Prompt: Popular events like the football world cup and other international sporting occasions are Ċ essential in easing international tensions and releasing patriotic emotions in a safe way. Ċ To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

It is believed that worldwide sporting events are important in decreasing international tensions and releasing patriotic feelings in a safe manner. I totally disagree with that because these events can lead to serious negative outcomes such as fighting between crowds and increasing the number of social matters. Ċ First of all, sporting occasions can become the place for fights and confrontations between fans. Quite often, there are some aggressive and unstable people among the fans that may initiate a conflict with the proponents of the opposing team. Moreover, some confrontations end up with lethal outcome or hard injuries and traumas. A prime example would be football fans from the UK. In the past, there was a notorious fan club supporting Liverpool which was responsible for several crowd fights. Such a situation became the reason for many international debates and, of course, increased the tension between some countries. Ċ Furthermore, many of these events take a lot of time, resources and efforts leaving more important social issues without any attention. This causes a negative attitude and feedback from local citizens as preliminary works might include increased taxes, additional works on the roads, a soaring number of traffic jams, etc. As a result, many citizens become more depressed and stressful blaming the government and other nations. For instance, social surveys in Russia during the World Cup revealed that many tourists felt uncomfortable while having a conversation with some Russians as they were rude to them. Ċ In conclusion, I disagree that popular sporting occasions are essential in ameliorating international relationships as they create additional problems. I would suggest focusing on the right strategy and politics.