It would be interesting to know just when winning a game of football moved from being a fun thing to an almost deadly encounter which involved cheating, accounting deception, subterfuge - that risked public humiliation - and even jail !
Football long ago moved into the area of big money. No longer do amateur players knock off work and play sport for fun and prestige. Every aspect of the game attracts big money - and that money depends on teams regularly winning games.
Football players are professionals and they live lifestyles of the rich and famous - and as a result they are frequently in the media - and in the courts - for the excesses that such lifestyles bring.
Five years ago management of one club decided that winning games was so important that ethics and fair play no longer mattered. The way to win was to attract the best talent that money could buy, and that could not be achieved within the salary cap.
So started a regime of corruption and deceit. The club had two sets of books - one for the public - and another kept in secret which recorded secret payments to players - and this resulted in two grand final victories.
Now it has all come crashing down - and the survival of that club is even in question.
And there is more to come !
The Taxation office follows media stories closely, and those players who have been getting extra payments will certainly have their tax returns closely scrutinised.
There are no winners in this debacle - and the ultimate loser is the sport of Rugby League !
No comments:
Post a Comment