Sure it's possible. Supposedly when Manny Pacquiao fights, there is a truce between the warring factions in the Phillipines. And when Barry McGuigan, another boxer (from Northern Ireland this time) had world title fights in the 1980s the IRA suspended its activities for the duration of the fight. Or there is the very famous story of the Christmas truce of 1914 during World War I, where English and German soldiers are meant to have played football against each other.

One shouldn't exaggerate the power of sports, but certainly in times of war and national tension, international athletic contests do a number of things. It is not necessary to understand language to appreciate the skill or spirit of a foreign athlete, and it is hard to demonize people from another country or see them as subhuman when you see them running or swimming or playing baseball.