Today, sport is the great business and an important branch of the national economy. Professional sportsmen are compared to movie stars and pop stars comprising the cohort of celebrities. The success of sportsmen provides them with ample opportunities to become rich and successful. However, the professional sport today is rather business than spot and the existing regulations and policies maintain the development of the professional sport, whereas the essence of sport is totally annihilated. In other words, today, the emergence of professional sport transforms sport in mere business, which may be dangerous to sportsmen, whereas the essence of sport as a healthy and competing activity is almost totally forgotten. As a result, people practice sport since childhood to become professional sportsmen that costs them their health, instead of practicing sport for the sake of their health.
First of all, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the modern sport has already transformed in business. Sportsmen earn money practicing sport and the more successful they are in their sport the more they can earn. The most successful sportsmen become celebrities and earn millions of dollars attracting many young people to practice sport and to turn into professional sportsmen (Taylor, 1992). In this regard, the current state policies and regulations support the development of the professional sport because they encourage the development of sport, whereas the amateur spot cannot compete with professional sport. For instance, amateur sportsmen cannot raise funds to build a stadium, where they can practice their favorite sport, whereas professional sport franchises easily raise funds to construct new stadiums and develop sport infrastructure.
On the other hand, policy makers as well as the public often ignore the dark side of the professional sport. To put it more precisely, the negative impact of sport is underestimated (Wulf, 1996). In this regard, it is important to stress that it is the professional sport that has a negative impact on the health of sportsmen. To achieve better results, sportsmen are forced to work out and they have to exhaust their bodies. They have to develop their professional skills and abilities at cost of their own health. Injuries they receive in the course of competitions can make them disabled for the rest of their life. In such a situation, the support of the professional sport is absolutely wrong.
Paradoxically, the professional sport has made sport dangerous for human health, whereas the original concept of sport implies the competition and practicing sport, which normally stimulates the physical development of individuals and improves their health. Therefore, sport has the potential to improve human health and improve physical conditions of individuals (Dorsey, 1996). In such a way, sport can be good, unless it turns into the means to earn money.
In such a situation, policy makers should focus on the development of sport for the improvement of human health instead of for making more money and business development. This means that the authorities should encourage amateur sports and limit the development of professional sports in terms of the frequency of competitions and process of training to secure health of sportsmen.
REFERENCES:
Dorsey, S. (1996). “An Ideals Solution.” The Sporting News. 220.27: 47. Academic OneFile. Gale. University of South Carolina Libraries.
Taylor, P. (1992). “Players have rights, too.” Sports Illustrated. 77.n.22: 124. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. University of South Carolina Libraries.
Wulf, S. (1996). “Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Time. 148.19: 94.