Due date: 12 Noon on Friday 7th December 2012 [feedback available on-line from 18th January, 2013] Length: 1500 words Value: 50%
Introduction
This essay examines how the presence of drugs in sport could be harmful to both active participants and the broader sports community by underpinning the morals and ethics played in both parties. An active participant refers to elite athletes and the broader sports community refers to members of the publics who participate in sports in a society.
‘In 1928 the International Amateur Athletic Federation became the first International Sport Federation (IF) to ban the use of stimulating substances ' also known as doping (Wada.ama.org). This improved the ethics of sports to an extent as the decision portrayed a notion of a fairer playing field.
In modern major competitions and games the continued use of drugs in sport raises major concerns for a number of reasons. For active participants the use of doping is widely viewed as against the ethics of sport, the values of fair play and competition, as well as the rights of those to take part in it at whatever level (IOC.org).
Equally within the broader sports community drug abuse is widely viewed as illegal and carries severe consequences if caught in a public place, for example possession of steroids which falls into a 'class C drug carries a maximum of 2 years imprisonment and a fine ' (cps.government.uk).
Athletes may take drugs due to the coach focussing on the physical excellence aspect of sport. Coaches should follow a philosophy of coaching “that will ensure a balanced integrated individual” capable of coping with life as a hole.
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