Just How Sporting Is Sport?
By Eye Magazine published 5 February, 2012 No CommentsWe’ve looked forward to the 2012 Olympic Games since the announcement a number of years ago that they were to be held in Britain but the recent revelation that this year there will be more drug tests than ever before to ensure the honesty of the games and its participants is a little disturbing. Seeking to gain advantage through methods that are against the rules – especially of nature -can never be considered sporting.
Cricket, meanwhile, has recently undergone a series of investigations that have questioned the game’s integrity, highlighted the role of the gambling fraternity and led to high profile cricketers being banned for blatantly allowing bribes to influence their performances.
Horse racing has always been susceptible to financial influences and once again recent publicity has poured doubt on the validity of results and the true intentions of those involved. That there are so many ways to affect the way a horse runs can only lead to doubts about the final result.
These are just a few examples of the illegal way sport and its results are being influenced by money yet despite the genuine horror most people feel when sport succumbs to the temptations of wealth, few will acknowledge the most unlevel playing field of all. Football in Britain – and indeed the world – is now all about money and has led to a situation where only a handful of the 96 English league clubs have even a remote chance of winning the top prize. If you regularly read the sporting press, in fact, you could be forgiven for thinking there were only six or seven football clubs that matter because the rest are hardly ever mentioned. Even when our own team Middlesbrough were performing well in the premiership and reaching the UEFA Cup Final national publicity was minimal.
The big problem is that pouring more and more money into certain clubs means that they gain what in other sports would be deemed unfair advantages. Sadly, in football it is accepted as the norm. Buying results in athletics, or snooker, or cricket or racing is considered unfair, unethical and downright cheating. In football it is considered an integral part of being a member of the sport’s elite.
How in God’s name can that be fair?
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