In the world of sport, football is often used as a tool to bring people together for fair competition and cultural communication. However, every now and then, the game shows its human face, going beyond the stadia to express the values of solidarity and humanity.
The Norwegian club Bodo Glimt embodied this role to the fullest when it decided to allocate the entire proceeds of its match against the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in the seventh round of the European League, which was held on January 23, to the International Committee of the Red Cross, to support relief efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Thus, the game was used as a platform to deliver a noble and humanitarian message.
The club said in a statement, “We couldn’t ignore or appear unaffected by the suffering and violation of international law that are unfolding in other parts of the world.
“Although we are a football team and not a political party, it was impossible to clearly distinguish between sports and politics at the same time, but we want to move forward according to our own internal regulations that express our principles and pride away from football stadiums.
“Now we want to show everyone that we put our actions behind our words, and we have decided to donate all the ticket revenues we received from the match against the Israeli team on our home ground to the Red Cross and allocate them to relief work in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, noting that the total amount we received is 735,000 Norwegian kroner (equivalent to $65,000) and we want to donate it in full.”
This position draws attention to several things.
First, it shows how sport can become a means to express solidarity with humanitarian issues away from political tensions.
Second, it highlights the courage of the Norwegian team in taking a moral stance that expresses its commitment to humanitarian values despite the sensitivity of the subject.
This wonderful humanitarian gesture deserves to be praised and appreciated. If sports can unite people on competitive grounds, they are also capable of bringing them together around the values of humanity and compassion.
What impressed me most was the sentence mentioned in the statement, ‘Now we want to show everyone that we put our actions behind our words’.
The question that arises, and only from the standpoint of humanity, is why has no other party or team taken the initiative to do something similar, whether through football or any other game?
I believe that even if money is not collected, recording sympathy and moral support is very important to convey the voice of the people supporting the Palestinian people to the world.
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