Jim H.
Exposure of the extent of
the use of performance enhancement drugs in the various football codes and
other sports has had a profound impact.
Associated
with this is the existence of what seems to be compelling evidence of match
fixing, involving the bribing of officials and players. The two issues cannot
be separated.
The
vast majority of people are revolted by this. There is a broad sense that this
may only be the tip of the iceberg. Most people want decisive action to put an
end to this insidious cancer.
So
far, a lot of attention has been put on the wrongdoing of players and coaches
and officials who have either participated in or turned a blind eye to what has
been going on. These individuals are culpable, whether it’s accepting payments
for throwing games, or participating in the circulation and use of performance
enhancement drugs. Either way, it provides a honeypot to criminal elements, who
then extend their influence through many aspects of sport.
Any
decent person would agree that this has to be countered. Those found participating
must be held to account. If the problem is going to be solved once and for all,
this on its own is not enough. While the conditions to corrupt sport remain, it
will continue to be corrupted.
Sport as a commodity
The
essential problem is that sport has been turned into a commodity. Because of
this, it is no longer so much an activity for the development and testing of
skill, as it is about manufacturing a package that can be marketed for a large
amount of money.
Increasingly,
big business runs sporting clubs and teams. Sponsorship is vital, and failure
to win threatens sponsorship. Media and advertising barons make squillions out
of it, plus the huge merchandising industry. In Australia today, the
commodification of sport has created a $9 billion a year industry.
Gambling and corruption
In
recent times, a huge gambling industry has grown around spot-betting on various
sports. It is a magnet for widespread corruption, and obviously criminal
activity. At the elite Olympic level, vast sums are spent wining and dining the
sporting code bosses and their flunkies.
It gives rise to an atmosphere where of making big money by jumping on the
gravy train surrounds every player, and inevitably some will become infected
with this outlook. For many of those who have the dominant influence over elite
sport nowadays, nothing must get in the way of generating cash flow.
The outlook of capitalism
The
difficulty in doing something about this is that the commodification of sport
is capitalism at work. Ideologically capitalism is founded on extreme
individualism, greed and the sacrifice of all else to individual benefit. It
was always inevitable that this outlook would eventually infect sport at the highest
levels. After all sport cannot be totally immune from the environment in which
it exists.
Return sport to the people
The
problem is not uniquely Australian. It exists around the world. Any official
action that exposes what is going on and deals with the culprits appropriately
is welcome. And we can do something about it on our own turf.
It
is important that players, coaches and others take a stand, and that
Australians as a whole demand and assert decisive influence to remove sport
from the clutches of big business and criminal elements, through its
de-commodification. Sport will then be
returned to the people.
Other
than the obvious promotion of fitness, sport has other positive qualities. It
teaches teamwork and helps to build communities. It teaches many skills
connected to organising to achieve a common objective and to communicate more
effectively to others.
These
qualities are important and deserve to be valued. When they dominate, as they
do when sport is in the hands of the people, they create an effective barrier
against the present problems.
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