OIC and Olympics – where is the disconnect?

More than 11,000 athletes convened to compete at the Olympics this year.

The event, which was held from July 26 until August 11, garnered millions of spectators and billions of viewers worldwide. 

Athletes represented their National Olympic Committees (NOCs) at the Olympics, attached to the countries or territories of their origin. This year, there were 206 such committees. 

The United States registered the most towering presence at this year’s event, with 623 athletes. Running it close was France with 601 participants, followed by Australia (477). China sent 398 participants. The US bagged the most medals (126), followed by China (91), Britain (65), France (64), and Australia (53). 

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which consists of 57 countries, registered a moderate presence at this year's event.

A contingent of 1,180 OIC athletes participated this year, making up just over 10% of the total participating cohort. They had a paltry 81 medals to show for it, led by Uzbekistan whose athletes bagged 13 medals, followed by Iran (12) and Turkiye (8). 

This makes for grim reading by any account and raises more questions than it answers. 

The lacuna between OIC countries versus high-flying nations lays bare the gap in sports investments and inclusion on a policy, socio-economic and state level. 

“Preparing better athletes to compete in international competitions may not be a priority if the country is struggling to combat poverty, malnourishment, and other menaces. In that case, athletes will not be having sufficient government support, and they may rely mostly on individual efforts. A notable example worth mentioning is Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem, who was training on his own, and won a gold medal in the Paris Olympics 2024, breaking the Olympic record in javelin throw,” Sary Mahmoud Farah, school administrator and basketball coach at Nobles International School, tells Salaam Gateway.  

“OIC developing countries need to fulfil the citizens' basic needs first, and then move up to the level in which they can pave the way for local athletes to develop by providing them with proper moral and financial support.”

According to the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI) scores, almost 40% of the 57 OIC countries have moderate, serious or alarming levels of hunger. Of the nine countries with alarming levels of hunger on the index, three are OIC states, namely Niger, Somalia and Yemen.

The Great Sports Continuum
So, what have developed countries, such as the US, China and France, done so conspicuously right?

A 2022 UN reports reveals that France integrated sport and development into its roadmap for the 2030 Agenda and created an inclusive sports policy arm in its development cooperation framework. Italy has also integrated sport into its international development cooperation. In China, the draft for the five-year plan (2021–2025) for its national economic and social development and Vision 2035 includes policies to leverage sport for socioeconomic development. 

“Developed nations such as Australia and the United States are high performers in the Olympics because they [have] institutional systems from school age that train and build the best athletes in the world. In Australia alone there are multiple high performing sports schools besides elite schools also pushing their students to compete professionally. These then culminate in the best going to the Australian Institute of Sport where they are accelerated in their performance - through a science based institutional system,” Dr Sayd Farook, senior partner for Oceania and GCC at DinarStandard, tells Salaam Gateway. 

“You have this web of sporting institutions and colleges that churn out large amounts of elite athletes despite the small size of their population. The same can be said of the United States as well where elite Ivy League schools also perform a similar function.”

It all starts with schools and physical education (PE) sessions, adds Farah, noting that PE sessions are not taken seriously enough in most OIC countries. 

“If we were to observe the most successful nations in terms of athleticism on the global level, we will notice that PE is a core subject in their schools. The best examples are US, China, France, Germany, and Australia. If you want to see the difference between these countries' athletic preparation and OIC countries, the FIBA World Cup (basketball) championship (under 16 and under 18) would be a good example. You cannot miss the difference between Australian and US players on one hand and another team players from a developing country on the other. Young players' physicality and athleticism would differ significantly. This is definitely a result of long-term preparation that starts in schools at a young age,” he explains. 

Where to, next?
It is not all gloom and doom, though.

The World Economic Forum predicts that the sports industry across the Middle East – a region which hosts a number of OIC countries - is expected to grow 8.7% by 2026, compared with a global sector growth of 3.3% over the same period.

Among OIC countries, the six GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states have taken strong strides. Saudi Arabia’s national transformation plan (NTP), launched as part of its ambitious Vision 2030, emphasizes on the promotion of sports. 

“The NTP emphasizes the development of sports infrastructure at the grassroots level, with a focus on schools, women’s sports facilities, and local communities. The goal is to increase community participation in sports from 13% to 40% by 2030,” a Gulf Research Center (GRC) report read. 

The UAE unveiled its national sports strategy 2031 last year, to increase the involvement in sports to 71% of the country’s population, as well as to raise the number of Olympics qualifying athletes to over 30 by the year 2031. 

Bahraini public authorities have also taken initiatives to make sports and recreational activities accessible to everyone. The kingdom bagged four medals at the Paris event this year, the highest among GCC states.  

“Policies and programs have been thoughtfully implemented across different governorates to ensure affordable activities for individuals of all backgrounds and abilities. This includes the creation of neighborhood parks with sports facilities, the construction of sports stadiums, football pitches, multipurpose sports halls, Olympic swimming pools, youth centers, and youth sports grounds,” the GRC report states. 

However, much more remains to be done. 

“Across the OIC, countries have yet to develop or invest in strong institutions that churn out elite athletes. It’s a very distant concern. So most if not all of the Olympic achievements we see is due to talent and a bit of development. OIC countries have a way to go but I believe with a prioritisation of sport at all levels, they can also punch above their weight,” adds Dr. Farook. 

Paragraphs 5 and 7 edited on September 5, 2024.