Showing posts with label Euro 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Euro 2012. Show all posts
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Sporting Integrity
Some people think that sport and politics should always be kept separate; I suppose their reasoning is that sporting events are purely for entertainment purposes (i.e. the best athlete wins, and that’s all there is to it), and morality shouldn’t spoil that enjoyment. But, as you’ve probably already guessed, I disagree. I was perturbed a few weeks ago when the seemingly amoral - as in, money driven - Bernie Ecclestone pushed for the Bahrain Grand Prix to take place regardless of the serious repression of the masses that has been occurring for over a year now (not to mention the fact that Grands Prix annually take place in China where human rights abuses are even more frequent!). I’m frustrated that shortly the Euro 2012 football tournament will partly be held in Ukraine where Yulia Tymoshenko is currently incarcerated under draconian circumstances as a political prisoner; a country which only a few years ago rightly hailed their Orange Revolution for installing a progressive government, has now managed to take three steps back for its one step forward. And on a more local level, boxing (one of my favourite sports) is being brought into disrepute by Frank Warren, David Haye and Derek Chisora. After an outrageous press conference a few months back where Haye and Chisora brawled like savage animals (for which, I hasten to add, I think Haye was more to blame as he threw the first punch - his claim that pre-empive strikes are always acceptable would have seen us in nuclear war decades ago!), they are now being rewarded by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation with a big fight payday. I know that boxing revolves around money - like a lot of sports do - but this is a step too far. Irrespective of whether the legalities of boxing commissions are technically being followed, it is clearly an immoral fight as it wouldn’t be taking place now had it not been for the demonstration of casual brutality. Boxing is meant to be a controlled aggressive sport, not one for street thugs to show off their barbarism. And unlikely as it is, I really hope Warren gets stripped of his manager’s licence so he can never promote a debacle like this again!
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Important Principles
Two issues have caught my attention this week.
First, Fabio Capello has walked out of his role as England football manager. I admit that I’m not the biggest football fan - there’s too much dissent to the referee and deliberate foul play for my liking. But an important principle is at stake here: innocent until proven guilty. After John Terry had been accused of racist conduct, the first mistake that the Football Association (F.A.) made was to postpone the trial until after the Euro 2012 championships. My understanding (and again I’m no expert in football) is that part of this postponement happened due the urging of Chelsea football club. But we need to know whether Terry is a racist before he plays for England again; at which point did the F.A. think it was wise to put club politics before the issues of prejudice and discrimination? Then the F.A. made the further mistake of stripping Terry of his England captaincy even though he’s legally innocent. No wonder Capello felt the need to resign.
The second issue I noticed this week was that of Councillor Clive Bone of Bideford Town Council, who won a legal battle to prevent other councillors from conducting Christian prayer before meetings. My first instinct was to think that Mr Bone was being a little petty in taking legal action in the first place against what seemed to be freedom of conscience, but then I realised that ‘Prayer’ was actually on the formal agenda for each meeting meaning that every councillor was obliged to witness it. This kind of enforced worship is a good example of how religious rights can impose themselves too much onto parts of society that should remain secular (i.e. neutral). So well done to Mr Bone for standing up for the rights of secularists, and well done to the court for acknowledging them.
Finally however, let’s not get too carried away with these issues, important as they may be. Perspective is still required when you consider that genocide is currently being carried out in Syria, while Russia and China refuse to do anything about it. Bastards.
First, Fabio Capello has walked out of his role as England football manager. I admit that I’m not the biggest football fan - there’s too much dissent to the referee and deliberate foul play for my liking. But an important principle is at stake here: innocent until proven guilty. After John Terry had been accused of racist conduct, the first mistake that the Football Association (F.A.) made was to postpone the trial until after the Euro 2012 championships. My understanding (and again I’m no expert in football) is that part of this postponement happened due the urging of Chelsea football club. But we need to know whether Terry is a racist before he plays for England again; at which point did the F.A. think it was wise to put club politics before the issues of prejudice and discrimination? Then the F.A. made the further mistake of stripping Terry of his England captaincy even though he’s legally innocent. No wonder Capello felt the need to resign.
The second issue I noticed this week was that of Councillor Clive Bone of Bideford Town Council, who won a legal battle to prevent other councillors from conducting Christian prayer before meetings. My first instinct was to think that Mr Bone was being a little petty in taking legal action in the first place against what seemed to be freedom of conscience, but then I realised that ‘Prayer’ was actually on the formal agenda for each meeting meaning that every councillor was obliged to witness it. This kind of enforced worship is a good example of how religious rights can impose themselves too much onto parts of society that should remain secular (i.e. neutral). So well done to Mr Bone for standing up for the rights of secularists, and well done to the court for acknowledging them.
Finally however, let’s not get too carried away with these issues, important as they may be. Perspective is still required when you consider that genocide is currently being carried out in Syria, while Russia and China refuse to do anything about it. Bastards.
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