“Rahul is a Cheater”- Death to sportsmanship

“Rahul is a cheater”- Anjali Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

This is a famous line from a Bollywood movie, where the protagonist “Rahul” cheats in the game of basketball, and cheating is shown as the “COOL” thing to do.

I have been a professional athlete for the major chunk of my life and have never come across a sportsperson who can say he/she hasn’t cheated in the sport they pursue.

We all remember Australian cricket team getting caught for ball tempering during an international match. This wasn’t an isolated moment of cheating at the highest level of sports.

Let’s try to analyse why is cheating so common in sports using the fraud triangle.

Motivation: The glory that a sportsperson gets after winning and the dopamine hit of winning is the motivation behind cheating.

Opportunity: It’s hard to monitor each and every movement of a player during the match for the referee hence there are a lot of opportunities to cheat. Use of technology has surely helped reduce these opportunities

Rationalization: The years of sweat and blood sportsperson has put in to reach a certain level is used to rationalize the moment when the person cheats. Winning at any cost. Cheating is even rationalized by society as the reward of winning is high. This adds to the motivation to cheat for younger generations.

The sportsman spirit that is supposed to uphold the true essence of integrity and ethics has been dampened over time due to cheating.