Games without fun

UNESCO Courier, May, 1991 by Jean d'Ormesson

Obviously not all games are sports. Poker, the theatre, roulette, crossword puzzles and punning hardly fall within the category. But all sports must remain games-games calling for effort, persistence and courage, sometimes for heroism. The great thing about sport is that physical pleasure is transmogrified into moral standards. In a freedom that accepts constraints, it makes rules for itself in order the better to surpass itself. Violence, cheating, self-interest and hatred are offside. Sport is a matter of struggling, emulating, competing and surpassing. It must also above all be a matter of friendship, happiness and coming to terms with oneself and others-for it is above all a game. Adults-like the children they once were-should play only to be happy. People only ever play with their own kind. Sport, like play, is a fraternity.

JEAN D'ORMESSON, French writer, is SecretaryGeneral of the international Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies and Editor of the international journal of human sciences, Diogenes. A member of the French Academy since 1973, he is the author of many essays and novels, a number of which have been published in English, including The Glory of the Empire (New York, 1974) and At God's Pleasure (New York, 1977).

The International Fund for the Development of Physical Education and Sport (FIDEPS)

FIDEPS was set up in 1978 by UNESCO's General Conference with the object of helping the most disadvantaged of its Member States to implement the international Charter of Physical Education and Sport. According to the Charter, Every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport, which are essential for the full development of his personality (...) Physical education and sport contribute to the maintenance and improvement of health (and) provide a wholesome leisure-time occupation (...) At the community level, they enrich social relations and develop fair play, which is essential not only to sport itself but also to life in society".

In the industrialized countries between 80 and 85 per cent of children receive physical education at school, while in the developing countries, where there are very few sports facilities and personnel, almost the same proportion are deprived of it. In Europe and North America there is often one sportsground per 1,000 inhabitants, whereas in many countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America there are no more than a few dozen poorly equipped sportsfields.

In so far as its resources allow, and thanks to the contributions it receives from public and private sources, FIDEPS helps countries and institutions on request to train physical education teachers and instructors and technical personnel, to acquire basic facilities and equipment, to organize sporting and cultural events and to protect and develop traditional games and sports.