Abstract
The starting point entails the declarations of the International Olympic Committee, as well as UNESCO and the Council of Europe on sport as a human right. This article adopts a philosophical and historical perspective on the question of which duties, obligations, and constraints stand in the way of realising this utopian perspective of fair and humane sport as a general human right. The work is based on central historical documents and writings. Two strands of argumentation are pursued. Firstly, the introduction of compulsory physical education, particularly in Germany and on the European continent, in the context of nation-building since the 19th century. Secondly, the idea of a world of sport of its own, which emerged from Olympism and was intended to assert itself against political and economic appropriations. Compulsory physical education is not a human right but a duty. The idea of a world of sports of its own has produced further regulations and obligations in certain fields of sports like professional and commercial sports. Doing sport for health and fitness may become a social obligation.
Highlights
In the charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which the political scientists Rittberger and Boekle referred to as the “world government of sport” [1], sport is viewed as a human right: “The practice of sport is a human right”, is stated in point four of the seven “Fundamental Principles of Olympism”
The IOC follows similar formulations in declarations by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and the Council of Europe, which are both organisations dealing with cultural developments worldwide and in Europe, including sports and physical education
In the International Charter for Physical Education and Sport, which was adopted in Paris by the 20th General Conference of UNESCO in 1978, the delegates stated in Article 1 that “the practice of physical education, physical activity and sport is a fundamental right for all”
Summary
In the charter of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which the political scientists Rittberger and Boekle referred to as the “world government of sport” [1], sport is viewed as a human right: “The practice of sport is a human right”, is stated in point four of the seven “Fundamental Principles of Olympism”. Sport as a social phenomenon of modernity has produced a plethora of duties and obligations by both individuals and the state, constraints and coercive structures that certainly limit the freedom of the individual to develop his or her “physical, mental and moral powers”, as programmatically formulated in the UNESCO Declaration of 1978 These constraints are manifold, ranging from rigid forms of physical education or drill in and through sport, especially in schools and the military, to the complex constraints of high-performance sport, professional and commercialised sports, the power of media in sports, extending to the compulsion to be sporty in order to conform to an ideal of the modern, dynamic and fit, high-performing human being. Sport could contribute to “make life more liveable”, he stated, and “support vital forces” [14]
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