Can Football Succeed in Uniting the Arabs?

For more than a century, specifically since the effective end of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1922 and its official dissolution in 1923, dozens of political attempts to achieve unity among the Arab peoples have failed. These began with efforts by several Arab rulers to revive the Islamic Caliphate, but this time by restoring it to its origins, meaning under Arab rule. Other attempts by some Arab rulers aimed to establish what was called the "Arab Caliphate," followed by the Egyptian-Syrian integration unity in the late 1950s, represented by the creation of a new entity called the "United Arab Republic," which lasted only three years and seven months. This was met by a failed attempt to establish a counter integration unity between the two Hashemite thrones in Jordan and Iraq at the time. After Syria's separation from Egypt in 1961, serious attempts were made to establish a tripartite unity between Nasserite Egypt and both Syria and Iraq under an Arab nationalist Ba'athist coalition ruling the two countries in 1963 and 1964, but these were never realized.

Attempts were renewed in the late 1970s, despite the negative impact of the Arab defeat in the Six-Day War in June 1967. This led initially to the Tripoli Charter between Egypt, Sudan, and Libya, then the Federation of Arab Republics in the early 1970s between Egypt, Libya, and Syria. This attempt collapsed due to political distancing between Egypt and both Libya and Syria, as well as worsening internal problems in Sudan in the following years. Then there was a quickly failed attempt to establish an integration unity between Syria and Iraq under the rule of the two wings of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in response to the 1978 Egypt-Israel Camp David Accords. Theoretically, the two-part unity of Yemen in May 1990 appears to be the most successful Arab unity attempt so far, but a deeper look does not necessarily lead to optimism due to the outbreak of war following the South's desire in 1994 to secede and regain independence, and the subsequent fragmentation and division among multiple authorities in this beloved Arab country for more than a decade and a half, with no single authority controlling all Yemeni territory.

Since the 1950s, specifically since the Arab Economic Unity Agreement in 1957 and the decision to establish the Arab Common Market in 1964, some Arab elites and intellectuals have tried to convince Arab governments and peoples that a different approach must be followed to ultimately achieve unity among the Arab peoples. This approach is through economic activity, emphasizing that due to the vast area of common Arab interests in this field, working towards Arab economic integration is the guaranteed and safe path, away from political fluctuations, to build common Arab interests on the ground that serve as a support and foundation for achieving sustainable unity among the Arab peoples at a later historical stage. This unity would not come from government decisions but from the desire and pressure of the peoples themselves, as they would see in it what serves their interests and fulfills their aspirations for a free and dignified life.

Despite some achievements on the economic front, whether at the Arab regional level or at semi-regional levels such as among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries or among the members of the Agadir Agreement, which includes Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, and Morocco, what has been achieved remains modest when measured against four criteria. The first criterion is measuring achievements against the aspirations, expectations, and dreams that accompanied the economic path since its launch nearly seven decades ago. The second criterion is the modesty of achievements relative to the elapsed time since the start of Arab economic unity efforts. The third criterion is comparative methodology, i.e., measuring Arab achievements in economic integration against other regional blocs, some of which started with the launch of the Arab Economic Unity Agreement, such as the European Union, and others that started after the Arabs, like ASEAN in Southeast Asia. The fourth and final criterion is the prediction that the economic integration path would ensure distancing from Arab political fluctuations, which has not been realized on the ground. Arab inter-economic relations in many cases have become captive to the political wills of Arab governments and thus to the quality or deterioration of political relations between those governments.

For many decades, what has most united and brought Arabs together, making them feel a unity of existence, identity, and a broad shared cultural, civilizational, and linguistic space among them, has been culture and the arts and related institutions, such as Arabic language academies in various Arab countries, writers' and literary unions, artists' and musicians' syndicates. What has continued to unite the Arab peoples are also the creative expressions and manifestations found in novel literature, poetry, short stories, theater, cinema, television series, music, singing, and others. These cultural and artistic components fall under what has been called since the early 1990s "soft power" sources.

Sports, in its various team and individual forms, also fall under this broad umbrella of soft power. Given its many forms and types, sports—especially widely popular sports like football—are generally supposed to be a means of acquaintance and rapprochement among peoples in general, as we learn from the history of the Olympic Games themselves. However, contemporary reality tells us stories on the global level that in some cases, especially in football, sports competition, when it goes beyond its proper framework and is dominated by fanaticism and tension, has led to sensitivities, bitterness, hostilities, and in limited cases even wars between countries and peoples, instead of working in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the Arab world has not been an exception to these unfortunate events, which in some cases turned sports into a source of estrangement and conflict among Arab peoples instead of being a tool for unity, fusion, rapprochement, harmony, and cohesion.

However, the events of the Arab Cup football tournament held in the Qatari capital Doha throughout December have given the Arab peoples hope that sports, specifically football, can join culture and the arts as tools that deepen mutual understanding, increase opportunities and prospects for rapprochement, and demonstrate the shared components among the Arab peoples. This was due to the joyful and familiar atmosphere that characterized the large crowd attendance at the matches. Some prematurely jumped to the incorrect conclusion that the early elimination of the host nation Qatar from the tournament would lead to a significant decline in attendance, which did not happen at all. Instead, large numbers of Arab viewers from various Arab nationalities continued to attend the matches in large numbers, some coming from residents in Qatar but others traveling from Arab capitals specifically to attend the tournament events.

On the other hand, the friendly atmosphere of the matches, characterized by a spirit of fair competition and refined cheering far from fanaticism or belittling or incitement against others, encouraged entire Arab families to attend the matches in Doha stadiums, with husbands, wives, sons, and daughters present. The absence of any offensive language during the matches provided a great opportunity to allow a large attendance of women, girls, and children. This increased awareness among everyone, all cheering for their teams with one voice and one language, even if chants and calls varied, that what brings the Arab peoples closer is much deeper and broader than what seems to divide them.

It is hoped that this situation, which emerged from the Arab Cup football tournament events in Doha, will continue, expand, and become uninterrupted, forming a starting point for a comprehensive Arab project aiming to make sports, especially popular sports like football, and Arab inter-sport exchanges a means and tool that contribute, even if modestly, to improving relations among Arab peoples and creating a favorable environment for more Arab rapprochement and understanding.