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Writer's pictureJohn B. Parisutham

Sports ethics by Hasani Adnan

It is commonly accepted that through sport one learns to persevere, to sacrifice, and to be self-disciplined, to work hard, to follow orders, to be a leader, and to work with others. Ethics and Moral Behavior in Sport, Corbett, 1999.

A lot of people are very enthusiasts and enjoy sports for aesthetic reasons. Sports is to play in a game, or engage in an activity directed towards bringing a particular state of affairs, using the means permitted by the rules, where the rules are more limited in the scope in the absence of the rules. Like any other art, theater, literature, sports is an art and a specific world that one has to make use of it in daily basis. However, some people go too far on enhancing themselves in a way that they are not eligible to do so. Winning players, athletes, competitors are those who combine the good behavior with their natural skills. Competition and achievement are not ethical. The winner is rewarded and victories for some people go on and on. The issue is on performance enhancing drugs. In 2003 Barry Bonds, a baseball player, was involved in a steroid scandal while playing for the San Francisco Giants. In response to this story, philosophy professor Robert Simon tackled some of the ethical questions in a webchat for USA Today. Professor Simon begins from the standpoint that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is unethical and should not be allowed.

We need to ask what effects have those who cheat in sports in comparison to those who are honest. Those who do the body modification, taking illegal substances will allow them to spend more money. There are health risks associated with performance enhancing substances. Some ethicists say that drug taking in sports interferes with the interest of the society in promoting the sport as a healthy pursuit. Moreover, this would lead to practicing something unhealthy whereby sports is something known for good in health impact.

Lastly, fair play means everyone has the same equality in the game. Some players use tactics such as distracting the opponent in order to gain extra advantage in their sport. For instance, football players dive in a rough way just to scare the opponent or, the fake or simulate just to make the opponent nervous, lose focus in terms of gaining lead for themselves.

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