Sunday 24 June 2012

not expecting World Peace soon nor giving up my Olympic tickets

The malignancy of sport

In Criminal Justice Matters (CJM) No 88 June 2012 Ellis Cashmore argues that, for all its apparent innocuousness, sport is a harmful presence in society.



The time and energy we put into sport could be more profitable deployed.  Sport is not only futile, arbitrary and and wasteful: it is a malign presence that, it was once thought, would serve as a source of moral inspiration, but which has merely become part of an apparatus that buttresses consumer culture.
 I can't disagree with the sentiment of this sprint jeremiad.  However, obviously as I continue to play and watch sport live and mediatised (as I type a window in my computer is showing the Kitzbuhel Triathlon* and I shall be watching England v Italy in Euro 2012 later) I must have some differences.  Those differences are politico-ideological but I'll try and drag criminology too.


It feels as if Cashmore has been let down by sport and that he might have formerly believed that it could, 'deliver peace on earth, save the planet from environmental disaster, or assist the discovery of a cure for cancer'.  I have never believed that sport was anything other than a part of society (despite it's pretensions to special status and demands for immunity from politics or law) and subject to all of the problems of society.


And that problem is 'money' or 'consumer culture' as Cashmore has it.  Or, capitalism.  None of the problems he addresses are new but have become more concentrated, and particularly in soccer, which he takes largely as his example.  His approach reminds me of Brohm's classic Sport, a prison of measured time and more recently of Marc Perelman's Barbaric Sport.  


So what of the criminology?  The publisher's of CJM (and I have some sympathy with this approach) favour a broad vision of crime to incorporate harms not always or appropriately dealt with by law and criminal justice.  Cashmore's piece takes the broadest approach in denouncing sport.  Within this tradition I'd be happier pulling the focus in a touch and worrying about the matters that Fussey raises in his article in CJM 88 which I'll examine later.


And in the spirit of Richard Neville's Playpower suggest that sport, like drugs should be recreational.


*the Brownlee brothers first and second.

Saturday 23 June 2012

Criminal Justice Matters: Sport and Harm




    CJM no88.  Contents below.  I'll be commenting on some/much in next few weeks.

    THEMED SECTION: SPORT AND HARM
    Sport and harm
    Peter Francis introduces the themed content for this issue
    The malignancy of sport
    Ellis Cashmore argues that, for all its apparent innocuousness,sport is a harmful presence in society
    Sport in the service of international development
    Tess Kay considers what sports-based interventions to promote change, development and peace have to learn from the wider field of international development
    Major sport events and global threats/responses
    Kimberly S Schimmel examines the intensification of security measures for major sporting events and why these developments have largely not been publically challenged
    (In)security and the re-ordered Olympic city
    Pete Fussey explores some key issues around Olympic-related security and insecurity
    Going down? Football finance in the global era
    John Williams looks at the changing face of football finance and offers some hope to those who see themselves as genuine supporters of the game
    Paying the price? Why football still has a problem
    Mike Rowe and Jon Garland assess the ongoing presence of racism in football
    Sports journalists and corruption: between unintended and wilful blindness
    Dino Numerato provides an account of the unintended and wilful ways in which journalists might contribute to the diffusion of corruption in contemporary sport

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Like CCTV goal line technology won't work

The Sun today, in a sport page headline, urged us to forget goal line technology.  Perhaps because we had won.  But in a more considered article had this to say:



The ball looped towards goal and, while John Terry made an acrobatic clearance, replays showed the ball was OVER the line.
There were three officials watching it, the linesman, the official by the goal and ref Viktor Kassai but none of them spotted it.
What is the point of that bloke behind the goal-line? He was only five yards away and still he did not notice the ball was in.
Video technology cannot come soon enough.
At least it was some justice for England having had that Frank Lampard effort wrongly disallowed at the 2010 World Cup against Germany.


Let's start with that last point to dismiss it.  'Justice' is not the same as some hazy understanding of Hindu and Buddhist ideas of 'karma'.


The recent clamour for goal line technology reminds me of the demands for CCTV and the erroneous belief that it would 'work' (see my demolition here, based on the Home Office's own untrumpeted work).


I am not opposed to deploying technology; indeed, hugely enjoy the 'gaming' aspect of challenges in Tennis and Cricket using 'Hawkeye'.  Similarly, one of CCTV's main functions is to provide entertainment or tragic memorial on Crimewatch.


Whether we need it is another matter.  Fifth and sixth officials, like real life police officers, can do more than a technology but seem not to have in this case.  Moreover, television was quickly able to show the goal without any additional technology.  It has always shown all the fouls and diving without much sign of that being justly dealt with.


