By John Considine
Manchester United won the FA cup yesterday. Thirty-nine years ago, they also collected the trophy but one of their starting 11 was not allowed collect his medal on the Wembley steps. Kevin Moran was sent off, with 15 minutes remaining in the game, for a strategic foul on Everton’s Peter Reid. Moran’s banishment was one way the FA could punish players and teams from deviating from the objectives of the game.
Strategic fouling, like other strategic behaviour, has always been part of sport. Most competitive sports people do it and expect their side to do it. It is grudging accepted by most. It is based on playing to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the game. Commentators will frequently say the player “took one for the team”. Kevin Moran took one for the team but some feel it was correct to not allow him to collect his winners medal on the Wembley steps.
Compare Moran’s behaviour and punishment with that of West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta. The issue came to light this week. Paqueta is charged with breaking the rules on gambling and it was reported that it involved “strategic” fouling. The media reports suggested that the fouls were committed for the benefit of individuals outside the team. Most of the tackles that led to the booking looked normal. It seems that the problem was the suspicious betting patterns around the disciplinary cards received by Paqueta. What exactly is meant by “suspicious betting patterns”? It effectively means that the individual(s) beat the bookies. The problem for the sports organization is that such betting distracts players from pursuing the objectives of the game.
But aligning the objectives of the game and individual behaviour is not easy. Even for sporting organisations. At a minimum, sporting organisations can be accused of being inconsistent. Every time Lucas Paqueta plays, he wears a West Ham shirt that promotes a betting entity. Should gambling companies be allowed to sponsor sport? Now we get into the messy definition of gambling. Would this include financial share trading entities? Messy.
Kevin Moran played Gaelic Football for Dublin before he made his successful move to Manchester United. He also played while contracted to United! Gaelic footballers were not, and are not, paid to play the game. Even at the highest level. And the highest level of the sport, the organization does not take funding from gambling companies. It was a point made by the President of the Association, Jarlath Burns, recently when justifying the partnership between the GAA and a broadcaster. Jarlath made the point that the GAA does not accept sponsorship from gambling or alcohol companies.
Yet, there is hardly a local GAA club that does not run a lottery or similar gambling competition to raise funds. Picking a set of numbers is gambling. Some would say it is the worst form of gambling where it is close to pure luck. Repackaging the fund raising as "buying a ticket" is almost the same. In both cases the outcome is determined by the luck of the draw. All are a version of gambling.
One wonders if the situation might be called Jarlath’s Dilemma in the same way that there is Greta’s Dilemma when it comes to environmental issues. Good intentions don't always lead to better outcomes.
(Greta’s Dilemma is explained by Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economists at the World Bank, in his recent book Reason to Be Happy.)
Strategic fouling, like other strategic behaviour, has always been part of sport. Most competitive sports people do it and expect their side to do it. It is grudging accepted by most. It is based on playing to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the game. Commentators will frequently say the player “took one for the team”. Kevin Moran took one for the team but some feel it was correct to not allow him to collect his winners medal on the Wembley steps.
Compare Moran’s behaviour and punishment with that of West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta. The issue came to light this week. Paqueta is charged with breaking the rules on gambling and it was reported that it involved “strategic” fouling. The media reports suggested that the fouls were committed for the benefit of individuals outside the team. Most of the tackles that led to the booking looked normal. It seems that the problem was the suspicious betting patterns around the disciplinary cards received by Paqueta. What exactly is meant by “suspicious betting patterns”? It effectively means that the individual(s) beat the bookies. The problem for the sports organization is that such betting distracts players from pursuing the objectives of the game.
But aligning the objectives of the game and individual behaviour is not easy. Even for sporting organisations. At a minimum, sporting organisations can be accused of being inconsistent. Every time Lucas Paqueta plays, he wears a West Ham shirt that promotes a betting entity. Should gambling companies be allowed to sponsor sport? Now we get into the messy definition of gambling. Would this include financial share trading entities? Messy.
Kevin Moran played Gaelic Football for Dublin before he made his successful move to Manchester United. He also played while contracted to United! Gaelic footballers were not, and are not, paid to play the game. Even at the highest level. And the highest level of the sport, the organization does not take funding from gambling companies. It was a point made by the President of the Association, Jarlath Burns, recently when justifying the partnership between the GAA and a broadcaster. Jarlath made the point that the GAA does not accept sponsorship from gambling or alcohol companies.
Yet, there is hardly a local GAA club that does not run a lottery or similar gambling competition to raise funds. Picking a set of numbers is gambling. Some would say it is the worst form of gambling where it is close to pure luck. Repackaging the fund raising as "buying a ticket" is almost the same. In both cases the outcome is determined by the luck of the draw. All are a version of gambling.
One wonders if the situation might be called Jarlath’s Dilemma in the same way that there is Greta’s Dilemma when it comes to environmental issues. Good intentions don't always lead to better outcomes.
(Greta’s Dilemma is explained by Kaushik Basu, former Chief Economists at the World Bank, in his recent book Reason to Be Happy.)
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