Religion and sports: Do prayers help players or teams?

Lazarus Sauti

I

t is very common to see football players gather round to pray for a win before a match.

Also mutual is footballers looking up to the sky and raising their hands or forefingers upwards in a sign of thankfulness to a deity when they score.

Same goes for Muslim footballers who bow down in compliance when they score a goal. Some make the sign of the cross and it is not unusual to hear players or teams boast that God will give them victory in a match.

If all these players and teams lay claim to God supporting them, does it mean God is partial or has a favourite team. Is God interested in football? Do prayers help players or teams?

Is this caused by fear, uncertainty or simply a way of being humble to attract the sympathies and favour from beyond?

Adama Kemptore, a radio sports analyst from Burkina Faso, believes players pray simply out of fear.

Kemptore said: “Footballers know well enough that their skills and training might not be enough to bring the desired victory, so they pray for help from above.

“Anything can happen in a match: red cards, injuries, goalkeeping mistakes, etc. These things may alter the fate of the encounter. So players pray so that the day will augur well for them without these ugly occurrences.”

From Kemptore’s declarations, it can be deduced that God does not take sides in football games. Soccer matters like these are decided by men and women, not the Almighty God.

According to the August 2 1994 Awake magazine, in an article entitled “Save Your Prayers, Please,” a sports columnist wrote: “Just because you rant and rave about how tight you are with God, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. . . . In World War II, German soldiers had a phrase inscribed on their belt buckle: ‘Gott mit uns’. The translation: ‘God is with us.’

Some football purists believe that prayers help players or teams to perform better and win matches.

This is what Jeong-Keun Park of Seoul University did in 2000 by studying the performances of Korean athletes. He found that prayer was not only a key factor in coping with anxiety but also in attaining peak performance.

A quote from a participant in Park's study encapsulates the findings: "I always prepared my game with prayer. I committed all things to God, without worry. These prayers make me calmer and more secure and I forget the fear of losing. It resulted in good play."

Some sportspersons also believe that prayer help them to relax and prevent them from taking all the pressure on their own shoulders.

In his build-up to his clash with George Foreman in 1974, Muhammad Ali said, "How can I lose with Allah on my side?"

The author of Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice, Matthew Syed writes, “The belief that a higher power is guiding one's performance seems to boost performance and remove doubt, something which can help sports people just as much as it helps patients.”

Syed added: “Even away from faith, there are examples where belief can appear to change outcomes in sport.

Ultimately, Ali and Syed believe that prayer plays a part in players or teams to do better in matches. It lifts players’ or teams’ performances.

On faith and superstitions, Syed said: “England midfielder Paul Ince used to leave it until the last moment to put his shirt on.

“Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has worn the same shin pads since he was 16. Nani, the Manchester United winger, plays with his socks the wrong way round.”

From Syed’s quotes, it is critical to note that faith in God and superstitions are two different things. This raises another question, is God interested in helping players who also believe in superstitions?

Syed explicitly said, “Superstitions have little relevance to performance unless you really believe they do.”

However, it should be noted that no football academy teaches kids to pray in order to be good on the pitch. Academies or school of excellences teach tactics, game plan and resistance.

More so, no coach of a professional club would tell his players to pray hard ahead of an impending match.

This shows footballers pray because they somehow feel it will work. Honestly, what gives a team success is a combination of skills, hard work, discipline and dedication.  Therefore, players and teams should work hard if they want to be successful in the field of play.