Fair play holds the secret of true success
A well-known motto of the Olympic Games is 'Swifter, higher, stronger'. While every athlete is committed to this goal, fair play is central to all sports competitions.
This is what sportsmanship is all about. If an athlete fails to play at his best, he is cheating his opponents, the spectators and himself.
What he gets in the end is contempt rather than respect.
Two years ago, Hong Kong was beaten 2-0 in the World Cup qualifying match against Thailand. Fans were disappointed when it was revealed that the match was fixed.
Several players in the Hong Kong team accepted bribes to throw the match.
Guess how much the fraud cost them? They were put in jail, banned from playing professional football for life and despised by fans.
Let us look at another example - Pele, a great athlete respected by people around the world. He led Brazil to win the World Cup twice - the first country to achieve such an honour. Pele not only possessed superb football skills, but was also a sportsman who tried to do his best in every match. Although he has been retired for nearly 25 years, his name is still synony mous with Brazilian football.
