CHEATING in sport may seriously damage your karma but forget all the hogwash about these muggers of morals never ending up winners. Benders of the rules are no fools as they know fine well that the very nature of most sports makes it incredibly difficult to detect cheating and well-nigh impossible to prove it. The subject of treachery at the top level has been put in sharp focus by the Michael Schumacher and Bruce Grobbelaar affairs. Schumacher's reputation is riddled with teeth marks from the rat pack of the British tabloid press after his collision with Damon Hill prevented a jingoistic joy day for the English. And former Liverpool goalkeeper Grobbelaar is the butt of some funny jokes (what's the difference between Grobbelaar and an arsonist - nothing, they both throw matches) and some serious probing by the football authorities in England after being accused of fixing games. The opinion of people in the know and those present in Adelaide for the Australian Grand Prix (biased Brits apart) is that, yes, Schumacher tried to block Hill going past on the inside but, no, he did not deliberately crash into him. This line makes admirable sense as Schumacher, like most people who dice with death on a race track, may be a little bit crazy but he is not nuts and would not have risked his by climbing all over Hill. But there is a thin dividing line between banging closed the door and smashing it off the hinges and, despite repeated analysis of the slow motion pictures of the incident, only Schumacher knows his real intention. Grobbelaar, too, is in the unique position of knowing which, if any, of the bizarre goals he has conceded during his career were the result of calculated bumbles not careless fumbles. Football is among the most difficult of sports to fireproof against players throwing matches. Even the most cool-headed and proficient of defenders make mistakes and the Romarios and Klinsmanns of this world miss the mark on occasions, so who can say with certainty when someone is applying the brakes because he is on the take? While motor racing and football are receiving all the publicity at the moment they are definitely not the only sports susceptible to cheats. The Japanese golfing fraternity was put into a tizzy earlier this year when one of their most successful performers was accused in print of being a bit of a rogue in the rough. It's not too difficult for golfers to improve their lie without being spotted, even by the ever prying eye of television cameras, and there are other subtle ways to by-pass a rule book full of local variations which even that most consummate of professionals, Nick Faldo, discovered to his cost in Bali this month. Thankfully sporting scoundrels are in the minority but it's galling that they go about their dirty business with relative impunity.
