'Who's a good sport, eh?'

There's no doubt that sport can have a very positive impact on society. For one, those who actually engage in a sport generally have much better all-round health than those who don't.

Then you have the uniting aspect to it. Sport can bring together a diverse range of people and help to break down barriers, especially racial or political ones.

Sport: it has its good and evil sides. (Photo from fourfourtwo.com.)

For one, in post-apartheid South Africa, both rugby and football (soccer) were seen as important in this regard. Rugby in the African country had mainly been the preserve of the white elite and the national team, the Springboks, was seen as a symbol of white supremacy for many blacks.

The oval-ball game’s part in helping to build bridges came in 1995 when South Africa hosted and won the World Cup. The moment when then-president Nelson Mandela — a man who spent decades in prison under white minority rule — walked onto the pitch dressed in a Springboks jersey to present the trophy to team captain Francois Pienaar is etched in history. Black and white, united in sport.

Football's day came in 2010 when South Africa hosted the Fifa World Cup. Again, a sport that had once represented division — football was predominantly a black affair — brought the country together.

Yet, many in the Rainbow Nation feel the transformative powers of those momentous occasions have been exaggerated in some quarters. In other words, once the fanfare died down, things pretty much returned to how they had been — better than the dark days of apartheid for sure but far from an equal country.

Indeed, as much as sport can be seen as a uniting force, it can be just as divisive, too. 

In the case of another region slowly emerging from a troubled past, sporting splits exist in Northern Ireland. The differences may not be as marked as previously, but rugby is still associated more so with the British nationalist, Protestant community while Irish (Gaelic) football and hurling are chiefly played by those from the Irish nationalist, Catholic tradition.

Support of football/soccer, in general, could be seen as the one commonality between the two. However, the team you follow very much depends on what side you come from. Tensions in the terraces and on the pitch are at breaking point when the two tribes meet.

Of course, such rivalries aren't unique to current or recent conflict zones. There doesn't need to be political, racial or religious differences at play for fierce, and sometimes deadly, sporting clashes to emerge, especially so in the world of football.

'Is it football or a fight today lads? Or both?'

Here in Bogotá, authorities are on high alert when you have a Millonarios-Santa Fe derby, to name but one. Only this year in Buenos Aires you had violent scenes that forced the abandonment of the Boca Juniors-River Plate clásico.

Moreover, while we're often quick to highlight the benefits of playing team sports, they can also instil some very negative practices in people. I've seen and been part of what can only be described as on-field violence to the extent that if the same conduct was being carried out on the streets the culprits would be locked up. Damn the rules and sportsmanship when you're defending your team's honour.

What all this highlights is that sport, like other things such as politics and religion, can be both a force for good and a force for evil. And in the same way as most other human interests, it comes down to the mindset of the individual in how he or she utilises it.
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Forlorn Falcao

You have to admire, in some ways, Colombian patriotism. Among each other, they may bad mouth their country and criticise its many ills, but when it comes to outside 'attacks' they seem pretty good at closing ranks and rallying behind Colombia's cause, whatever that might be.

Falcao: Time to say goodbye to Manchester United? (Photo from Facebook.)

This is especially the case in the sporting arena. In last summer's Fifa World Cup, for example, the nation focused its wrath on the Spanish referee who 'robbed' Colombia's football heroes of what would have been a historic semi-final spot. Not much, however, was said of the rather timid first-half display from a team that up to that point had set the tournament alight.

Of course, Colombia made it to the last eight without the man who had been their talisman in qualifying for the tournament, a certain Señor Radamel Falcao. As we all know, a new star and national, nay international, hero announced himself on the world stage at Brazil 2014, James Rodríguez. But much adored as he is, Falcao is still hugely respected and revered here.

So Colombian pride has been hurt by the way he has been treated at his loan club this season, Manchester United. The Dutchman at the helm at Old Trafford, Louis Van Gaal, is very much the villain in these parts. And if Colombians needed justification for such a view, they got it recently from none other than the great Diego Maradona, who on a visit to Bogotá called Van Gaal 'the devil'. A strong endorsement that. A united Latino front or more a case, perhaps, of the crafty Argentinian playing to the gallery.

But the English club's manager may not be the one in the wrong here, if anyone is at fault at all.

OK, it can be argued with good reason that Falcao hasn't been given sufficient opportunities to prove himself in Manchester. Game time has been limited, even when he has been fit to play.

Diego Maradona: Who ate all the pies? (Photo credit: Amy Farrell.)

Yet, of the chances he did get to show us his undoubted quality, the latest coming in the recent league defeat at Chelsea, he hasn't been that impressive, to say the least. What's more, United have found a system and — more importantly — winning form without him. For a manager who was under the cosh just a few months ago, with the non-deployment of Falcao a regular stick to beat him with, Van Gaal now has solid results to throw back at his critics.

For sure, it appears the relationship between the striker and gaffer isn't great and at times it seemed like Van Gaal wasn't playing the Colombian purely out of stubbornness. Whether that's the case or not, you can't find too much fault with the manager's selection of late (the Chelsea game excepted); and the reality is that Falcao is, at this moment in time anyway, a bit part in the United revival.

The goals he recently netted on international duty show he still has his predatory instincts, while they also added more fuel to Colombian annoyance at how he is being treated in England. Although scoring against Bahrain and Kuwait in friendly fixtures isn’t the greatest yardstick on which to judge a top-class striker.

At this remove, it's unlikely he'll hang around Manchester once this current loan spell expires at the end of the season. The best move for all concerned, you'd have to think.

A trip back to club football on the European continent, after what both he and Colombia will hope to be a successful Copa América, might be just what El Tigre needs to rediscover his mojo.