True Champions

It’s not a new thing. All that you need to do when mentioning unsporting behaviour is to go back immediately to 1986, to the infamous ‘hand of god’ goal, one of the most distinctive examples for the lack of honesty and integrity in sport, but what is still surprising is that it lasts. And lasts.

It’s easy to criticise from the side, thinking only about what you see in front of you, with your own eyes, and not take into consideration all the other aspects of the case in question, But it’s not a case of only being smart in retrospect, it’s a true calling. Regardless of the fact that I’m an England fan, If I were Manuel Neuer, Germany’s goalkeeper in South Africa, I would have let the poor Uruguayan referee know that Lampard’s shot actually did cross the line. Unlike Alberto Contador, anyhow the top favourite to win the Tour De France, I would have waited for Andy Schleck to repair the chain of his bike which came off at a crucial time, and not taken advantage of the situation to retain possession over the maillot jaune. And yes, unlike Felipe Massa and/or Fernando Alonso, I would have responded to that subtle remark by Ferrari’s engineer with the complete opposite of obedience and hope that the best man will be the one who reaches the checkered flag first.

There have been some nice, heart warming examples in the past for behaviour to the contrary: Robbie Fowler pointing to the ref that he wasn’t fouled in the box and then purposely missing the resulting penalty or a Dutch team allowing their rivals to score after they’d scored whilst an opposition player was injured, but instead of these examples being standard procedure, they’re the rare ones.

Maybe it’s asking too much in a world where money, financial agendas, multi-national companies with their multi-billion dollar marketing arrangements are operating, where everything is profit-based, and almost every professional decision is taken based on the economic implications.

But maybe because these areas are taking command of all aspects of sports, it will raise these private, lonely protagonists. The sole player, sportsman, or woman, who knows that there’s always something more valuable than winning and who can maybe influence others to think the same. Perhaps in the future we’ll see fewer decisions like the one Lebron made, and more fellowship, dignity, honor, naturalism, bravery, as teams or individuals win in a more honest and sportsmanlike manner.

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