Everyone knows that taking part in sports is good for you and other individuals. However, the benefits of sports go beyond the fitness level of individuals.
Football Stops War: World War I
1914 is the year that World War I was started, and continued on for many years.
During the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1914, two opposing armies, namely the German soldiers and the British soldiers stopped fighting.
They played football, and they gave Christmas gifts to each other.
While records were not cleared, and there was no known photo to prove the Christmas Truce, it was still a fact that football was
played by the soldiers on both sides.The day after Christmas, fighting resumed, but the soldiers on both sides shot their weapons into the sky instead of aiming at the “enemies” on the other side.
It is apparent that a football match, and Christmas gift-giving, brought them into a level of “friendship” that could only exist when enemies shared a common interest.
The spirit of sports does not create enmity. The spirit of sports brings humans together.
There are other instances that football match was played between two opposing sides in the First World War.
The Imperial War Museum in London has a number of photos to prove that.
One picture shows Italy soldiers and British soldiers playing football in 1917. If you did not know that this picture was taken
in 1917 in the midst of the First World War, you would have think that they were having a great time.There is no doubt that the soldiers prefer to continue playing football rather than killing each other.
This shows that while the soldiers were willing to defend their countries, and fought for their countries, they did not hate the soldiers from the other country.
Football stops war: Pele stopped war in Nigeria
Pele admitted that the Nigerians ceased the civil war to watch him played in 1967. He mentioned the ceasefire in his biography and in his interview with CNN.
The fact that both warring sectors were willing to cease fire to watch Pele showed the universe appeal of such a great player.
As long as Pele was in the country, they would not resume war for fear of killing him.
Football is a universal language, and it is a marvel that a great talented player has such power to make both sides ceased fire for 48 hours.
