Match-fixing & Drug Issues in Sports

As if the problems enveloping Pakistan is not enough, the match-fixing scandal could be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back! The only outlet of joy that the people looked forward to in the face of reverses everywhere has also came unstuck, with their team in disarray over the unfolding drama that is gripping the entire sporting world. When adversity afflicts us, they come in multiples! But the darkest hour is also just before dawn, so all is not lost & let a new era rise from the dust, with the lessons learnt!

Like football in most countries of the world, cricket holds sway over the minds and adds spice to the lives in the Indian sub-continent! A beautiful game has become big business with other celebrities & politicians throwing their weight behind the marketing blitz that has hijacked the game away from the grounds! The real change is noticeable in India which has lured the best from other parts of the world in their high-profile league matches that has also taken the shine away from international contests!

The real motivation & the lure for getting rich quickly could have come from the isolation of Pakistani cricketers from the high-profile club contests held in India, after the Mumbai terror attacks with Pakistan looking away than cooperating to nail the culprits. Talented Pakistani cricketers were left to earn pittance compared to what the rest could command by playing in the league games. It could have been a desperate move to get rich quickly with the young players yielding to the pressure tactics brought on by sweet talking money-bags; not to let go once-in-a-life time opportunity.

The wider implication is money-power is killing sports. While the sporting public looks forward to contests between countries with national pride at stake, the players are distracted when so much money is tossed around on inter-club tournaments. The recent Football World Cup also a left bitter taste in the mouth of nationalists, rooting for their countries, when some of their greatest names came a cropper. Even in tennis, some of the best tend to avoid playing in the Davis Cup for deciding the top country in the sport.

The common man is at the losing end, unable to make sense of his betrayal! As a Pakistani lamented, the only source of joy has also gone to dust; there is nothing to look forward to, the pride for playing for the country has been exchanged for money, with the underworld holding sway! The backbone of any sport is the paying public, who ultimately supports the players & the game. The trust is truly broken & requires real effort at fixing; the confidence is shaken, the heroes have become zeros!

The controversy of drugs in sports is also killing the joys of sporting achievements across the world. Great performances are under scrutiny and the jury is out years later, sometimes! The common man cannot make head or tail of the allegations & sometimes the truth is so bitter to comprehend! Andre Agassi was let off, as per his own admission, taking performance enhancing drugs, while Lance Armstrong is in the news without any certainty of involvement. Florence Griffith-Joyner's great deeds are under a cloud, with even the authorities, allegedly, looking the other way! God forbid, other breath-taking records also prove illusory in the end, in the light of future findings, now under the blanket!

We need to act soon to put the faith back on our super-heroes. The hen that lays the golden eggs can be killed by unfettered human greed. The sad part of the whole issue is the lack of resolve shown in calling a spade, a spade & nailing the culprits before things get really out of control, beyond repair & makes us all, cynical of even real achievements! All sport-loving people are baying for justice more than blood & let the truth prevail!