So lets fit the technology and congratulate ourselves we have resolved the issue.  And then start the argument that the player was offside earlier or should not have been on the pitch because of an earlier unpunished foul.  Or, even should not have been playing in the first place because of earlier infractions or that they were not properly qualified.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Paddy's Pants Up: Bendtner's no John Carlos

Every one is having great fun with Nicklas Bendtner's flashing his sponsored underpants including outrage at the perceived disproportion of his penalty compared to UEFA's treatment of individual and national racism.  Let's be clear UEFA's record is not good - a Guardian charge list here.  But anyone with criminological, legal or penological nous would not be surprised.


You don't need to be a radical criminologist or student of white-collar crime to see that money is always going to trump racism or hate crime more generally.  And see the fearsome requirements of the lex olympica, particularly in respect of ambush marketing like Bendtner's.  Expect more stories like this.


It is disingenuous of  Paddy Power's spokesperson to claim, 'We don't believe that Nicklas should be penalised for nothing more serious than wearing his lucky underpants which in fairness was only a bit of fun.'  But we know that.  We are all media savvy.  Their offer to pay his fine will just come from the marketing budget.  And cheap at the price.


To get into trouble advertising a bookmaker - notice how many adverts for Power's rivals appear in the ad break - is pretty poor.  Bendtner's no John Carlos.


But back to the racism and the policing/prosecuting/punishing of sport.  I've some sympathy with the difficulties of national federations in controlling the actions of 'their' fans and have some concerns that opposing fans - like players on the pitch - will try to get the opposition into trouble.  So the fines on them can be seen as 'slaps on the wrist' or 'merely symbolic'.  I'd rather more was actually done about racism and other discriminations in society more widely than upping the punishment of sides or individuals.


But in the Bendtner case I do feel that the team, team management and national federation can be held to blame as they have full control of all aspects of the player's actions in such an instance.


So Bendnter's a pretty pathetic patsy for paddy power but UEFA right to hold Denmark to account for it.  Whether the Danish nation deserves the collective punishment of his suspension for their next vital World Cup qualifying match is another matter.


And don't get me started on betting as a driver of criminality in and around sport.

Monday 18 June 2012

Restorative Justice in Sport - Tennis Caught

This may only be lawn tennis not the real (royal) version but let's run with the idea of a court.  A court of justice.

The brief facts from the Guardian:

Already up one set David Nalbandian lost a point and the game to go 4-3 down to Marin Cilic at Queen's.  He kicked out at an advertising hoarding damaging it and, collaterally, the shin of the line judge, Andrew McDougall.

The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour Supervisor, Tom Barnes immediately defaulted Nalbandian costing him the match, his runner-up prize money of £36,144 and his 150 ranking points.  So pretty summary justice.  And Nalbandian did not take it well, sounding of at the ATP and some of its rules - particularly in making players play when they don't feel it is safe to do so.  The Guardian's Sports Blog found this and the disgruntled punters demanding that play continue, 'disgraceful'.

In making line calls etc, tennis umpires and their teams have to operate summary, even Robocop, and sometimes 'hawkeye' justice but this incident, off court, might have been dealt with more slowly.

In the heat of the moment Nalbandian was clearly ungracious at losing my annual salary in one fell swoop and he may suffer additional punishment.  But had someone thought to mediate between Nalbandian and McDougall might a better result - for tennis and the disappointed crowd.

Monday 11 June 2012

Race and foul judgments in football - it's not black and white

More from the British Psychological Society.

Complex findings suggesting racism (including fear of being thought racist) in football refereeing of fouls.
Compare perhaps with findings of police use disproportionate stop powers on the streets (see Stopwatch).

Interestingly Pascal Gygax and his colleagues presented 43 White football players, 17 White referees and 22 White football fans with 64 challenge sequences created with the Xbox 360 console game Fifa 2005.

Domestic Violence and Sport

Clearly violence should be an issue for criminologists but domestic violence has not had the coverage it should have had.  Were it not for feminist activists and academics, it would have had even less.

So where to draw the line between sports criminology and criminology?  Violence against women is not to be condoned but I'm still not sure that the manifold instances of sportsmen's (or even spectator) violence off field is a subject for sports criminology but criminology proper.

However, given the interest in the topic some engagement is necessary.  Linked to the Olympics The British Psychological Society have launched a sport-related portal where I found this on 'Football culture and domestic violence'.  It seeks to make distinctions between association and rugby union football refereeing (or policing/prosecuting/judging) which seem reasonable in respect of game play but don't seem to relate to the issue of domestic violence.

Better sources might be Jeff Bendict's Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, and Crime and Public Heros Private Fellons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women or Mariah Burton Nelson's The stronger women get, the more men love football.

