Do you agree that serious sport is anything but fair play?
Sport has existed since the birth of civilizations. Man competes physically and mentally in every possible event, with the aims of promoting fitness, allowing people of different creed and race to unite together and play for their passions, and lastly, to emphasize the need for fair play. In recent years, serious sport or professional sport has succeeded in achieving the first two goals of sport. The example of sport records shows the unprecedented high levels of competition in serious sport. Professional sport teams have also “globalised” by attracting foreign talents to play in the local leagues, hence providing opportunities for different people to meet and play together. However, fair play, which encompasses sportsmanship, level playing fields, among many others, seems to be gradually disappearing from the face of serious sport, ever since the commercialization of professional sports began. Therefore, I agree to a large extent that serious sport is anything but fair play.
Bill Shankly once said, “Sport is not a matter of life and death- it is more than that.” This is generally true of serious sport today, where its commercialization has seen mega multi-national corporations pouring billions of dollars into what they perceive as a lucrative market- serious sport. Many professional sportsmen no longer play for the “fun” element. Their main objective is for the money to roll in by winning championships and breaking world records at all costs. Michael Phelps, the American swimming star was offered a million US dollars for each gold medal he brought home by Timex if he could surpass the previous record haul of seven gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. With such “seriousness” in sport, it is inevitable that many professional sportsmen place victory above all else, even fair play. Commercialisation of serious sport kick started its decadence.
Commercialsation of sport has also created a financial disparity in the sporting arena, especially in football. While the English Football Association could afford four million pounds to hire Sven Goran Eriksson as the England manager, the Football Association of Singapore do not have that much resources to finance the entire staff of the national team. Sport powerhouses with huge financial backing and sport minnows with limited resources are clearly not competing on a level playing field. Competition in sport should be strictly based on skill and talent, and not in terms of financial resources. Yet, because big teams like Chelsea Football Club have such great financial clout to attract whoever they want, it undermines the quality of their rivals and fairness in serious sport.
When fair play is mentioned, sportsmanship instantly crops up in one’s mind. Before professional sport events begin, we often see sportsmen doing the traditional handshakes and well-wishing. Nevertheless, they are just formalities of sport. Does sportsmanship still exist? In football matches, it is common to see players lying down on the pitch with injuries, yet the opponents continue to play the game to their advantage by feigning ignorance of the the situation. Sport has become so “serious” because of the effects of commercialisation once again. Sportsmen ignore the true spirit of sport in order to triumph. There are many cases of the lack of sportsmanship across the whole spectrum of sports which is evident enough to show that fair play is diminishing in serious sport.
Nevertheless, it is also important to realize that a majority of professional sportsmen still adhere to the rules of their sport and practice fair play. Many a time, we see sportsman offering a helping hand to their rivals who fell, physically and mentally. International sport associations like FIFA also continue to promote fair play in their respective sport with fair play awards or monetary bonuses for exemplary conduct. It is clearly evident that fair play still exists in serious sport to a certain extent.
While the ill-effects of sport commercialsation has begin to spill over into fair play, it is important for people to understand that sport can never exist with its true spirit of fair play. As we looks towards the continued development of serious, we must never forget to compete fairly, or else the true meaning of sport will not be realised.
(i wrote this GP essay during the mid-years, and somehow got 30/50.)
