In several countries, sports have become an important part in the recognition and development of their respective cultures. Sports are considered international when two or more countries participate in the sport and compete. Some of the most well known events with international sports are the Olympics and FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup. The Olympic Games are an example of the combination of international sports and culture. This global-scale competition represents unity, pride, elite athleticism, and peace around the globe, in which the Olympics brings together the world’s top athletes who compete for the honor and glory of bringing home a medal. It also brings together millions of spectators and fans, watching as they support the athletes who represent their home countries. The Olympic Games are a highly-anticipated global event that is covered by thousands of experts and journalists, as well as many reporters and newspapers who promote it. The Olympics is a chance for nations not only to put themselves in the spotlight with the honor to host the games but it is also a chance to showcase to the world their culture, heritage, history and how they have transitioned and progressed. There is more to it than just establishing world supremacy, it is also a huge matter of pride as the world will remember the events for years to come. For example, the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney left a lasting impression on the world, especially with the torch relay. The torch relay united Australians, as it involved about 11,000 runners that came from and passed through about 750 towns and ran about 27,000 km through the country. The event spread from Sydney to the rest of the nation, making it more than a national media event. The Sydney Games were an economic and social success for various reasons, including the fact that 47,000 people volunteered. There are obvious economic benefits that come with volunteerism, but the sheer number of volunteers at the Sydney Olympic Games left a significant impact on Australian society as a whole. Sydney also gained the ability to host large future sporting events, which helped boost the country and economy due to the infrastructure created such as the Olympic stadium, the Superdome, the Tennis Centre, the Olympic Park Aquatic Centre and the International Regatta Centre. The Olympic games may have had a negative economic impact, but it left an important cultural and national unity and mindset on the citizens of Australia. The Olympics are an important event like no other to many countries. People from around the world unite, and an abounding sense of national pride is evoked from athletes and spectators alike. Hundreds of thousands of people from different cultures come together for this type of event, whether it be for the Summer or Winter Olympics. In recent years, it has also evolved to include branches of the games such as the Paralympics and the Youth Olympics, which also promotes a different aspect of society and culture that was often neglected in previous years. Certain sports also have cultural impact worldwide besides from being part of an international sporting event like the Olympics, such as association football (also known more commonly as football or soccer). Football is one of the most popular sports in almost every country on the planet. One such country that is most commonly associated with football is Brazil, especially since it was established as the national sport de jure (by law) in 1974. This is mainly due to the fact that the Brazilian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup tournament five times (in years 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002), and is the only team to succeed in qualifying for every single World Cup competition that has occurred. After Brazil won its third World Cup in 1970, they were presented and awarded with the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently, the original trophy given in the World Cup. Brazil has also won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, which was held in Rio de Janeiro. Football had grown to become an important passion for Brazilians, who often refer to their country as “the country of football”. Over 10,000 Brazilians play professionally around the world, with which football has had a major effect on Brazilian culture. The World Cup, especially, draws Brazilians together, with people skipping work to view the national team play, or employers setting up places for employees to watch. The General Elections are usually held in the same year as the World Cup and former Brazilian footballers are often elected to legislative positions. One unique aspect of football in Brazil is the importance of the Brazilian State Championships. For much of the early development of the game in Brazil, the nation’s size and the lack of rapid transport made national competitions unfeasible, so the competition centered on state tournaments and inter-state competitions like the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. Nowadays,, there is a growing tendency of devaluation of the importance of such championships as continental and national competitions have grown in relevance since the early 1990s.Just like soccer is the national sport in Brazil, ice hockey is the national winter sport in Canada, alongside lacrosse (the national summer sport in Canada). Ice hockey was established as one of the national sports when the Parliament passed the National Sports of Canada Act in 