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No More Anthems

NATIONAL ANTHEMS AT SOCCER MATCHES MAY GO

BERN: Fifa soccer president Sepp Blatter has indicated that national anthems could be scrapped before international games in an effort to reduce crowd trouble.
Ref. https://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,93498~3487895a1823~,00.html

Anthems No

I find this rather rediculous. Nations are going to find ways to show their pride, and tension is going to be high whether the anthems are played or not. Taking away a mostly controlled expression of national pride could lead to a larger outbreak of uncontrolled repercussions. I understand their concerns because of the fighting that broke out at the last World Cup, but that probably would have happened regardless of the anthems being played or not. People will be disrespectful towards the opposition, and while I'm not condoning it, there really isn't a whole lot that can be done to avoid it.

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I agree, this is a stupid proposal. And it's not just confined to football. Some rather bitter Englishmen (and their media) have lashed out at the All Blacks Haka in rugby. This is a huge source of pride for the All Blacks and one of the true spectacles of the game.

You can't blame the haka on the Lions being hammered by the world's best team. It's not their fault England were a one man wonder at the last world cup.

At the end of the day it's these traditions that enrich sport. And the national anthem is one of them. It tells players that they are representing their people and that would be a crying shame to rid of any sport.

Anthems No

I agree with both of you! The national anthem is an integral part of the game, in my opinion. It shows national pride, and reminds not only the players but the fans as well that they should be representing their country and behave accordingly.

Anthems No

Well, I disagree with all of you here. First of all, ONLY because Mr. Blatter's national team was affected by the whole whistling issue, he is now concerned enough to do something about it. Shame.

My memory goes back to Italy 90', when Argentina played with Italy (we beat them). The italian team whistled strongly our national anthem, I still remember the sound of it watching it through TV and remember listening the commentator saying this is the first time he hears something like that on a world cup. From that time, the FIFA made comments about removing national anthems but they were never serious enough about doing it.

I think a national anthem has no room on a football, cricket, baseball or whatever sport field may be. I think an anthem has to be connected with that particular country history, making sure it is respected in every possible way by their citizens, it has nothing to do with a game! therefore it should not be used period on a sport field. The fact that you cannot avoid incidents like this one is just one reason it should be stopped for good.

No More Anthems

Debates have been fought for years over all sorts of different traditions. The National Anthem is a way to acknowledge the freedoms that we have as Americans or from whichever country one might be from. In America, it seems only fitting that the freedom we have such as the ability to enjoy these sporting events was a direct result of many things that have happened in the past and we as spectators of all of these events should honor that hardship. Our history is possibly more important than our future in many cases. Mainly because without our past we wouldn't have the future that we now are anticipating. Come on, it's bad enough that my 9 yr old sister doesn't know the pledge of allegiance because someone felt that it wasn't appropriate in school because someone might be offended by it. These are ways that we honor our country and I am more than happy to do so.

No Anthems

LDS I think this is the reason why we should retain national anthems in sport. For so many countries, Australia included, sport is an extremely important part of our history. Australians care more about their sport then politics or the arts. I'm certain in most countries around the world a nation's football history is source of pride. And there are many other sports like this. Why not mark these occasions with a national anthem?

When Uruguay played Australia in Sydney, the Aussie crowd booed the Uruguayan national anthem, in the same way they booed ours in Montevideo. It's not done out of disrespect or hatred, but rather to make the visitors feel unwelcome and hopefully give the home team an advantage.

I'm not saying I agree with it, but it certainly doesn't offend me when people are doing it to help their team. I'd rather see diving, time wasting and other forms of cheating banned first.

If we ban national anthems in sport should we ban all forms of singing and chanting that may offend some people? This would ruin the game. Sport is an important part of culture and the national anthem is a source of pride not only for the players, but also for spectators.

If the Italian team was whistling their opponents anthem then they should be disciplined accordingly. Players are suppose to set an example.

I think they ought to ask the international players past and present what they think before making any rash decision to rid the game of a tradition.

Edited: arvhic on 26th Nov, 2005 - 10:01am

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This is in fact made out of disrespect, anybody knows that a national anthem is something that you need to consider as important and try to treat it in the most correct and reverent manner. Whoever fails to do this, is acting with malice in my opinion.

They should in fact ban and all form of singing that may offend some people. We have the example of this Argentinian referee who stopped the game when he heard the crow singing anti-semitic songs and he refused to started back until the songs stopped.

Definetly something should be done about this and about the national anthem in a sports field. After all, it is only a game being played...it is not a matter of two countries fighting in a war or something that I consider so important and necessary.