Once more, there is war in Europe To understand the interdependency of sport and society, and highlight the disenchantment of sport, we analyse the current war situation in Europe and its interdependency with sport in general Norbert Elias himself was a refugee during World War 2 Fleeing Poland/Germany and leaving his family behind, gave him and extraordinary perspective and background for understanding violence and aggression in society With the emergence of modern society’s state organization, nation-state formation and parliamentarism, the thesis of Elias is that the state has gained a monopoly on the control of the aggressive human emotions through the military, police and judiciary Therefore, the opportunity to unfold, create and discharge aggression, which are defined as some genuine, socially shaped operating categories, are gradually being taken over by the domain of sport in modern Western society (Elias & Dunning 1986) In this paper we argue that sport is not an a-political activity, as sport is interdependent and related to general social processes By focusing on cases from both Denmark and Norway, at the time the war between Ukraine and Russia broke out, we problematise the understanding of sport This historical and comparative gaze provides us with useful sociological knowledge, which can teach us to understand sport as part of a survival unit (Kaspersen, 2014), binding nations together – also in time of war Even though several key actors; writers and researchers have pointed out the political importance of sport, there has, nevertheless, been a relative consensus to sanctify sport, in order to keep it away from the political corridors
of power Since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and violated the country’s sovereignty, sport has been used as a political counterforce.