Not too long ago, I was writing in this
column how sport can lead the way in this battle against the coronavirus crisis.
I spoke of how our sporting heroes can be examples in this uncertain time we are going through.
But, perhaps, I forgot that we are all just humans. And that we’re all flawed.
Whether we are old and wise enough to know better or not, we are still seeing people in the sports world doing the wrong things this week.
Let’s start off with Wimbledon and the Olympics.
For some reason, the organisers of these events thought they were somehow immune to the effects of the disease.
While the rest of the world shut down, the bosses at Wimbledon were hoping that their tournament would just magically go ahead at the end of June.
That they expect this to have blown over in the next three months is crazy.
Listen to what I’m saying, in three months’ time, the last thing you will want to be doing is watch some sport. The world is changing as you read this.
Yes, there will still be people, who watch sport, play sport and yes, those who write about sport, but what I’ve seen from the world of sport in the last week has not been encouraging.
First of all, that bubble that sport seems to exist in seems to have popped.
Before this, it was as if bosses were operating under the assumption that once the tickets were sold and the TV money was on the way that that’s all they needed to throw their parties and live a happy life.
Now they understand that the little people - the fans and the staff - matter just as much as the players and the dik dinge’s pockets.
Sport is an entire industry. It encompasses infrastructure, media, tourism, transport, healthcare and culture.
And that’s why people who love it, absolutely love it.
Most of the time, it’s an inspiration - ouens go to gym to get spiere like Cristiano Ronaldo or Jesse Kriel.
Others look to Serena Williams, who has dominated her sport for 20 years, and say: “Yaaaaas Kween”.
Or Eliud Kipchoge to show us that the two-hour barrier in the marathon was all in our heads.
Sport is supposed to show us that there is no limit to what humans are capable of. But this week, I think we hit the wall.
It started off on Sunday with Aston Villa captain Jack
Grealish breaking lockdown regulations.
LOCKDOWN BREAKER: Villan Jack Grealish, right
Here in South Africa, we have seen how police have harrassed people in the townships they are meant to protect when they leave their homes or shacks to get food or basic necessities.
Grealish, however, snuck out of his luxury home to go to a party.
Now I love a good time and a dop as much as anyone, but nooit. To make things worst, he was caught on camera standing next to his Range Rover, which he crashed into parked cars, wearing ompaar tekkies.
That’s not a good look.
But he has nothing on the bosses at Newcastle and
Tottenham.
On Monday, Newcastle boss Mike Ashley put all on non-playing staff on unpaid leave so he could get some tax money back.
SCORING BIG: Newcastle owner Mike Ashley
This is the same Mike Ashley who kept collecting the debit orders on season-ticket holders despite the season being suspended.
This is the same Mike Ashley who owns the company Sports Direct and hiked up the prices of home gym equipment at a time when people are being told to stay home by their governments.
This is the same Mike Ashley who is trying to wring out the best price from potential buyers even when he been
pretending for years that he wants to sell.
Newcastle fans have been moaning about him for the past 12 years, but yoh, how disgusting must you be to be a bandiet at this time.
Over at Tottenham, I’d say it’s even worse.
Chairman Daniel Levy has always been known as a man to drive a hard bargain.
So when he pocketed £7m this week for the club’s move to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, that money looked like a lot to be hoarding at a time like this.
That cash looked like a crazy amount of money, when Levy decided to cut the wages of all the non-playing staff at the club.
Obviously his money and that of coach Jose Mourinho and his star players was left untouched.
Now I get that these guys earn their money, but they are millionaires over and over.
SUSPENDED: Novak Djokovic wows Wimbledon
Wouldn’t it make more sense to cut the pay cheques of those players to pay for staff who cook for them, cut the grass and the stadium stewards?
I find it disgusting that in sport, where teamwork and sacrifice are such massive principles that the most vulnerable are being exposed.
Sport must show it cares more.