Having played contact team sports I can confirm violence and sexist values but have no reason to believe that they are linked to domestic violence directly in the way that some suggest.

Thursday 7 June 2012

Music as "legal drug"

On BBC R4 John Wilson discovers why many people call music sport's "legal drug". In some research studies, it's been shown as increasing performance by 20 per cent while reducing an athlete's perception of effort by 10 per cent. Music blocks out fatigue-related symptoms such as the burning lungs, the beating heart and the lactic acid in the muscles enabling athletes to train harder and longer. 


If it really works (poor methodology and placebo effects are worries) should it not be banned?

Martial Farts

OK probably more sports law than sports criminology but Taekwondo's Aaron Cook continues to challenge the failure of his Federation to select him for the Olympics.  On reports it is difficult not to think that his independent mindedness is being punished by the 'blazers' - those combined police officers, prosecutors, judges and gaolers who run much sport.

Tuesday 5 June 2012

My pseudoephedrine, caffeine and diclofenac shame: ‘drug cheats’, ‘performance-enhancing’ or ‘performance-enabling’?


As a one-time marathoner I have risked being banned for my use of pseudoephedrine, in an over the counter cold remedy.  Was I a drug cheat?  I would argue no, since no amount of drug use would have enabled me to win.  I had a cold and, risking my health, decided to enable my performance by using a ‘performance-enhancing’ drug.  I’d done the training, I wanted to do the race.
My best Marathon (London 1985, 3hours 1min 34 seconds) followed 2 years of 50 miles a week, 3 weeks without alcohol, one week without tea or coffee and a super strong cup of black coffee on the morning of the marathon.  Caffeine is on the World Anti Doping Agency’s (WADA) permitted list but it’s use is monitored.
All this running has come back to haunt me in the form of osteoarthritis in my legs.  An ongoing prescription for diclofenac (sold as Voltarol) followed diagnosis.  It fights inflammation and pain and allowed me to continue running.  Concern for my health - ie that its use was masking further damage to my knees, hips and toes - means I’m currently ‘clean’ and exercising with pain.
I have criminological doubts about sport’s ‘War on Drugs’ and will write about it  shortly in an Olympic Special but my own legal, ‘monitored’ and banned drug use meant I was also recently interested in FIFAs recent concern about painkillers.
In the British Journal of Sports Medicine Tscholl and Dvorak report that during the tournament 71.7% of all players took medication, and 60.3% (444 of 736 players) took painkilling agents at least once. Over a third of players (39.0%) took a painkilling agent before every game!  Some of that would have been my  little helper, diclofenac.
I worry that this is bad for their health.  Dr Geyer of WADA is reported to be concerned about the rise of the use of painkillers in training and competition.  But says:
The very extensiveness of societal caffeine acceptance/abuse has largely kept it out of anti-doping regimes and completely out of media chants of ‘drug cheat’.  Might an arthritic generation accept diclofenac abuse and the rave generation yet more recreational use and use in recreation?

Saturday 2 June 2012

Being a visiting football fan whilst being black

It would be nice to say that in England no black man or woman is abused, let alone murdered.  It would be nice to say that in England no footballer who signs for another team is derided with homophobic chants.

So this is some context for a mention of Sol Campbell's warning to black fans to stay away from Ukraine's hosting of Euro 2012.

I'm not black and not sufficient a fan to have ever considered travelling to watch England abroad.  People will have to make their own decisions about going;  but low ticket sales suggest all manner of England fans are keeping their cash in their pockets whether through fear of crime or the economic crisis.

As a criminologist the 'fear of crime' and Campbell's 'race crime' concerns are of obvious interest.  If nothing happens will that show nothing was going to happen or that precaution worked?

But worse what if black fans went and stood up for themselves, or were accompanied by anti-racists intent on challenge, how would they be policed?  Would the UK Govt see them as doughty human rights activists or 'hooligans' deserving of media trashing and banning orders?

Sport Crime in News w/e 13 May 2012

Enjoyed these stories from a few weeks back.


Sports Victimology

Having just created Sports Criminology then spawned Sports Penology I offer you Sports Victimology.

See my comments on this Economist piece.

Friday 1 June 2012

Punishment in Sport

Having only recently invented Sports Criminology lets now investigate Sports Penology - that is how are sports people punished on the field and, increasingly, off.

The Economist's Game Theory Blog has this interesting piece .  They don't really investigate, or even use the terms, 'penalty' or 'punitiveness' but any criminologists should reflect that many of the discussions we have about the high incarceration rate of the USA and low ones for Scandinavian Countries or Japan are also applicable in sport.

Welcome to sports criminology

Is there space for a sports criminology between sports law and sociology of sport?

Perhaps room for criminological perspectives on sport as I argue here