Sports were important in Nazi ideology. Often athletes would be portrayed as warriors, and many drafted German athletes were placed into several branches of the Wehrmacht.
The Nazis also understood the power of sports as propaganda, and, especially in a sports-loving country like the Netherlands, the Nazis saw merit in promoting sports.
The poster below advertised for 12 March 1941, An Evening of Sports. The evening included cycling, boxing, singing and music, organized by the W.A.—the military branch of the NSB (Dutch National Socialists)
On 10 January 1942, an international youth boxing tournament was organized between the Netherlands and Germany.
Even in some of the concentration camps sports, were encouraged. In camp Schoorl a hurdle match was held. Looking at the height of the hurdles it appears to me it was designed to cause harm.
Between 19-21 September 1941, a light athletics tournament was hosted for the SS and Heer troops posted in the Netherlands.
Football has always been a favourite sport in the Netherlands. On 12 and 13 December 1942, two matches between Germany’s top team München 1860 and the Wehrmacht were planned. I suspect this was also to show the Dutch how superior the Germans thought they were. The first match was played in the Hague and the second in Amsterdam.
These sporting events weren’t arranged for the good of the people or to entertain them but to distract them from the horrors and the crimes committed by the Nazi occupiers.
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Sources
NIOD
History of Sorts 
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