Review article

Fair play: its origins and meanings in sport and society

Roland Renson ; Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences

Abstract

Modern sport originated in Great Britain as a cultural product of modernity, emphasizing equality and competition. Fair play was the moral creed of the new sporting ethos, created by 19th century upper and upper-middle class Englishmen. Modern sports were forged in elite public schools such as Eton and Rugby, where self-government was a pedagogical innovation and where Spencer’s ‘survival of the fittest’ was part of the ideology. The thesis presented here is that fair play was advocated for the simple sake of survival in these rough games, which were gradually standardized and coded. Thomas Hughes’ novel Tom Brown’s schooldays disseminated the new sports creed and Tom Brown and his headmaster Thomas Arnold of Rugby School became role models, who inspired a whole generation, including Pierre de Coubertin. Fair play was the watchword of the gentleman amateur and the notion came under pressure when rugby and Association football were spread to the working classes. Professional players were considered by the defenders of amateurism as spoilsports, who no longer played the game for the game’s sake. The question is asked whether fair play has become an anachronistic survival of the old amateur ideal and whether the postmodern professional sport scene - as a legitimate branch of show business - should be guided by a code of professional ethics?

Keywords

fair play; modern sport; betting; public schools; sport ethos; amateurism; professionalism

Hrčak ID:

38485

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/38485

Publication date:

30.6.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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