Blaming the victim !

There is no doubt that too much alcohol is the main culprit in the bad behaviour of sporting figures.

The media reports contain a regular diet of pub brawls, bashing of wives or girl friends, damage to public property - and in many cases sexual assaults. The one common factor is the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol prior to these events.

The sporting clubs and authorities do not have a common approach to handling such claims. Sometimes the alleged offender is stood down from play and sometimes contracts are torn up if the charges progress to conviction in the courts, but often the first reaction is denial and a cover up !

The ability of a sporting team to win games usually relies on the availability of a star player. These " heroes " earn big money - and often have a big ego to go with it. Their faces bring instant recognition and they are feted wherever they go.

This brings with it a number of dangers. Some other young men feel jealousy and go out of their way to provoke a fight. Some young women present themselves as " sexually available " in the hope of joining the young men in a glamorous social lifestyle. Alcohol blurs the image - and often leads to disaster.

What is becoming disturbing is the tendency of fans to excuse boorish - even vicious behaviour - and to blame the incident on the victim.

In a case under investigation people who can have absolutely no knowledge of the facts are heaping abuse on the alleged victim, suggesting that she is seeking her " fifteen minutes of fame ", is a " drama queen " or even that she instigated the supposed incident in the hope of monetary reward.

It is a sad attitude to life when sporting fans simply disregard responsibility on the part of sportsmen and abuse their victims as a show of loyalty to the team or game that they support.

This simply sickens the public and drives fans away from attending games - and could be one of the reasons that many sponsors are having second thoughts about paying big money to promote " sporting stars " - whose actions later bring them and the product they represent into disrepute.

Often, the very product behind the sport played - is alcohol !