1994. The modern form of ice hockey began in Canada in the late 19th century, and is considered as Canada’s national pastime, similar to how baseball is the United States of America’s pastime. Ice hockey is one of the most played sports in the country and is so popular that it is often associated with Canadian national identity. One of the reasons that ice hockey became so popular is because of the climate. The first hockey games were played on frozen ponds, lakes and rivers, or on iced-over streets or park. However, McGill University students in Montreal in the 1870s were the first to come up with a set of rules, where James Creighton set up the first indoor match at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal with several other McGill University students. From then on, the popularity of ice hockey increased so rapidly that by 1883 a ‘world championship’ was included in Montreal’s Winter Carnival. After some more rule changes in 1885, players set up the Montreal City Hockey League to play a series of regular matches and then they established the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada league in 1886. Other leagues were formed in various cities. Ice hockey soon attracted sponsors, including Lord Stanley of Preston, Canada’s governor-general. He purchased a sterling silver bowl as a trophy to be awarded to the winning team of the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, which soon became known as the Stanley Cup. It was first won in 1893 (and is still presented to the champion team of the National Hockey League). The sport became very competitive and by the early 1900s, clubs wanted to attract larger crowds and began to hire players. The first professional league in Canada was the Manitoba Professional Hockey League in 1905. Others were formed over the next few years. Ice hockey was becoming a business and its operators maintained its success.Ice hockey’s first world championship was held at the 1920 Olympic Games at Antwerp, Belgium. Canada, represented by the Winnipeg Falcons, won the gold medal. This gave the game a further boost in the home country. The Toronto Granites won the gold at the first Winter Olympics at Chamonix, France in 1924. The U of T Grads team won gold for Canada at the 1928 St Moritz Games, Switzerland, scoring 38 goals and conceding none in its three matches in the medal round. The popularity of the game also meant that it was broadcasted extensively on radio by the 1930s and on television from the 1950s. The two teams to have won the most Stanley Cup championships are the Montreal Canadiens with 24 and the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13. When thinking of Canada, ice hockey is often a symbol of national identity and is an important part of their culture that they take pride in, especially with their victories and awards brought home. . Sri Lanka won its independence in 1972 and has been through various calamities and disasters, both by man-made and natural causes. However, sport remains an important part of their culture, regardless of trauma. Officially, their national sport is volleyball, however cricket is by far the most popular sport. Sri Lanka is one of the ten nations that are full members and take part in test cricket and one of the five nations that has won a Cricket World Cup. Cricket is played at professional, semi-professional and recreational levels in the country and international cricket matches are watched by a large proportion of the population.Cricket was brought to the island by the British and was first played in the 1800s. The earliest definite mention of cricket in Ceylon was a report in the Colombo Journal on September 5th, 1832 which called for the formation of a cricket club. The Colombo Cricket Club was formed soon afterwards, and matches began in November 1832. Since then, the sport has grown domestically with major events such as the Premier Trophy (starting 1938) and the Premier Limited Overs Tournament (starting 1988-89).Sri Lanka first participated in the 1975 Cricket World Cup and was later awarded test cricket (one of the oldest forms of cricket) status in 1981, by the International Cricket Council, which made Sri Lanka the eighth test cricket playing nation. Since the 1990’s, the Sri Lanka national cricket team has emerged as one of the world’s best teams after winning the 1996 Cricket World Cup, even though they were viewed and nicknamed as the underdog. They won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 and became co-champions with India. However, they became more and more visible after they won and took home the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 victory in Bangladesh, beating the hosting team of India. They have also taken the Asia Cup in the years of 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008 and 2014. They were also the runner-ups in the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cup, as well as in the 2009 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20, being the host of the 2012 games. Regardless of any political and economic stress that countries may have, countries and their inhabitants often turn towards sports as a form of enjoyment. As the popularity of a particular sport increases, the country begins to be recognized for their achievements and citizens increasingly begin to support athletes in hopes of more trophies and medals. This love and support towards a sport and athletes continues to grow, until the sport becomes an important part of the country’s culture.