Sport: agony and ecstasy

At this time of year football fever grips our islands as top European clubs lock horns in their quest for fame and fortune. It is on such occasions that we realise that football is not just a game; its potential as a socialising power for participants and genuine viewers knows no bounds.

I recall an incident two years ago as I lay on my fragile stretcher-bed at the Emergency Ward at Mater Dei with patients, doctors, consultants and the nursing staff all fully stretched trying to cope with the sudden influx. Football conversation, innuendos and barbed remarks about the forthcoming or previous evening’s match were the only shining light in an otherwise depressing environment. It is in such dire straits that we realise the bonding power of this great game that knows no class. It is a game for all. Sport, particularly football, provokes more debate than politics and sex put together. It is the first thing we turn to in the newspaper every morning and very often the last thing we watch at night. Quite often it dominates our week-end and mid-week viewing. Football competition with its stark realities occasionally conveys an underlying passion that no scripted television episode can regularly bring to the small screen.

It is incumbent on us all, as adepts of the sport we cherish, to take immediate action to stop the rot

The game can easily evolve into high drama as in the recent case when two top Spanish clubs came crashing down from their lofty zenith of fame and glory to the bitter nadir of humiliating defeats. Football sometimes develops into song and dance, into comedy, into news, into tragedy... often when least expected.

It presents aspects of ethnic community, regional or national pride; it focuses on the ecstasy of victory or the agony of defeat.

In all honesty I have to stress that passive participation in sport, particularly for children and youths, has its dangers. The new sub-culture of the TV sporting fan has sadly claimed many of our younger generation for whom this passive recreation has developed into an obsessive way of life. Otherwise this cornucopia of sports viewing can add meaning to our lives.

Unfortunately there is the imminent danger of sport, particularly the lucrative game of football, becoming a victim of its own success. Recent events in the international arena compel me to underline its stark realities; for sport is currently passing through a most difficult period. Its credibility is at stake, its values are questioned, its moral fibre is being shattered by scandal and abuse. The recent cases of match fixing, violent conduct on the field and sports idols fading away from hero to zero are cases in point. Luis Suarez got a fully-deserved 10 match ban for biting an opponent. The American cyclist Lance Armstrong got a life suspension and was asked to refund millions of dollars in aborted sponsorships for cheating with drugs. Gran Prix drivers risked other drivers’ lives by using their vehicles like bumping cars.

That is sport as now unfortunately portrayed with vicarious relish in the popular press.... conveniently oblivious to the millions of daily exemplary sporting events. And people are noticing.

When they begin noticing the excesses of any sport, says the reputable American author James Michener, when it makes them laugh or cry, that sport is doomed.

In such a situation it is incumbent on us all, as adepts of the sport we cherish, to take immediate action to stop the rot. Being at heart a somewhat reactionary and Corinthian-inclined purist who has enjoyed a full sporting life experiencing the whole gamut of sport, it may surprise many when I, paradoxically, suggest the roping in of private enterprise, both local and foreign, to come to the rescue.

I fully concur with Winston Churchill’s views on the potential of private enterprise which “some see as the predatory target to be shot; others as a cow to be milked but few are those who see it as a sturdy horse pulling the wagon”. In recent times, in all industrial countries, more and more companies are turning to sport to promote their corporate image, splashing their names and millions of euros on anything from racing cars and yachts to teams and players themselves. Even in tiny Malta, sport is being increasingly identified by the local business community as an attractive vehicle through which they may project their products.

The “clean” image of sport helps boost sales and improve profits. Furthermore, through sponsorship the commercial community can gain much needed prestige and be viewed as making a valid contribution to the good of society. Of course one has to strike a balance so that business should always be in the service of sport and not the other way round.

The recent outrageous scandals in the top echelons of some international federations have cast a very dark shadow on sports.

I do not wish to sound like a Cassandra; on the contrary I am brimming with rational optimism, but there should be no mercy for transgressors if we want to stop the rot.

In these dire circumstances the business community can help enormously.

In any sponsorship and marketing contract with clubs and players it should be stipulated that patronage can be immediately withdrawn or seriously curtailed for grave misconduct or bad practices.