Sportspeople offer lesson for politicians!

Sudan National Football Team

In a time of sharp differences between politicians in the two states of Sudan and South Sudan on various issues including politics, security and economic cooperation, athletes from South Sudan gave politicians a free and moving lesson on the spirit of brotherhood, love and tolerance which should serve as an example to politicians and citizens in the two neighboring countries. South Sudan Football Association (SSFA), was the first of the East and Central African football associations to support the nomination of the Secretary General of the Sudanese Football League, Mr. Magdi Shams Aldein to be reinstated in his position as a member of the Confederation of African Football Executive Committee, through the General Assembly which was held two days ago in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

FIFA, football's highest international ruling body has since chosen Mr. Shams al-Din to oversee SSFA elections, to be held next month in the Southern capital of Juba.

There are plenty of lessons the size of a nation to be drawn from the above story; lessons about success and failure, and about nationhood and neighborhood.

I have written before - in this very space- that the secession of South Sudan was a political and geographical occurrence rather than a social phenomenon and that the people of the south and the north will always maintain and even strengthen their social links.

The major issue now, I think, is cooperation between the two states.  Countless joint interests between the two states at the political, economic and social levels make it imperative that the two governments shift from "confrontation" to" cooperation" by establishing bilateral relations that guarantee peace and co-existence and prevent a return to war.

As long as the two sides continue to have these vital common interests, they must establish bridges of cooperation.

What is required now is to look for a solid basis of complementation between the two countries in the light of their historic and geographic relations and the timeless heritage of cooperation and common interest. This desired complementation can and should involve all aspects of the economic, social, cultural and political life.