Religiosity in Sport

The sign of the cross made on the chest as you enter the venue always with your right foot; fingers pointing to the sky as a prayer is said before the match, in thanks for a goal or point scored, in short, for victory, for the medal hanging around your neck. The confidence of athletes, coaches and fans in amulets, tattoos, clothes under uniforms, beards/hair growth/cuts, countless prayers, gestures and rituals performed before, during or in the course of matches and competitions. Or as the athlete interviewed said: "in order for me to get a place in the Olympics, I was going to church straight away". You can easily find countless relationships and everyday manifestations of religiosity in the sporting environment. These behaviours, objects, practices and rituals permeate the religiosity of athletes and seek, in a way, to fill the void of the uncertainty of competition, the uncontrollable, the unknown and impotence. In the daily life of high-level sport, personal beliefs and professed religion establish complex relationships.