Thou Shalt Not Cheat… – Steven Falk
January 18, 2013
…Lie or otherwise seek to gain unfair advantage in sport.
So states the Eleventh Commandment of the Church of the Outraged Public. And to enforce this edict there exists a battery of slow motion replays, drugs testing regimes and investigative journalists to scrutinise every aspect of an athlete’s controversial or questionable behaviour.
Paradoxically, the behaviours that offend the British sense of fair play are also those that make compelling TV and fill the back pages of our newspapers with moral indignation. Every pantomime needs a villain. So it is that we can boo and hiss at the unethical antics of Tom Williams, Luis Suarez and Lance Armstrong, tutting at their win-at-all-costs mentality while cheering on the gallant losers. Providing of course they lose in the “right” way.
Success in sport is about achieving the extraordinary. The cultural values that set the parameters for what is acceptable behaviour vary according to the audience’s partisan perspective. One man’s cheat is another’s hero.
No one in the UK would question the remarkable success of Team GB’s amazing track cycling achievements at the Beijing and London Olympics. This was a triumph of clean, raw talent allied to the very best performance preparation and technical equipment. A total strategy for success based on Dave Brailsford’s philosophy of ‘marginal gains’. But how many developing nations have the budgets or national lottery-funded infrastructure to support such a philosophy? Was it fair competition?
And what of Canada’s ‘Own the Podium’ strategy developed to ensure national success at the Vancouver Winter Olympics? Was denying other teams access to the practice slopes a reasonable requirement to keep the competitive course pristine for the main event or an unscrupulous attempt to maximise home advantage?
Cheating can never be condoned or accepted in sport. Like any human behaviour the moral compass of participants and the enforcement of the rules of fair play as interpreted by the governing bodies govern its practice.
However, we must also accept that the social and financial imperative to win at the highest levels means there will always be a fine line for athletes to negotiate and that the playing field will rarely be even.
Steven Falk is founder of Star Sports Marketing a consultancy providing advice on sponsorship activation, brand development, membership programmes, CRM and affinity marketing. Clients include Chelsea FC, World Academy of Sport and Jockey Club Racecourses.
Star Sports Marketing can help you to devise and implement an effective partnership strategy.
Visit www.starsportsmarketing.com or email steven.falk@starsportsmarketing.co.uk
You can follow him on Twitter: @steven_falk
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