing communities together and establishing the strongest of social bonds, but it can also be the root of the most destructive of forces.  Sport can divide communities, or reinforce existing divisions based on area, social class, ethnicity and faith. In some cases these divisions are almost tribal, supported by mythology, intimidation and even violence. Such is the nature of competition and especially where those on the field of play are simply a reflection of wider social divisions and problems.

Many efforts have been made to rid sport of racism and some of these initiatives have been remarkably successful in both raising ethnic minority representation and reducing overt racism. However, some well meaning attempts to raise ethnic minority participation, such as the Asian participation in football initiative, have also created some dilemmas. These schemes may well have increased the number of Asians playing football and raised the level of participation, but may also have reinforced separation by creating, for example, an Asian team to play in an all-White league, rather than impacting on the sport as a whole or providing the basis for interaction and multicultural structures.

Many of the initiatives undertaken to date have been designed to improve access for under-represented black and minority ethnic groups and to ensure equality of opportunity. Similar approaches have been developed to tackle the under-representation of women and girls. Most of the schemes have been an unqualified success. However, The Power of Sport argues that a more holistic approach can ensure that initiatives also improve community relations and avoid institutionalizing separation and division.

• A process of separate development (26.91KB)
• Special initiative or mainstream activity (20.9KB)
• Sport and social capital (24.72KB)
• Sport and culture in the UK (25.82KB)