# Are there any countries or societies wherein sports are unimportant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377 "2013-05-26T04:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/1 "2013-05-26T04:49:42Z")
My family were never sports fans and I have close to zero interest in soccer, gaelic football, hurling, rugby etc. I get a bit annoyed at how much coverage that sports get in the media, print, online, and on TV. I am curious whether there are societies that don’t value sports and expend so much time, energy, and discussion on them. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/2 "2013-05-26T05:21:23Z")
Sports didn’t seem like a big deal to anyone when I was in Yemen. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/3 "2013-05-26T05:43:50Z")
I wish. Still, I think the more major the country, such as America or Byzantium the Golden, the more imperative that the powers that be manipulate the masses of feebler minds into mock rivalries to hinder their critical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/4 "2013-05-26T07:12:54Z")
If I lived in Ireland I wouldn’t be interested in any of those sports either. Yawn. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/5 "2013-05-27T16:39:58Z")
So there’s Yemen maybe. Anywhere else? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/6 "2013-05-27T18:53:55Z")
Judging from this article, there’s not much football fever in North Korea. > [@](#): > > Maybe it was the early start but there were no chants and no flags or scarves in sight, just a quiet murmur around the darkened rows of seats. Many of the fans were soldiers in green uniforms and broad-brimmed hats. > > I do not know if they were under orders to attend but some were quietly reading paperbacks and showed no interest in the game. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/7 "2013-05-27T19:00:33Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Judging from this article, there’s not much football fever in North Korea. Do [mass games](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_games) count as sports? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/8 "2013-05-27T19:10:51Z")
Chasidic Judaism. Interesting OP. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/9 "2013-05-27T19:18:55Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Chasidic Judaism. > > Interesting OP. Actually, I’d go so far as to say Ashkenazic Jewry as a whole, before the _[Haskalah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskalah)_ “Jewish Enlightenment” era in the 19th century. That’s a pretty big and old culture, needless to say. No idea on Sephardic Jewry. ---
**Author:** ![hipdadiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hipdadiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hipdadiddy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/10 "2013-05-27T19:39:03Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I wish. But my God! how would you ever know whether or not you’re living in a great city if you got your wish?? That’s the justification we’re hearing day and night here in Seattle as the media bombards us with the life-or-death importance of bringing pro basketball back to town. And they make a good point. What would Paris or Berlin be without whoever their soccer teams are? And who would remember Renaissance Florence if its world-class bocce-ball hurlers had never existed? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/11 "2013-05-27T20:32:29Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > I wish. > Still, I think the more major the country, such as America or Byzantium the Golden, the more imperative that the powers that be manipulate the masses of feebler minds into mock rivalries to hinder their critical thinking. Only took two posts. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/12 "2013-05-28T00:04:01Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Actually, I’d go so far as to say Ashkenazic Jewry as a whole, before the _[Haskalah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haskalah)_ “Jewish Enlightenment” era in the 19th century. That’s a pretty big and old culture, needless to say. > > No idea on Sephardic Jewry. Interesting. Is that because it’s naughty, or just “meh”? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/13 "2013-05-28T01:14:58Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > Interesting. Is that because it’s naughty, or just “meh”? Off hand, my guess of the current Hassidic man/boy in the street response is _meh_, more specifically that it’s simply uninteresting _goyische naches_, what goyim, the non-Jews, find fun. Like hunting, eg, for the classic example. (It’s not a rabbinic term or anything, and is just a common description for stuff they find weird and different, not necessarily bad.) Although I think I’ve seen kids at recess playing basketball. I mean, they’re kids, they’ve gotta move around somehow. Better you should study Torah if you free time. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/14 "2013-05-28T01:18:14Z")
Somalia… Probably. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/15 "2013-05-28T01:31:13Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Judging from this article, there’s not much football fever in North Korea. North Korea qualified both men’s and women’s teams in their respective last World Cups, so they must be playing it pretty well there. It may be that the starving people don’t go to the games for fun, but the country is turning out athletes. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/16 "2013-05-28T03:08:49Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Off hand, my guess of the current Hassidic man/boy in the street response is _meh_, more specifically that it’s simply uninteresting _goyische naches_, what goyim, the non-Jews, find fun. Like hunting, eg, for the classic example. (It’s not a rabbinic term or anything, and is just a common description for stuff they find weird and different, not necessarily bad.) > > Although I think I’ve seen kids at recess playing basketball. I mean, they’re kids, they’ve gotta move around somehow. > Better you should study Torah if you free time. FWIW, there were Hasids and other Orthodox playing baseball in _The Chosen_, although the Hasidic team was something of an aberration, and the coach sat on the bench reading Torah. The NBA had a lot of Jewish players at one time, but presumably they were not Orthodox. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/17 "2013-05-28T03:35:24Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > North Korea qualified both men’s and women’s teams in their respective last World Cups, so they must be playing it pretty well there. It may be that the starving people don’t go to the games for fun, but the country is turning out athletes. I guess it depends on your standard. North Korea’s men’s team is currently ranked 115 in the (extremely flawed) FIFA rankings and 57 in the ELO rankings. They barely qualified out of Asia (they relied on goal differential to beat out Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE, all bad teams), it’s the first WC they’ve been to since the 60s, and they finished 0-3 with a -11 goal differential. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/18 "2013-05-28T03:46:37Z")
> [@panaccione](#): > > Somalia… Probably. Unlikely. Soccer is pretty universally huge throughout Africa. You can play soccer on just about any patch of land, with next to no equipment, so it’s not something likely to stop even in adverse situations. And the drama between national teams (and pride in African players in the international arena) is a big deal throughout the continent. It’s a bit of a universal language, and I don’t think any warlord or dictator has the power to stop it. Here is a good article from 2010 showing the persistence of Somalian soccer players under the threat of violence: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/10/AR2010071002033.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/10/AR2010071002033.html) ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/19 "2013-05-29T12:03:00Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > Sports didn’t seem like a big deal to anyone when I was in Yemen. Is salmon fishing a sport? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377/20 "2013-05-29T12:29:27Z")
I suppose that it is the nature of men to want to demonstrate that they are better than their fellows at something. This makes them competitive, and over the years the competition has evolved from seeing who could collect the most heads/wives/whatever, into kicking a bladder around a field and then to just watching others doing it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-countries-or-societies-wherein-sports-are-unimportant/659377.md?page=2)