IT is just two weeks since France's spirits were lifted to the heavens by victory in the World Cup. The jubilation of the sportsmen was quickly drowned out by the pontification of politicians and commentators who proclaimed that victory marked the beginning of a new era for their country.
Now the mood in France is less up-beat because of a doping scandal surrounding the Tour de France, the world's greatest cycle race and the country's major annual sporting event. Such is the concern that the leading newspaper, Le Monde, has urged that the race should be abandoned, and commentators who had been crowing over the World Cup warn that the national dream may be fading.
This is all part of a phenomenon which is becoming more and more deeply ingrained in modern society. Quite simply, sport is being taken too seriously and imbued with a quasi-magical influence on national affairs. The fact that two of France's goals were scored by the son of immigrants was seen as the death knell for racism while the popularity of the President and Prime Minister went soaring - as if either had had anything to do with the victory.
We have grown used to sport as big business, and to players enjoying pop star status. A giant talent like Michael Jordan becomes a national icon whose synergy with all-American products like Coca-Cola or McDonald's is the subject of learned marketing analysis. But the elevation of sport seems to be reaching a point at which we will actually believe that a country's domestic condition and international standing depend on the performances of a handful of athletes - forgetting, for instance, that neither the US nor Japan shone at the World Cup and that China and Russia weren't even in France this summer.
When asked if his sport was a matter of life and death to him, a former manager of Liverpool Football Club famously replied that it was much more important than that. His response raised a smile at the time: today, it might be taken at as reflecting reality. The old days of amateur competition when the game was the thing may be long gone. Still, sport needs to be seen in its proper perspective - as one of the most enjoyable and exciting of human activities to participate in or to watch, but not as the ultimate arbiter of whether people can look at themselves in the mirror with a smile in the morning, or whether a government is actually doing a good job.
