While some viewed it as a successful humanitarian endeavour, others referred to it as a vacuous political gesture. In any event, it has succeeded in drawing attention to the plight of civilians worldwide.
This is a poignant, but politically mindful, show of solidarity ahead of Wednesday night and the UEFA Super Cup final between Paris Saint Germain and Tottenham Hotspur where UEFA hoisted up a massive banner on the pitch reading: ‘Stop killing children. Stop killing civilians’.
The political neutrality of the message was not lost even though the message being vocalized consisted of universal compassion. The critics noted that UEFA was unwilling to mention Gaza, and seeing this as a balancing act between humanitarian advertising and political protestation. It was a very emotionally driven banner, however, the lack of context and even mention of the conflicts at hand however left some viewers wanting more to serve as a bolder statement.
It is a highly well intentioned message, which demonstrates that UEFA was comfortable in maintaining the concept of sports which can bind nations and was also concerned about the tensions in geopolitics. Concentrating attention on innocent victims, as opposed to identifying aggressors, UEFA was avoiding engagement in the political controversy, but instead concentrating on humanitarian sufferings.
Even the time of release influenced the atmosphere of the moment making it more dramatic as it was released shortly before the much hyped game between two European giants. Along with the normal football drama, fans were also treated to the little reminder that sport can collide with social consciousness and therefore make one think with the roar of the crowd.
Regardless of being considered either a daring humanitarian act or a politically vacuous statement, UEFAs banner has done its intended job to attract the centers of global focus on a particular issue on many levels the question of what sports play in terms of sharing collective grief, especially through widespread discontent in the world at large.
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