International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach lauded the "great solidarity" of Tokyo 2020 and looked ahead to Beijing 2022 being a checkpoint on what he termed "our mission to unite the world". 

FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino vowed the organisation would "work together for unity" and urged "those at the top to show solidarity".

International Ski Federation President Johan Eliasch chose to go down the teamwork route. Eliasch asked that "we continue to face all challenges together through cooperation, exchange, openness, dedication and trust", at least eschewing unity for unity's sake.

International Judo Federation chief Marius Vizer urged that members "face 2022 together with renewed energy and determination". I could go on.

Despite these messages, no doubt recorded and written with noble intentions, the sports world being harmonious, united and peaceful in 2022 is highly unlikely. A quick look at the calendar tells you that.

Not only is there a packed schedule, if the coronavirus pandemic allows, but several of the most high-profile events are due to take place in highly controversial locations.

Politicians from a host of Western nations spearheaded by the United States will not be present at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, executing a diplomatic boycott to protest China's record on human rights. 

While the White House calls an "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang" its primary concern, China’s actions in Tibet and Hong Kong, plus latterly the plight of tennis player Peng Shuai, have also spurned calls for the event to be moved. 

For as much as IOC President Bach likes to stress the importance of the organisation remaining political neutral - he claimed last month that if it "were to start to take political sides… this would be the politicisation of the Olympic Games and this would be the end of the Olympic Games" - the Peng case has seen the IOC become part of the story, with its stance clashing with that of the Women’s Tennis Association. 

And that is before you consider the viewpoint that neutrality is impossible for the IOC to achieve on issues concerning the Chinese Government, with having an Olympic Games in the country seen as a tacit endorsement of the regime.

The Winter Olympics and Paralympics is not the only major multi-sport event slated for China in 2022 either, with Hangzhou due to stage the Asian Games and Chengdu preparing for the delayed International University Sports Federation World University Games. 

"The world is turning its eyes to China, and China is ready," President Xi Jinping insisted in his message to welcome 2022. Not all those turning their eyes to China will feel harmonious while doing so.

Then there is the FIFA World Cup, in Qatar, in the unusual window of November and December. Qatar’s chequered record on workers’ rights, the fact homosexuality is outlawed in the country and the jailing of a former World Cup media manager after what rights groups say was not a fair trial have all been used to argue it is not a fit host nation.

Add in the spectre of the men’s and women’s World Cups becoming biennial events, plus the disputed bid process which led to Qatar winning the right to stage the 2022 tournament, and there is plenty of cause for disagreement. 

Major World Championships in athletics and aquatics are scheduled in 2022 also, each in a country not sending elected politicians to Beijing 2022. The US and Japan are not without unsavoury acts of their own on their recent rights and foreign policy records, so these World Championships could be seen as a route for retribution or shining a light on these issues, depending on your perspective.

As much as the sport may take centre stage once it starts, as is so often the case, plenty of grounds for discord await. The notion that the wider public will be able to put all differences aside to universally enjoy Beijing 2022, Qatar 2022 or any other of the year’s major events without robust debate appears fanciful, especially at a time when the athletes themselves appear increasingly more willing to speak up over myriad off-field issues. 

And nor should unity be the goal. 

Unity is overrated. It is a lack of radical change, settling for the status quo. It is avoiding difficult conversations. Those who want unity can be motivated by greed and personal gain just as much as those who seek to divide.

Unity across sport will never be realised as long as it exists in a world that is not united. Athletes, administrators and fans are all people - they do not exist as sporting constructs removed from the outside world, despite what some may pretend. 

With society on the whole if anything growing more divided, and even a pandemic creating new fault lines rather than seeing the world unite against a common non-human enemy, unity may be a nice utopian goal but it is not feasible in reality.

Officials who are serious about using sport as a vehicle for good, and a vehicle for positive change, should strive for debate, awkward conversations and being prepared to both deliver and hear home truths. Otherwise sport as a uniting force is merely being used to paper over cracks.