On ''anti-cultural'' status of sport

The main points formulated by J. Huizinga concerning the ''off-cultural'' character of sport in modern society generated hot discussions about its place and perspectives. In the article the author has the main complaints to the modern sport, given in the works of outstanding scientists and offers her counter-evidence. 1. Sport critics consider that the situations based on competition harm competition among people, form a faulty differentiation between people into winners and losers. Sport competitions make asked-for such personality qualities as egoism, aggression, ''sport malice'', envy, etc. Any competition including the sport sphere has a reason for a modern person's alienation and artificial creation of social and spiritual inequality. The author's counter-evidence is the following: firstly, competition covers almost all spheres of human activity and in its basis there is a necessity of a person in positive appraisal of his/her abilities and talents by society. The progress of society is determined by satisfying needs while excelling another person and achieving the best result. And, secondly, competition is a necessary element of human self-consciousness processes. 2. Technocratic tendency emasculates the humanistic potential of sport; the aim of a sport activity moves from a person, his spiritual and physical development to a result achieved. It is sharply shown in recordomania. Modern sport is the incarnation of inhumanity of social organization and an enemy of freedom. Agreeing on the fact that the specialization in sport makes a person ''cog in the sport machine'' but modern sport rules exploit an athlete bodily and spiritually, the author insists on sport to be a heterogeneous phenomenon and the given problems concern mostly professional sport. Humanistic potential of ''mass sport'' and paralympic sport is revealed in the opportunity which it gives while perceiving spiritual and physical strengths. 3. Today sport as a performance is a mass product and therefore it complies with the laws of profit. The author justifies that the spectacular character of sport does not detract from its aesthetic potential. Sport gives huge opportunities to athletes and spectators for creating and contemplating various aesthetic valuables and in this way sport belongs to the sphere of culture.

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