>> Support material: Chapter 9


Chapter 9: Sporting life

 

Case studies Video clips Weblinks Further reading Podcasts
Case studies Video clips Weblinks Further reading Podcasts

 

Case study

What is wrong with sport?

The National Rugby League (NRL) is regularly in the media spotlight for a litany of punching, eye gouging, testicle squeezing, and sexual harassment incidents. In 2010 the NRL association severely penalised the Melbourne Storm for salary cap breaches and deliberate ongoing deception, retrospectively removing their 2007 and 2009 premiership titles, fining the club $500,000 and requiring it to repay $1.1 million of prize money. The association also deemed the club to be ineligible to earn any competition points in the 2010 season, effectively ensuring it last place.

The above incident is one of a long line of allegations of sporting malpractice. The first forfeit in almost 130 years of Test cricket occurred in August 2006, in a match between Pakistan and England. A controversy erupted when Australian umpire Darrell Hair awarded a Test match against Pakistan on forfeit (Baum 2006). Hair and fellow umpire, Dominican Billy Doctrove, penalised Pakistan five runs for alleged ball tampering. The Pakistan team refused to take the field in protest, and the umpires ruled they had forfeited the match. Although Pakistan did return to the field later to resume play, the forfeit stood.

The Pakistan captain, Inzamam, was charged with bringing the game into disrepute and with changing the condition of the ball. Amid the acrimony, an effigy of Hair was burned in Pakistan and the Pakistan captain is alleged to have said on Pakistani television: ‘The pride of the nation has been hurt. We have been unfairly labelled as cheats.’

At the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix, it was alleged that Michael Schumacher, seven-time world champion, deliberately stopped his car to block his main rival from qualifying (Moss 2006). There are regular allegations of drug use in sports such as cycling, swimming, boxing, skiing, and tennis. Sports such as gymnastics and weightlifting have also had problems with performance-enhancing drug scandals (Moss 2006).

Is it a reasonable question to ask whether any sports are scandal-free?

References

Baum, G. 2006, ‘Pakistan cuts Hair after game ends in forfeit fiasco’, The Age, Tuesday, August 22, News p. 3.

Moss, S. 2006, ‘In search of noble pursuits’, Guardian Weekly, September 1–7, p. 20.

Discussion questions

  1. Why do you think that sports now have so many scandals?
  2. Why do athletes potentially put their lives at risk by taking performance-enhancing drugs?
  3. Do athletes now have to win at all costs?
  4. Are elite sports representative of national identity?