Sports and its events have seized world attention as not only entertainment and leisure but as a symbol of national pride and recognition. A South American school student has the biggest dream of becoming a national soccer player; that would be cricket in South Asia. In recent decades, sports have become as commercial and glamorous as never before. With all its glamour and fascination, one realizes one most important company in the midst; the media.
Sports have caught media attention parallel to the film industry. With media come issues, conflicts, and debates. Many issues are real, but most are fueled by the media beyond the factual situation. Growing fan curiosity and attention to detail of incidents and life of celebrities has been fueled and utilized by the media. Many discussions in sports media are on stories that are fabricated or torn to fiction. Sports celebrities often complain about lack of privacy and distortion of facts and rumors by media. One realizes that this is inevitable in the ever-growing world of media, but the media’s responsibility in many matters cannot be undermined.
Who suffers by the facts-distortion and unnecessary debates about little incidents involving players has several answers. A media rep would argue that this is their duty to “highlight” the facts. On other hand, players and sports bodies sometimes argue that many issues are not worth debatable considering the confidentiality of information and sentiments of players and the public. Players are no doubt the foremost stakeholders in any sports debate.
There is no doubt in the fact that fans and the public, in general, reveal huge expectations from the players. They want to see them as ideal sportsmen on and off the field as well. Many aspects of human nature and inevitable consequences that come as a result of wealth and popularity to players are not readily perceived by the public. But there is no denying the fact that various issues relating to player’s conduct and others relating to national sports bodies should be debated, where national pride and repute are at stake. Players cannot be given a green card to practice whatever comes to their wishes, as millions admire them and expect much from them. They bear huge responsibility.
A recent issue has been in international cricket when an Australian player accused an Indian spin bowler of racial comments in the test match at Sydney. The match referee imposed several matches ban on the bowler, after a formal meeting in which both parties in issue participated. The ban was denied by the Indian board of cricket and it threatened to cut short the series and return home without further play.
Considering the huge commercial losses that it would bear as a result of series canceling, the Cricket Australia board gave in, and the ban was removed. After it centered on racism and sportsman conduct in the ground, the debate diverted to whether rules and values are foremost or money. A very experienced and well-respected around-the-world umpire for that match was also removed for the rest of the series on the Indian board’s demand. It seemed as if the commercial power of the Indian board was huge enough to make rules and ethics look small. There is no denying the fact that on-filed slugging has been very normal in a cricket game, but an international event is marked with a disciplined attitude and powerful disciplinary bodies. Deciding such a huge matter just on basis of money undermined the rules and values.
The issue gained a lot of media attention and controversy marked the whole series. Players, boards’ repute, umpires are secondary stakeholders in this case; the game of cricket suffered the most. Most sports pundits agreed that players bear the responsibility to save the game from such incidents. Also, cricket boards should not jump in and show money-power to save players when they accept their misconduct.