Crime and punishment: Organizers needs to implement stricter rules to preserve the spirit of sport

Sport is a reflection of life itself

Everything about sport is merely a reflection of real life, if not a magnified version of it. The emotions, the celebrations, the successes and failures, the joy and sadness – these are all aspects of real life that are depicted in the world of sport. And because almost all of it happens in a short time, it gets magnified many times over. That’s what makes sport such an intrinsic part of life; that’s why we follow it with such vigour; that’s why we spend sleepless nights supporting our teams and our favourite athletes.

There is an underlying philosophy that one develops a special bond with individuals and teams that one supports, and the basis of this support or liking is based on one’s own aspirations and ideas. Ambitious people tend to support teams or individuals who are capable of reaching great heights of success, artistic people tend to migrate towards those who play with skill and style, while people who love bigger challenges tend to support the underdogs.

The bond between players and fans is a truly special thing about sport

The effects of the bond between the sport and the fan are not always healthy

There’s no doubt that a strong bond exists, and that bond can over a period of time dilute the right or wrong, and fans become more engrossed in the success and failure of their team rather than what got them there in the first place.

That’s the difference between a new fan and a fan whose support for his team or individual is undying. A new fan loves the game, he enjoys the nuances, the finesse, the style, and if the player/group that he likes goes on to win, he can celebrate with ease. But he wouldn’t that dejected if the same player/group loses after having played well.

On the other hand, a fan whose support for his player/group has reached a certain level tends to lose that sense of enjoyment of the game; his love for the game itself ebbs, and he celebrates only success, losing sight of the very thing that captured his imagination all those years ago. This aspect might not be true for everyone, but it is certainly upheld by the majority.

When fans go too far, the egos of the stars go into overdrive

Take the Sachin-Sharapova incident for example. Sachin fans rave about his humility; they became such big fans of his not only because of the success aspect but also because of the way in which their hero treated such success. But they forgot all of that on Twitter; they lost all sight of their hero’s qualities, disgracing themselves and the country of their origin in the bargain.

It is this deplorable behavior by so-called fans that can also cause great damage to the game. When supporters come out in great numbers to show solidarity against disgraceful behavior by their stars, it can create an illusion for the same star that he or she did no wrong. It inflates the ego, and we can all see what happens when individual players cannot control their egos and they start to think that they are bigger than the game. The game suffers for this, and all sport has to deal with such situations from time to time.

In an age of digital media and a severe social outpouring on networking sites, the lines are getting murkier. There seems to be a movement towards supporting the bad boys of sport, an almost juvenile admiration for what can only be described as an increasing tendency to create a profile that projects brashness and a willingness to be seen that way. Take the game of football today – the almost sky-high levels of support for Luis Suarez and Mario Balotelli is insane; it’s built on this crazy notion “I can do no wrong”, and that going further can only be bad for the game.

It takes away so much from the professionals who day in and day out under the same intense eye of supporters keep their nerve, and keep their calm, and go about doing the job for their country, or club, and in turn for their fans. It’s coming to a point where this silly and at times violent behavior is becoming a norm for success, and in the interest of the game it is vital that this is curbed now.

Rules must be clear and well implemented

Fans cannot be stopped from supporting whom they want to support, that’s obvious. But the authorities have to look at the reality and face the challenge early; they have to realize that steps taken now are going to be vital for the well-being of the sport, in this case football. There’s a parallel between the sporting world and real life, and that parallel must also be made for crime and punishment. The implementation of clear, well thought out laws that are current and updated leads to a society which is relatively crime free, and that can be and must be extended to sport as well.

Any administration must realize that if steps are not taken early, then there is a chance that changes may occur too late. For an analogy, in a developing country like India, the streets are chaotic to say the least, and there’s a whole set of rules that are haphazard and poorly implemented. Now that the vehicular population has exploded, authorities find it impossible to lay down the law strictly and fairly – it’s an impossible job. If the laws were made very clear from day one, and were laid down when the streets were empty, we would have had better discipline now.

The same applies to sport as well. If we let this deplorable behavior become the norm, there’s a clear danger that trying to undo the damage later may never really work, and that would mean reinventing the wheel.

Every sport needs its characters – that’s what gives it that flamboyance, that larger than life appeal, and it is important to preserve that aspect. Strange comments, a colourful off-the-field life, getting in your opponent’s face, throwing tantrums can all be taken in the right spirit at the end of the day, and there’s no problem with that. There is no need to care about personal lives, there’s no need for players to be ideal citizens; we can revere them for their sporting quality and if their off-field life is slightly unconventional, that is their business. But actions on the field need to be analyzed much more critically, and transgressions against the spirit of the game must be dealt with sternly and fairly.

The introduction of goal line technology is proof of improvements by moderinzation, and such measures have to be implemented sooner rather than later.

The game above all must remain fair

Prevention is better than cure, and for it to work, then at least with the game of football, FIFA will need to draft a new set of guidelines to deal with the ever increasing nasty and distasteful incidents that are now occurring on the field. To curb blatant cheating, to bring down the level of violence and to improve the overall level of the game, FIFA will need to introduce retrospective evidence after games, and they have to do it sooner rather than later. If metropolitan police authorities can set up cameras to improve the level of policing in their jurisdiction, surely FIFA with a much bigger budget, and without the need for major investment, can do the same.

The beauty of sport lies in its fairness, and there is really no such thing as too much fairness. Finding evidence is one thing though; punishments too need to be severe to act as adequate deterrents against future transgressions. If the punishment doesn’t match the crime, then the tendency to repeat it will go up, and fuelled by bigger budgets and a thirst for success at any cost, players will continue to push the boundaries of what is acceptable.

The trouble is that it is up to FIFA to decide what is acceptable, and if the way they have handled things in the past is anything to go by, then things will only get worse. Bigger clubs are getting away with murder, smaller clubs are fighting for their very survival; we have some clubs and some players who are more equal than others. That’s just one more similarity between sport and real life.