The latest sporting event to be threatened by terrorists is the Commonwealth games, scheduled to be held in India.
After that will come the World Cup, in South Africa - and then there will be the next Olympics.
Add to that the grand finals of a dozen sporting codes scattered around the world, plus international cricket - and you have a smorgasbord of events with the opportunities for death and destruction.
It will be tempting for individual athletes to make the decision not to attend - and who could blame them ? That same decision must cross the minds of the huge numbers who risk their safety by becoming spectators. Performing on the field or just sitting in the stand is all the same to the terrorists.
A world without sporting spectacles is almost unimaginable ! And yet if our athletes give way to fear and if the spectators cease to attend - that is precisely what the future could hold.
Hopefully, the security people will be up to the task and no events will be cancelled on security grounds.
Centuries ago, the Olympics were such an important event that wars were put on hold so that they could be held. Hostilities ceased - to be renewed only after the closing ceremony and the lowering of the flags.
It seems that human behaviour has made little progress since the days of the gladiators !
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