Cheating, corruption, and sport

Cheating, corruption, and sport

With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games approaching, can we be sure that the events we watch will be fair and that the performances we admire will be authentic? Can we trust the organisers? Can we trust the athletes?

Recent stories surrounding doping (athletics), match-fixing (tennis), and bribery of officials (football), have called into question the credibility of elite sport. As sport becomes increasingly commercialised, and competes for market share within the entertainment industry, the temptations for cheating and corruption grow, as does the imperative to entertain. These pressures threaten to undermine the very purpose of sport.

This Royal Institute of Philosophy workshop will examine key conceptual, ethical and political questions around cheating and corruption in sport, including:

1. What makes an activity a ‘sport’?
2. What is ‘cheating’ in sport? Is cheating always wrong?
3. What kinds of ‘corruption’ occur in sport and how do they differ to cheating?
4. Is corruption inevitable in sport or can it be prevented?
5. Does enhancement threaten to corrupt the practice of sport? 

Programme

9.30 – 9.45
Registration, Coffee, and Welcome

9.45 – 10.45
Prof. David Papineau
(King’s College London)
'The Limits of Sporting Conventions’

10.50 – 11.50
Mr. Stuart Page
(International Centre for Sport Security)
‘Match Fixing as a Threat to Sporting Integrity: The Global Picture’

11.50 – 12.00
Coffee

12.00 – 13.00
Prof. Paul Gaffney
(St. John’s University)
'Playing With Cheaters'

13.00 – 14.00
Lunch

14.00 – 15.00
Prof. Mike McNamee (University of Swansea)
'Corruption, Ethics, and Sport'

15.00 – 15.10
Coffee

15.10 – 16.10
Prof. Michael Ridge
(University of Edinburgh)
'Commitments, Rules and Aims: Games for Scoundrels, Spoilsports and Saps'

16.15 – 17.15
Dr. John William Devine
(University of Birmingham)
'The Corruption of Sport: Excellence and Enhancement'

Speakers

• Dr John William Devine (University of Birmingham)
  'The Corruption of Sport: Excellence and Enhancement'
• Prof. Paul Gaffney (St. John's University)
  'Playing With Cheaters'
• Prof. Mike McNamee (University of Swansea)
  'Corruption, Ethics, and Sport'
• Prof. David Papineau (King's College London)
  'The Limits of Sporting Conventions'
• Prof. Michael Ridge (University of Edinburgh)
  'Commitments, Rules and Aims: Games for Scoundrels, Spoilsports and Saps'

Registration

This event is free and open to all, but registration is essential.
Please register on the Eventbrite page: http://corruption-sport.eventbrite.co.uk 

Venue

Lecture Theatre G51, European Research Institute, University of Birmingham, Pritchatts Road, B15 2SD.
Directions are available under the ‘Edgbaston Campus’ map and ‘European Research Institute (G3)’ building on the University map.