Sports are a powerful tool of cultural diplomacy and soft power because they draw mass audiences, major media attention, and significant investment. At times, athletes have taken part in exchange programs or diplomatic missions. The Olympic Games, once tied to religious festivals, now unite nearly all nations; the success of Pierre de Coubertin’s Olympic Movement (1894) owes much to its pacifist ethos. Among sports, soccer (European football) has the widest reach and most readily enables person-to-person interaction.