Sport and politics have always been closely entwined.
Of course. Just to take one sport as an example from history,
when the famous boxer, Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling from Germany, Schmeling was viewed(not by his choice)as a symbol of Aryan superiority in his country and Louis was actually summoned to the white house to meet with then president Franklin Rossevelt, and was told "Joe, we need muscles like yours to defeat the Nazis".
Even though, during that time, Joe could not even walk into a restaurant in the southern region of his own country and stay at any hotel of his choice, or be served a meal, he found himself being used as a pawn/symbol of "American pride" on the world stage.
And like a good patriot, he stepped up.
When Louis was in the Army, he donated numerous purses to the Army relief fund as a proud American who was just trying to help.
Due to a convoluted tax law, he spent his life after a celebrated boxing career, living in poverty to pay off the tax debt, which was a direct result of his donations.
The IRS hounded him to his grave because of his attempt to be a patriotic American.
But at least, he was given a "heroes burial" at Arlington National Cemetary.
That's just one example, and there are more, but I'm sure you get the point.