Why do sportsmen cheat?

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was the toast of Argentina after he stopped Kingsley Coman in the penalty shootout against France in the FIFA World Cup final. He was also instrumental in Aurelien Tchouameni shooting the ball wide off the mark with his mind games and distractions.

But what grabbed the headlines was his antics after the match. Martinez made a crude lewd gesture after winning the Golden Glove trophy for being the best goalkeeper in the tournament. People in France were furious when Martinez held a baby toy with Mbappe’s face on it during the team’s victory parade back home in Buenos Aires. The French press named the Arsenal goalkeeper as the ‘most hated Argentine’ for his post-match behaviour which they felt was disrespectful and indecent.

While “Dibu” Martinez’s performance on the field was extraordinary, including the 123rd-minute save to deny Kolo Muani of a sure goal, his behaviour was certainly not dishonest nor was he guilty of cheating — a charge that his compatriot the legend Diego Maradona was accused of when he scored the famous “Hand of God” goal against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup.

That begets the question. Why do sportsmen cheat? Is it because it involves millions of dollars between the winner and the loser? Cheating can take many forms, some of them blatant or visible and others very subtle. Manny Pacquiao lost what was hyped up as the richest bout ever and the mother of all fights to Floyd Mayweather in May 2015. After the bout, the Filipino said that he was carrying a shoulder injury, and three days later underwent surgery for the rotator cuff which put him out of action for nearly a year. While Floyd Mayweather took home nearly $180 million, or Rs 1,145 crore, Manny got Rs 763 crore. Pacquiao should have pulled out of the contest citing a shoulder injury.

We see the same trend here in the IPL every year. Players who say they are injured and do not represent the country suddenly become fit just before the IPL season kicks off. Ben Johnson won the gold medal in 100 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in a new world record time of 9.79 seconds but was stripped of his medal three days later and sent home after testing positive for steroids.

He was caught again in 1993 and banned for life. This was a clear case of cheating as the athlete had taken a performance-enhancing drug to become the fastest man on the planet. World chess champion Magnus Carlsen pulled out of the Sinquefield Cup in September 2022 accusing Hans Niemann of cheating when Niemann beat Carlsen despite the disadvantage of playing with black pieces. Niemann, while denying the allegations, admitted to cheating in online chess before.

The problem is everybody wants to win and nobody wants to come second since posterity does not remember a runner-up. The spoils belong to the victor. The winner gets fat prize money, whether it is an individual sport or a team sport. Add to that the fame and the recognition that follows in the electronic and print media. And also social media now, where the winner himself can post his picture with the trophy or the medal.

In today’s world, winning is everything. Sportsmanship is rare and gamesmanship is the norm. In the test match against South Africa in Cape town in 2018, Australian fielder Cameron Bancroft was accused of roughing up the ball with sandpaper which would make the ball swing in the air, in what came to be known as the Sandpaper gate scandal. Bancroft, David Warner and captain Steve Smith were banned by Cricket Australia for periods ranging from 9 to 12 months. Its report said that a “win-at-all-costs” mentality forced players to “play the mongrel” and that Australian cricket had “lost its balance and stumbled badly”.

Sportsmen also cheat because of the “everyone else is doing it” syndrome. In the 1970s, athletes would take drugs in East Germany as a norm rather than the exception. Football players go down even at the lightest of touches to win a penalty.

In fact, this syndrome is so widespread that it happens in all spheres of life almost every day. A girl, when asked why she was cheating in the exam, told that everyone was cheating and so she thought it was normal or acceptable. Another friend wondered why he was caught by the police for jumping the signal when so many drivers had done it. It’s as if cheating is ingrained in our minds.

Gamesmanship will continue to exist in some form or another. But for sportsmanship to come back, players have to take more responsibility, coaches have to instil the values in the players and governing bodies like the BCCI or ICC in cricket have to frame strict guidelines that should work as a deterrent.

(The writer is a former banker and currently teaches at Manipal Academy of Global Education, Bengaluru)