"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."
Euro 2008
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness...against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22,23
I am writing this in Vienna in the middle of the European Football Championships. England is involved - one of the referees is from England! Last week he awarded a penalty against a Polish player for holding an Austrian player's shirt. TV showed that he was absolutely correct in the decision yet the Polish Prime Minister said he wanted to shoot the referee!
In the Germany Portugal quarter-final, Michael Ballack, was seen by millions - but not the referee - to push Paulo Ferreira out of the way before heading the crucial goal. As I was reflecting on how Ballack had got away with it, I read the words of Stanley Rous, FIFA President 1961-74: "A player who commits a foul and gets away with it might think he has lost nothing. No, he has lost his reputation as a sportsman". [In using this example I do not mean to imply that Ballack is any worse that the average footballer, it is just a topical example].
Stanley Rous's comments may seem old-fashioned in the modern world of sport but should they? The standards that Jesus Christ sets us are the same in 2008 as they were 2000 years ago. We are to love our neighbour as ourselves, whether the neighbour me the referee or the defender who is marking us. We are to aspire to the highest standards of integrity in how we play and in how we treat others in the game.