George Orwell argues that competitive sports do not actually promote friendly international relations as is often claimed. Instead, identifying with national sports teams can foster animosity, hatred, and jingoism between countries. At the international level, sports have become a mimicry of war, with the aim being to win at all costs rather than enjoy friendly competition. Sports arouse strong nationalist passions that are often accompanied by unrest and violence between opposing fans. Orwell believes nationalism is the underlying cause of international rivalry in sports, not the other way around.

1. WAR MINUS SHOOTING
The Sporting Spirit
George Orwell

2.  GEORGE ORWELL (1903-1950), WHO WAS BORN IN
BENGAL AND EDUCATED IN ENGLAND.
 ‘ANIMAL FARM’, A FAMOUS NOVEL-POLITICAL
SATIRE ON THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION.
 HIS LAST WORK, NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR, IS A GRIM
FORECAST OF THE FUTURE OF TOTALITARIANISM,
WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF A READABLE NOVEL.

3.  THE SPORTING SPIRIT FIRST APPEARED IN THE
TRIBUNE, IN DECEMBER 1945 AND IS A
REFRESHINGLY FRANK EXPRESSION OF ORWELL’S
VIEWS ON COMPETITIVE GAMES.
 HIS FATHER, RICHARD WALMESLEY BLAIR WAS A
CIVIL SERVANT OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.
 HE JOINED THE INDIAN IMPERIAL POLICE AND
WAS POSTED IN BURMA, WHERE HE WORKED
FROM 1922 TO LATER HE WENT BACK TO
ENGLAND AND BECAME A PROFESSIONAL
WRITER.

4. OVER VIEW
 IN ‘THE SPORTING SPIRIT’ GEORGE ORWELL TRIES TO
SHATTER THE MYTH THAT SPORTS ARE AN IMPORTANT
MEANS TO BUILD FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
 ACCORDING TO HIM, IT IS THE OTHER WAY ROUND
BECAUSE PEOPLE BEGIN TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH
THEIR OWN NATIONAL TEAMS AND WANT THEM TO WIN.
 THIS LEADS TO, ANIMOSITY, HATRED, JEALOUSY AND
JINGOISM. SO INSTEAD OF PROMOTING GOOD
RELATIONS, SPORTS MANY A TIME LEAD TO ILL-WILL
BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.

5.  In good olden days and during roman times and
19th century sports were not taken seriously.
 There played fishing, cockfighting, and ferrying of
rats
 Unorganized games for Rustic communities
 No important for sports , they play just like passing
time
 Dr.Arnold, the founder of Modern Public School,-
viewed games are more wasting time

6.  Sports is a kind of group activity that played for outlet of
physical strengthen.
 These activity developed into a decent word “sports”
 THE WRITER IS ALWAYS AMAZED WHEN SOMEONE TELLS
HIM THAT SPORTS CREATE GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN
COUNTRIES.
 IT IS ARGUED THAT IF PEOPLE FROM TWO COUNTRIES
COULD MEET ON THE PLAYGROUND, THERE WOULD BE NO
NEED TO MEET ON THE BATTLEFILED.
 THERE IS THE CONCRETE EXAMPLE OF THE 1936 OLYMPIC
GAMES WHICH LED TO ORGIES OF HATRED.

7.  THE REAL REASON UNDERLYING THIS
SITUATION IS THAT SPORTS HAVE BECOME
QUITE COMPETITIVE NOW-A-DAYS.
 THE AIM TODAY IS TO WIN, AND THE GAME
DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING IF NOT WINNING.
 AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, SPORT IS A
KIND OF MIMIC WAR BETWEEN THE TWO
COUNTRIES.

8.  FOOTBALL, IN WHICH EVERY COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN
STYLE WHICH SEEMS UNFAIR TO FOREIGNERS, IS MUCH
WORSE.
 THE WORST OF ALL SPORTS IS BOXING, ESPECIALLY
WHEN ONE BOXER IS A WHITE AND THE OTHER A BLACK.
 THE BEHAVIOUR OF WOMEN AMONG THEM IS WORSE.
THAT IS WHY ARMY DOES NOT ALLOW WOMEN TO WATCH
ITS BOXING CONTESTS.
 IN ENGLAND, THE OBSESSION WITH SPORTS IS BAD. BUT
IN YOUNG COUNTRIES IN WHICH NATIONALISM AND
SPORTS ARE A RECENT PHENOMENON, SPORTS AROUSE
PASSIONS.

9.  IN BOTH INDIA AND BURMA, IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE
STRONG CORDONS OF POLICE TO PREVENT THE CROWD
FROM ENTERING THE GROUND
 THE FIRST FOOTBALL MATCH PLAYED IN SPAIN LED TO AN
UNCONTROLLABLE RIOT. AS SOON AS NATIONALISTIC
FEELINGS ARE AROUSED, THE RULES OF FAIR PLAY ARE
FORGOTTEN. PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THEIR TEAM ON THE
TOP, NO MATTER HOW THEY REACH THE TOP.
 DR. ARNOLD, THE FOUNDER OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
SYSTEM, DID NOT ATTACH ANY IMPORTANCE TO SPORTS.

10.  IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN ENGLAND AND
AMERICA THAT GAMES BEGAN TO BE FUNDED
HEAVILY AND BEGAN TO ATTRACT LARGE
CROWDS ROUSING SAVAGE PASSIONS.
 IT IS THE MOST COMBATIVE SPORTS, BOXING
AND FOOTBALL, WHICH HAVE SPREAD
EVERYWHERE AND VERY FAST.

11.  IT IS TRUE THAT THE WHOLE THING IS BOUND UP WITH
NATIONALISM-THAT IS THE MODERN HABIT OF
IDENTIFYING ONESELF WITH LARGE POWER UNITS AND
SEEING EVERYTHING IN TERMS OF COMPETITIVE
PRESTIGE.
 A SERIES OF FOOTBALL MATCHES BETWEEN JEWS AND
ARABS, GERMANS AND CZECHS, INDIANS AND BRITISH,
RUSSIANS AND POLES AND LET THESE MATCHES BE
WATCHED BY A MIXED AUDIENCE OF 100,000 PEOPLE. IT
IS NOT THAT SPORT IS ONE OF THE MAIN CAUSES OF
INTERNATIONAL RIVALRY.

12.  SPORT IS THE EFFECT OF THE CAUSES THAT HAVE
PRODUCED NATIONALISM.
 A TEAM OF ELEVEN MEN, LABEL THEM AS NATIONAL
CHAMPIONS TO PLAY AGAINST A RIVAL TEAM, AND THEN
MAKE WINNING AN ISSUE OF NATIONAL PRESTIGE.