Fair Play Game Rules for all sports.

 

What do we mean by 'fair play and 'level playing field'?

In ethics, the concept of fairness involves treating everyone equally and impartially.

'Fair play' is usually understood to mean using only tactics that are in accord with the spirit of the sport.

 

Playing unfairly

Some players use dubious but legal tactics - such as distracting an opponent or misrepresenting their own skill level in order to make opponents over-or underestimate them - to gain an extra advantage in their sport.

This practice is known as gamesmanship and, while usually not contrary to explicit rules of the sport, few people would want to argue that it is an ethical practice.

Most sports come with their own rules, conventions, and opportunities for cheating.

• Football:

·         diving: falling over and pretending to have been fouled, to win your team a penalty

·         faking, also called simulation: suggesting you've been punched, kicked, or elbowed in order to get an opponent in trouble with the referee, or exaggerating a mild injury to make it seem more severe

·         This tactic backfired on the Brazilian player Rivaldo in a 2002 World Cup match. His feigned injury was so obviously fake - he clutched his head after another player kicked the ball at his legs - that he was fined for cheating. Players caught faking can be suspended.

                        Rugby:

·         eye gouging: sticking fingers or thumbs in an opponent's eye

·         stamping, particularly in a ruck or scrum

                        Baseball and cricket - ball-tampering by several methods:

·         tampering with the seam of the ball

·         roughening one or more parts of the ball by rubbing or damaging it

·         rubbing grease or other substances into the surface of the ball to alter its flight in the air

                        Cricket - sledding: distracting opponents by winding them up verbally