University public debate to discuss cheating in sports

The University of Gloucestershire is hosting a panel discussion focussing on cheating in sport – from individuals bending the rules to international corruption – on 27 January at Park campus, Cheltenham.

With investigations into alleged corruption at FIFA and widespread doping claims in several sports including athletics, never before has fair play been so under scrutiny. Heroes and Villains: why do we care about foul play in sport? will ask why does cheating even matter and what can we do about it? Looking ahead to what should be another exciting year of sport with the European football championships in France and the Rio Olympics just two of the landmark happenings on offer in 2016, does sport in general need to recover its reputation?

Tom Bradshaw (Academic Course Leader: Sports Journalism) will be looking at the argument from the perspective of a journalist. He says: “The media are often accused of building people up and then knocking them down. Sometimes the media appears to act as judge, jury and executioner, and I’m looking forward to discussing the rights and wrongs of this at the public debate.”

The rest of the panel consists of Dr Emily Ryall (Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Sport) and Dr Abbe Brady (Course Leader for Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise and MSc Sports Coaching). Emily says she will be approaching the subject from “a philosophical perspective in articulating what constitutes cheating (as opposed to gamesmanship and spoiling) and how it undermines the concept of good sport.” She added that the discussion will feature “high-profile examples of corruption in the governance of sport, such as the IAAF, IOC, UCI and FIFA, as well as individual examples of cheating such as Lance Armstrong, Ben Johnson, Saleem Malik, Hansie Cronje and Diego Maradona.”

The discussion is free for anybody to attend although booking is essential. To book your free place, visit: https://heroes-and-villains.eventbrite.co.uk

Image courtesy of Patrick Storm through Creative Commons License Agreement.